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A41516 A plea for free-grace against free-will wherein matters about grace and providence are plainly and fully cleared and contrary opinions demonstrated to be against Scripture, the judgment of the primitive church and the doctrine of the Church of England / by J. Gailhard. Gailhard, J. (Jean) 1696 (1696) Wing G123; ESTC R25092 199,562 244

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the word as often as they ought that the spirit of God is ever ready to give faith to all that do these things which is most false for though we own men are in the wrong to neglect those Christian duties yet though they would perform all that and more it would not do for God giveth faith to none but to those whom from eternity he decreed to give it to How could God have decreed by the word to give faith unto every man when as experience sheweth and we already have proved it he doth not afford every man that outward call We own that usually God doth not give men come to years faith without hearing or reading of the word but Scripture and experience do teach God doth not give it to every one that heareth and readeth it so that 't is false to say the neglect of the word is the only cause why God gives not every one faith for several do read hear meditate preach and write Commentaries upon the Word who yet never have true faith Yet we own how God blesseth the Ministery of some more than of others Now to come to the true cause of it 't is because God hath decreed to give it only to the Elect for faith is an effect of our Election (a) Acts. 13.48 As many as were ordained to eternal life believed as I quoted before and our Saviour saith all that the father giveth me hath elected in me shall come unto me and none else (b) Joh. 6.37.44 for no man can come to me except the father draweth him The good pleasure of God is the cause of the decree and of Faith too wherefore 't is called the gift of God nothing more free than what is given Our Saviour saith plainly to his Disciples (c) Eph. 2. ● It is given unto you to know the misteries of the kingdom of heaven to them it is not given Grace puts a difference between them After his resurrection our (d) Matth. 13.11 Saviour opened the understanding of his disciples that they might understand the Scripture without which they could not do it as afterwards was (e) Luke 24.45 opened the heart of Lydia and this made her attend unto the things which were spoken of by Paul So that to believe or not to believe (f) Acts 16.14 is not of him that willeth or of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy (g) Rom. 9.16 God prepareth the heart of the humble saith David without it nothing can be done 't is his work First In relation to those that believe for our Saviour saith (h) Matth. 11.25.26 I thank thee O father Lord of heaven and earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hath revealed them unto babes If in this God had been accepter of persons or had been moved by any qualification in the persons he would have done the contrary of what he acted he would have revealed it to the Wise and Prudent and hid them from Babes This to a carnal reason seemeth strange yet 't is true and in the next verse our Blessed Saviour assigneth God's will as the only cause and ought to be sufficient for any one Even so father for so it seemeth good in thy sight They who are become the Sons of God and believe on his name (a) Joh. 13. are born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God Here our Coversion and Regeneration are attributed to the will of God exclusively to the will of the flesh or of man Now God doth act on both parts not only he maketh those believe who do but also others cannot believe because (b) Joh. 12.39.40 he hath blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their hearts and be converted and I should heal them In consequence of this they are delivered up to Satan who acts his part upon them in the way exressed by St. Paul (c) 2 Cor. 4.3 4. If our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them whieh believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine upon them Of these speaketh the Prophet (d) Isai 43.8 Bring forth the blind people that have eyes and the deaf that have ears they shall continue blind and deaf no Faith for these On the contrary side (e) Isai 32.3 The eyes of them that see shall not be dim and the ears of them that hear shall harken these shall have Faith After this we adore the actings of God and with St. Paul cry out (f) Rom. 11.33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out Now as begetting of Faith in us is an effect of God's Election and of his good-pleasure so is the increase and improvement of it for the more it feeds upon Christ the stronger and the more lively it groweth There are degrees of Faith so that though all Believers have the same Faith as to the substance and to the parts yet there is a great difference as to the degrees upon which account we are said (g) 2 Pet. 3.18 Ephes 4.15 to grow in faith or grace There is weak Faith and strong Faith yet both true that Man's Faith who said to our Saviour If thou (h) Mark 9.22.23 canst do any thing have compassion on us was a weak and languishing Faith and seemed to doubt whether Christ could cure his Child after Christ had said to him Mark 9 22.23 If thou canst believe all things are possible to the believer as if he had said to him I can do it but canst thou believe whereupon the Man prayed for supply and strength of Faith Lord I believe but help thou mine unbelief he was much weaker in Faith then he who said Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean Luke 5.12 And then the Centurion of whom our Saviour (a) Matth. 8.10 saith I have not found so great a faith no not in Israel and that of the Woman of (b) Matth. 15.26.27 Canaan who for all the repulses which our Saviour did outwardly give her even comparing her to a Dog yet she would not give over till our Saviour had said to her (a) Matth. 8.10 O woman great is thy faith and cured her Daughter so of the woman who had the Issue of Blood for 12 years If I may but touch his cloths (c) Mark 5.28 I shall be whole all effects and signs of a great Faith the increase whereof we ought ever to pray for thereby in time of tryal to be able to resist the temptation Now as Christ is the true and only object of our Faith so 't is a hindrance to 't when we