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A53957
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A practical discourse concerning God's love to mankind written for the satisfaction of some scrupulous persons / by Edward Pelling ...
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Pelling, Edward, d. 1718.
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1694
(1694)
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Wing P1083; ESTC R21771
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58,579
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154
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Life Thirdly AS we must not judge of God's Love by accidental Events so neither must we measure his Purpose as to things Eternal by his present Acts of Providence in dispensing some special outward Favours in this Life By special Favours I understand certain singular Advantages in respect of this World and such too as have some respect to the World to come in both respects very valuable Privileges and Blessings which some enjoy in a greater and better measure than others And from those which I may call Temporal Privileges though Spiritual Advantages go along with them many times to conclude that the rest who enjoy them not in the like degree are under God's absolute Hatred Or in a State of Damnation is very Unreasonable and Injurious to God's Honour As for instance whereas the Lord Promised Abraham upon his Obediential and Exemplary Faith that he would be a God unto him and to his Seed after him and that he would give them the Land of Canaan for their Possession God intended this Promise should be made good not to Ishmael and his Posterity though Ishmael was Abraham's First Born but to Isaac and his Off spring In Isaac shall thy Seed be called said God to him Gen. 21. 12. Meaning that Isaac and his Descendants should Inherit the Promise Now this was a special Favour and Privilege to him and his Issue especially considering the Spiritual Blessings which went along with this Earthly one that to them pertained with the this Adoption the Glory or the Ark of God and his Glorious Presence in it and the Covenants and the giving of the Law and the Service of God and the Promises of Christ's coming among them and from them Rom. 9. 4 But though Isaac and his Seed had these singular Advantages we must not by any means conclude hence that Ishmael had no share at all of God's Love much less may we inferr that he was absolutely Rejected of God as a Rebrobate to Eternity For as touching a future State the Scripture is wholly Silent and therefore so must we And though God did not Bless him in this World so greatly and abundantly as he Blest his Brother Isaac yet I cannot find any reason to think but that God Loved him too For we are told Gen. 17. That God Commanded him to be Circumcised which was the outward Mark of the Divine Favour the Token of God's Covenant and therefore we cannot suppose him to have been quite shut out of it Nay God told Abraham there expresly v. 20. That as for Ishmael he had heard him and had Blessed him and would make him Fruitful and would Multiply him exceedingly so that twelve Princes and a great Nation should come out of his Loins though God intended to Establish his more particular Covenant and special Favour with Isaac And as for Ishmael's Posterity though they were not Blest with all those outward peculiar Privileges which Isaac's Children enjoyed yet we find nothing to perswade us but that they were allow'd to Live in the Land of Canaan with their Kindred if they would Profess the Religion that was Established there Nay they were in a Capacity of having their share though not so great a share of the Divine Favour and Goodness provided they did not turn Idolaters nor forsake the God of their Father Abraham but did Worship him still as Abraham was wont to do and as he Commanded his Children and his Houshold after him Gen. 18. 19. I instance next in Jacob and Esau whose Case is constantly urged in defence of those rigid Doctrines which are so inconsistent with the Notion of God's Love to the World The Children being not as yet Born saith St. Paul nor having done Good or Evil it was said unto Rebecca The Elder shall Serve the Younger as is it Written Jacob have I Loved but Esau have I Hated Rom. 9. 11 12 13. These Words some Interpret as if God hated Esau if not his Posterity too with a perfect hatred and by an absolute Decree Eternally deprived them of all Hopes of enjoying his Favour in this World and in the other too And hence they go on to lay down this Principle that God hateth some People meerly because he will and shuts them out of the Kingdom of Heaven without any foresight or consideration of their Evil Works But whosoever shall with Attention and Impartiality of Mind consider the Apostles meaning in that place will not find the least ground for that Principle by what he saith of Esau and that for these two Reasons 1. FIRST Because St. Paul doth not mean that God hated Esau in a Proper Positive and Strict Sence but only that he did not Love him so much as he did his Brother Jacob. For the Word Hatred is often taken Comparatively for a lower and lesser degree of affection As the Wise Man saith He that Spareth his Rod Hateth his Son Prov. 13. 24. That is he doth not Love him so well as he who Chasteneth his Son betimes So when our Saviour saith Luk. 14. 26. If any Man come to me and Hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own Life also he cannot be my Disciple This saying would be strangely hard were it to be understood in a strict Sence for Christianity doth not cancel the Bonds of Nature To Hate such near Relations is an Unnatural and Wicked thing which we may be sure is utterly Forbidden by his Religion who Commands us to Love even our Enemies But our Lord meant that we must Love Father and Mother and Life it Self less than we love Christ that our Affections to these must not compare with those we are to have for him who Loved us so as to Dye for us And therefore St. Matthew renders it thus He that Loveth Father or Mother more than Me is not Worthy of Me and he that Loveth Son or Daughter more than Me is not Worthy of me St. Mat. 10. 37. In this Sence God is said to have hated Esau meaning in comparison of the particular kindness he shew'd unto Jacob He Loved Jacob more he expressed his Goodness to him in a greater Measure and in an higher Degree than he exprest it to Esau though he was the Elder of the two 2. SECONDLY This lower Degree of Love to Esau was not in reference to a Future State but only as to some outward Blessings and Advantages in this World And hereof there are two plain Arguments the one is drawn from St Paul's own Construction of the matter viz. that the Elder should serve the Younger which can be meant of nothing but Temporal Servitude according to the Will and Appointment of their Father Isaac saying to Jacob Be Lord over thy Brethren and let thy Mother's Sons bow down to thee Gen. 27. 29. The other Argument is taken from St. Paul's Design and Drift there which was to shew that the Jew 's had no reason to be Scandalized because God had now given the
means of Grace to the Gentiles as well as he had to them Had bestowed many Privileges upon the Gentiles as well as upon them had Adopted the Gentiles as formerly he had Adopted them nay had called the Gentiles to be his peculiar People and Rejected them because of their Unbelief the Apostle shews that the Jews had no Reason to Stumble and be Offended at this for this was no unjust or unusual Act of the Divine Oeconomy God did not bind himself to observe Privileges or to consider Precedency witness his dealing with Ishmael first his passing them by and his granting the Land of Canaan to Isaac though he was the younger Brother and witness his dealing also with Esau his passing him by too and his continuing the former grant to Jacob though he waâ— the younger Brother likewise Upon this Account the Jews should not depend upon their Primogeniture neither It was not an Unrighteous thing in God to grant now the outward means of Grace and and Privileges Evangelical to the Gentiles and to make the Gentiles his peculiar People to enjoy them in a high degree and to take away those singular Prerogatives and outward Blessings from the Jews though they were the Elder People This is the plain Account of St. Paul's design and meaning in the ninth Chapter to the Romans and all that can be reasonably gathered thence out of the instance of Esau is what I observed before in the instance of Ishmael namely that God did not give him such outward Advantages in this Life as he gave his Brother Jacob but deny'd him special Favours for some Reasons best known to himself And in all this there is nothing of God's laying Esau under the dismal Curse of Eternal Reprobation There is not a Word of Esau's Damnation nor any thing like it nor do we meet with any thing I think in the Scriptures sufficient to make Men conclude that he was a Damned Person Indeed the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews calls him a Prophane Person because for one Morsel of Meat he Sold his Birth right to which the Kingly Power and the Priestly Office did in those Days belong But that single Act is the only great Wickedness that is Recorded of him and of that in all probability he did Repent too when he besought his Father to Repent of giving away the Blessing from him However that was we do not Read that he ever Apostatiz'd from God or that in the whole course of his Life he deserted the true Religion Practised by his Father Isaac and therefore there is no apparent ground for the heavy Sentence which is commonly past upon him by some who perhaps are more prodigal of other Mens Souls than they are careful of their own I have insisted the more copiously upon these Famous instances because the true account of them is not vulgarly known and because some who should have understood these things rightly have quite misapply'd them and have argued from them to destroy the Belief of God's Love to the World which is one of God's great Glories and the great Hope of all the Ends of the Earth AND now to draw this point to an end God's dispensing of his special Favours in this Life whether they be bestow'd upon particular Persons or on whole Nations can be no Token of their Fortunes in another Life and therefore we must not Measure God's Love to Mankind by the Proportions or Disproportions of his Providence in distributing and ordering Affairs here God hath a sincere Love for the whole Race of Adam though he be not pleased to give us all here the same equal Advantages and in all this God is Righteous because it is an Eternal Rule that we find Luk. 12. 47 48 That Servant which knew his Lords Will and prepared not himself neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many Stripes but they that know not and do things worthy of Stripes shall be beaten with few Stripes For unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required and to whom Men have committed much of him they will ask the more We must not conclude that all People are in a Lost condition who do not enjoy those singular Blessings which others have especially if they make a due use of the Advantages which God hath given them For these are things which God hath a Power and Right to dispose of according to his own will and pleasure And however he is pleas'd to dispose of them he doth no wrong to any Besides this World is not the place for Rewards and if some fall short as to these outward Matters here they are capable of having an abundant compensation made them in a Future State But this is not their case who once fall under everlasting Condemnation and therefore Mens Lots in another World ought to be determin'd not according to Pleasure but according to Righteousness Their sad condition there is Remediless and unchangeable and the Torments they endure are not only Simply and Infinitely Evils but they are Evils too which are supposed to be inflicted on them under the notion of punishments and therefore they must be in consideration of antecedent Crimes Knowingly and Deliberately and of choice committed for to Inflict Eternal Torments upon Men for what they cannot avoid is Inconsistent with the Righteousness of God contrary to Eternal Reason and utterly Repugnant to the infinite excellency and perfections of his most Blessed Nature CHAP. VII That we must not judge Uncharitably of other People upon a Presumption that we our Selves are of the Number of those who are Elected to Everlasting Life and what the Scripture means by the Elect. Fourthly CONSIDERING God's Love to the whole World we must be careful not to Judge Uncharitably of others upon a Presumption that we our selves are of the Number of those who are Elected to Everlasting Life Divines usually give us a Scholastical Distinction between Election unto Glory and Election unto Grace By Election unto Glory they mean God's purpose of bringing all those and only those unto Eternal Life who Believe in Christ and observe his Laws Now though the consideration of this be of great Comfort to all who Love the Lord Jesus in Sincerity yet the Decree it self as far as it is known to us is General it is Revealed to us in general Terms as to particulars it is secret particulars are not to be known nor can any ordinary Christian be Infallibly certain that he is chosen to Everlasting Happiness till he is gone out of the World WE Read indeed of a Book of Life wherein Men's Names are said to be Written St. John speaks of such a Book he saw in his Vision the design whereof was to represent things to us in a way which was most adapted and suitable to our Capacities The meaning of the Vision as to that is that God doth infallibly Know and at the Day of Judgment will openly Declare Reveal and Reward those who