other ways and means likely to endear my self unto them and to assure them and their affections unto my self for ever I will really and effectually essay and try to doe it An aire of this Interpretation of the place breaths in the Annotations of our English Divines themselves upon it who Paraphrase it thus I will betroth thee I will re-establish my Covenant of Grace with thee not only to observe that Faith which is required in all Covenants but also to forgive thee thy sins and not to take notice of thy unworthinesse But according to the Sence and Exposition of the place given which cannot reasonably be gainesaid the Promise therein is not absolute as to the effect of such a desponsation of this People which should stand for ever but only as to the means yet these very efficacious and proper to be used by God for the producing such an effect And thus Tarnovius a late and learned Expositor of the Reformed Religion understands it I will betroth thee unto me whom saith he thou formerly despised'st and shamefully forsookest and AS MVCH AS IN ME LIETH whose gifts are without Repentance Rom. 11. 29. this betrothing shall stand firme for ever nor shall this spiritual conjunction between us ever be dissolved as formerly i Desponsabo te mihi quem antea spretum turpiter dereliquisti Et quod ad me cujus dona sunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 11. 29 desponsatio illa durabit in seculum ut nunquam desinat haec spiritualis conjunctio quemadmodum antâ—a conferre Ezek. 16. 8 c. c. Those words quod ad me i. e. as far as in me lieth or as far as concerneth me plainly shew that this Author looked upon the Promise of Betrothing especially as to the perpetuity of it but as conditional and such which through the unfaithfulness unworthiness of the party to be Betrothed might possibly never bring forth such a betrothment We have once and again if not a third time also given notice formerly that the using of means endevors or attempts to bring things to passe are very commonly in Scripture expressed by the effects themselves k Cap 10. sect 20 55 c. So that all things considered it is a little strange to me that learned and sober Men should ever be tempted to build the Doctrine of Perseverance as they forme and teach it upon such Scriptures as this and those lately opened But besides places of this imprese and those dismissed in the former §. 9. Chapter they insist upon others to prove that God hath made an absolute promise of finall perseverance unto all true Believers Let us then briefly try the spirit of these for if we can sinde so much as any one promise from God of such an import in all the Scriptures all opposition must keep silence for ever Some suppose they descry such a promise as we speak of in that of David They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion which cannot be removed but abideth for ever a Psal 125. 1. I answer here is no promise that they that trust in the Lord shall abide trusting in the Lord for ever or that they shall not be removed from this trusting in Him for ever but only that trusting in Him and abiding so trusting they shall never be removed viz. from an estate or condition of peace and happinesse into an estate of trouble or misery For it is a stability of happinesse or safety not of Faith that is here promised unto those that trust in the Lord. If it be objected that even a stability in happinesse supposeth or includeth a stability in Faith in as much as no Man can make shipwrack of his Faith but his happinesse is wracked by it I answer that the meaning of the promise in hand is not that they who at present trust in the Lord let them at any time herafter trust or distrust Him shall yet be unremoveably happy nor to imply that they who once or at any time trust in the Lord shall be necessitated by him to trust in Him for ever but only to shew that those that â—â—st in the Lord are as such and whilest such of that kinde of persons for wâ—â—se preservation and safety from evill the mighty Power of God Himself staâ—deth ingaged and whom He will protect from evill As when the Apostle said to the Corinthians that they were in his Heart to die and live together with them b 2 Cor. 7. 3. His meaning was nor that they were so in his Heart to die c. that what manner of persons soever they should prove afterwards though they should apostatize to Idolatry Blasphemy Heathenisme or the like He could notwithstanding be well content to live and die with them but thus they were in His heart c. i. e. they were for the present such persons whom he singularly affected and with whom he could be well content to hold Communion both in death and life We have given notice formerly more then once c Cap. 10. Sect. 43. and Sect 51. Sect. 54 Sect. 1. of this Chapter that the Promises of God made unto Men with respect to such and such speciall qualifications are to be understood with such an Explication or Caution wherewith His threatnings against such and such particular sins are to be interpreted As for example when God threatneth that unrighteous persons shall not inherit the Kingdome of God d 1 Cor 6. 9. and John Baptist that he that believeth not the Son shall not see life e Joh. 3. 36. c. the meaning is not that they that are now unrighteous or unbelieving though they should repent and believe hereafter should yet be excluded from the Kingdome of God but that unlesse they shall repent of their sins they should for them be excluded In like manner when God Promiseth stability of condition safety salvation or the like unto those that believe and trust in Him He intends no obligation hereby to these persons otherwise then upon their abiding such in those qualifications as of Faith and trusting in Him in regard whereof the said Promises were made to them God Himself leadeth us as it were by the hand to such an interpretation as this as well of His Promises as of His Threatnings Such I meane of both kinds as those specified At what instant saith He I shall speak concerning a Nation and concerning a Kingdome to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it If that Nation against whâ—m I have pronounced turne from their evill I will repent me of the evill that I thought to doe unto them And at what instant I shall speak concerning a Nation and concerning a Kingdome to build and to plant it i. e. shall promise to build or to plant either the one or the other if it doe evill in my sight that it obey not my voyce then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit
dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose again 98 99 100 c. 5. 19. To wit that God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them Pag. 87 88 c. 7. 1. Having therefore these Promises let us cleanse our selves c. 334 8. 12. For if there be first a willing minde it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not 17 548 10. 15 16. Not boasting of things without our measure and not to boast in another mans line 331 12. 14. but Parents for the children 70 13. 14. and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all 286 Gal. 1. 6. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that calleth you unto another Gospel c. 362 363 2. 21. For if righteousness come by the Law then Christ is dead in vain 459 3. 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were the Promises made He saith not And to seeds as of many but as of one And to thy seed which is Christ 458 4. 11. I am afraid of you lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain 363 6. 1. Brethren if any man be overtaken in a fault c. 323 Ephes 1. 4. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundations of the world that we should be holy c. 62 63 461 1. 6. To the praise of the glory of his Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved 462 1. 10. That in the Dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in Heaven c. 436 1. 11. who worketh all things after the counsel of his owâ— will 67 429 430 482 1. 13 14. In whom also after ye beleeved ye were sealed with the spirir of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance c. 255 256 1. 22. And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the Head over all things to the Church 436 438 c. 2. 3. and were by nature children of wrath 518 4. 30. whereby ye are sealed to the day of Redemption 256 5. 5. For this ye know that no whoremonger nor covetous man who is an Idolater hath any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ c. 272 5. 18. but be ye filled with the Spirit 325 5. 23. and he is the Saviour of the body 252 253 Philip. 1. 6. Being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ 241 242 1. 7. Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all because I have you in my heart c. Ibid. 2. 12 13. work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling For it is God that worketh in you both to will c. 176 Colos 1. 20. And having made peace through the blood of his Cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him I say whether they be things in Earth or things in Heaven 436 437 c. 1. 21. And you that were sometimes alienated c. 439 1. 23. If ye continue in the Faith grounded and setled c. 237 2. 8 20. the rudiments of the world 522 523 1 Thess 5. 23. And the very God of peace sanctifie you wholly and I pray God that your whole spirit and Soul and Body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 238 239 2 Thess 3. 3. But the Lord is faithful who shall stablish you and keep you from evil 235 1 Tim. 1. 18. This charge I commit unto thee son Timothy according to the Prophecies which went before on thee that thou by them mightest war a good warfare c. 357 1. 19. which some having put away concerning Faith have made shipwrack 353 354 c. 2. 4. Who will have all men to be saved and c. 103 104 284 2. 6. Who gave himself a ransom for all men 97 98 5. 15. For some are turned back already after Satan 365 6. 3. and to the Doctrine which is according to godliness 333 6. 13 14. I give thee charge in the sight of God that tho ukeep this Commandment without spot unrebukable unâ—il the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ 239 2. Tim. 1. 3. whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience 355 356 1. 12. I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day 254 2. 13. If we beleeve not yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself 359 2. 18. and overthrow the faith of some 358 2. 19. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure and hath t is seal The Lord knoweth who are his c. 359 360 c. 4. 2. preach the Word be instant in season out of season 440 Tit. 1. 1. according to the Faith of Gods Elect and the acknowledging of the Truth which is after godliness 243 244 269 283 c. 1. 4. To Titus mine own Son after the common Faith 489 2. 11. For the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all men 406 407 2. 14. Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity c. 250 3. 4. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man appeared c. 408 409 c. Hebr. 1. 3. upholding all things by the Word of his power 3 2. 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a Salvation 480 492 499 2. 9. that he by the Grace of God should taste Death for every man 102 103 2. 16. For verily he took not on him the nature of Angels 484 3. 6. whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoycing of the hope firm unto the end 260 261 6. 4 5 6. For it is unpossible for those who were once enlightened if they fall away to be renewed again c. 282 283 c. 329 7. 25. seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them 248 9. 24. now to appear in the presence of God for us 248 249 c. 9. 27. As it is appointed unto men once to dye 9 10. 26. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledg of the Truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin 416 417 c. 10. 29. Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing c. 148 149 c. 282 283 c. 10. 38. Now the just shall live by Faith but if any man draw back my Soul shall have no pleasure in him 290 11. 6. for he that cometh unto God must beleeve that he is and that he is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek him 507 11. 7. By Faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as
in the constant Faith and Holinesse of these and at last triumphed gloriously in their Salvation Whereby it came to passe that these only seemed to have been Redeemed amongst Men all others miscarrying as if they had not been Redeemed So that there is nothing at all scarce so much as an appearance of any thing in this Scripture against that Interpretation of the other for the establishing of which way hath been made through the fall of many others And doubtlesse he that shall attentively and with consideration Reade §. 43. what Calvin himselfe hath commented upon the place must needs judge him very compliant with the said Interpretation Although saith he Christ may be denied severall wayes yet in my judgement Peter means that which is expressed in Jude viz. when the Grace of God is turn'd into wantonnesse For Christ hath Redeemed us that He might have a People separated from all the defilements of the World addicting it self unto holinesse and innocency Wherefore THEY WHO SHAKING OFF THE BRIDLE CAST THEMSELVES FORVVARD INTO ALL MANNER OF LICENTIOVSNESSE ARE NOT WITHOVT CAVSE SAID TO DENY CHRIST BY WHOM THEY WERE REDEEMED So then that the Doctrine of the Gospell may abide with us safe and sound let this be alwayes fixed in our minds that we are Redeemed by Christ that He may be the Lord both of our Lives and Deaths a Tametsi variis modis abnâ—gatur Christus eum tamen â—îc meo judicio attingit Petrus qui exprimitur apud Judam nempe cum gratia Dei in laesciviam convertitur Redemit enim nos Christus ut populum habere segregatuÌ„ ab omnibus mundi inquinamentis addictum Sanctitati innocentiae Qui igitur excusso fraeno in omnem licentiam se proiiciunt non immerito dicuntur Christum abnegare à quo Redempti sunt Proinde ut salva integra Evangelij Doctrina apud nos maneat hoc animis nostrie infixum sit Redemptos esse nos à Christo ut vitae simul mortis nostrae sit Dominus c. In this piece of Commentary there are severall passages which plainely declare the Authors judgement to have been at least when He wrote these things that those are and may be said to be redeemed by Christ and that after the same manner that the Saints themselves are redeemed who yet may in the end perish For 1. in saying Christ hath redeemed us questionlesse he includes Himselfe and all the godly at least that heard Him or shall read these things Now if He should meane that either Himself or other godly ones were Redeemed with any other kinde of Redemption then that spoken of in the Text before Him viz. wherewith the false Teachers there mentioned were Redeemed his Commentaries should be quite besides the Text. 2. He saith Expresly that they who shaking off the Bridle cast themselves forward or head long into all manner of licentiousnesse are not without cause said to deny Christ by whom they were Redeemed Now who are they that bring swift destruction upon themselves but such as he here describes and whom he supposeth to have been Redeemed by Christ and that with the same Redemption whereof He had spoken immediately before viz. wherewith Himselfe and other godly ones had been Redeemed For to make him speake of two severall kinds of Redemption specifically distinct in one and the same Passage without giving the least notice of any distinction or difference at all between them is to suppose Him to equivocate and to make Him a Transgressor of the knowne Principles and Rules of Writing 3. And lastly when He exhorts let this alwayes be fixed in our minds that we are Redeemed by Christ that He may be the Lord of c. He cannot be supposed to addresse or speake only to those that were or are truly godly but to all those at least who judge themselves such yea clear it is that He speaks to all Persons professing Christianity without exception Nor can he be supposed to invite or perswade any Man to fix that in his mind which is every whit as likely if not much more likely to be false then true but only that which is most certainly and unquestionably true Therefore he clearly supposeth that all Persons who upon any terms or grounds whatsoever judge themselves godly yea that all Professors of Christianity without exception are Redeemed by Christ and consequently that as well those who Perish as those that are saved are Redeemed by Him there being nothing more certaine then that many who professe Christianity yea and who call themselves godly will Perish From henceforth then let no Man put the Doctrine maintained in this Discourse §. 44. to any such rebuke as this that it was never held or countenanced by any Divine of the Order sirnamed Orthodox we finde the Principall of this Order Calvin himself I mean besides many others of Name and Note amongst them once and againe yea seven times over very freely giving the right hand of fellowship unto it We have been somewhat long in our vindication of the Scripture last argued but the restlesse and endlesse importunity of Men in perswading the Scriptures to entreate their Darling error kindly together with the difficulty of the Scriptures to be so perswaded hath compelled us But it is very incident to Men to doe by the Scriptures as they do by themselves God saith Solomon hath made Man upright but they have sought out many inventions a Eccles 7. 29 So may it be truly said that God hath made many Scriptures upright plain clear obvious for sence and meaning but Men are wont to seek out many inventions to perplex or misfigure this meaning that it may not be known to oppose their fond Conceits and Imaginations The next Scripture of the Consort designed for this Chapter was 2 Pet. §. 45. 2. 20. For if after they have escaped the pollution of the World through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they are intangled therein and overcome the latter end is worse with them then the beginning For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousnesse then after they have known it to turne from the holy Commandement delivered unto them Here likewise it is most irrefragably and cleerly supposed that Men who have been truly sanctified and regenerated and consequently Redeemed by Christ may yet decline so as to Perish in the end For to deny that that expression of escaping the pollution of the World through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ doth import true Sanctification or Regeneration is to deny that the Sun is up at Noon-day For if the Persons here said to have escaped the pollutions of the World through c. shall not be supposed truly and inwardly Sanctified c. but only superficially and externally they must be supposed withall 1. To have been all this while in the midst of that greatest pollution of the World and
them f Jer. 18. 7. 8. Much after the same manner elsewhere having promised or said that He that hath walked in his statutes and kept his judgments to deal truely being righteous or just shall surely live g Ezek. 18. 7. addeth afterwards But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousnesse and committeth iniquity and doth according to all the abhominations that the wicked Man doth shall he live h Verse 24. In this passage we cleerly see that this Promise made by God to a righteous Man He shall surely live is to be understood with this Proviso and Condition that he departs not from his righteousnesse which is here plainly enough supposed that he may very possibly doe Therefore this Promise also They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion c. being of that kinde of Promise which God makes out of those gracious respects which He beareth to some speciall qualification in Men carrieth no further obligation in it on Gods Part unto those to whom it is made then as and whilest they remaine so qualified as they were when first they came under the Grace of the said Promise i. e. as and whilest they trust in the Lord. So that this Promise hath nothing to doe little or much with that Doctrine of Perseverancâ— which we oppose but looketh quite another way Another Text of Scriâ—ture sometimes urged to prove the Proposition of §. 10. our present Contest viz. that God hath made an absolute Promise of Perseverance unto trâ—â— Beleevers is that of our Saviour But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up to eternal life a John 4. 14 But neither doth this Scripture any whit more if so much then onely face the business in hand For here is no Promise made that they who once beleeve how unworthily soever they shall behave themselves shall still be preserved by God or the Spirit of God in beleeving or that they shall be necessitated always to beleeve but onely a Declaration and Assertion made by Christ of the excellency and desireableness of that life which he comes to give unto the World above that life of Nature which is common unto all This by comparing the words transcribed with those in the former Verse is evident Jesus answered and said unto her Whosoever drinketh of this water i. e. of material water such as this well affordeth shall thirst again i. e. is subject notwithstanding his drinking hereof to thirst again But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him c. q. d. The best means that can be had or enjoyed to render this present life which we live free from inconvenience and that which is troublesom and contrary to it will not effect it the condition of this life being subject to dissolution will not admit of any such freedom or perfection but whosoever shall drink inwardly receive and beleeve that Doctrine which I shall administer unto him shall hereby be made partaker of such a life which shall within a short time if men be careful in the interim to preserve it by reason of the nature and perfect condition and constitution of it be exempt from all sorrow trouble and inconvenience whatsoever as being eternal But 1. that he doth not oppose that life which accrues unto men by §. 11. drinking the water which he gives them unto that natural life which they live by other means in respect of the present condition or constitution of it or as it is enjoyed by men in this present world is evident from hence because he asserts it free from thirst shall never thirst Now we know that the Saints themselves notwithstanding the life of Grace which is in them by drinking the water that Christ hath given them are yet subject to both kindes of thirst as well that which is corporal or natural as that which is spiritual yea that spiritual thirst unto which they are now subject though it argues a deficiency of what they would further have or desire to be and in that respect is troublesom yet is it argumentative of the goodness or blessedness of their condition Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after Righteousness for they shall be filled b Mat. 5 6. By the way this spiritual thirst which is incident even unto that life which is derived by Christ and the waters given by him unto men as it is enjoyed or possessed by them in this present world is according to the purport of our Saviours own arguing in the Scripture under debate an Argument that for the present and whilest it is obnoxious to such a thirst it is dissolveable and may fail For in the latter part of the said passage he plainly implies that the eternalness of that life which springs from the drinking of his waters is the reason or cause why it is exempt from thirst Let the whole passage be read and minded and this will clearly appear If then the eternality of a life be the cause or reason why it is free from the inconveniency of thirst evident it is that such a life which is not free from thirst is not during this weakness or imperfection of it eternal or priviledged against all dissolution I easily grant that such a life as we now speak of may notwithstanding the dissolvableness of it be in a sence called Eternal as it is frequently called in the Scriptures viz. in semine or in fieri as they say as the conception of a man in the womb may be called a man or because in respect of the native and in-bred tendency of it and being duly nourished and preserved it is apt in time to become Eternal formally and properly so called even as the conception of a man in the womb by reason of the natural frame and tendency of it will in time if it meets with no unnatural and destructive accident by the way come to be a man in his full stature and strength But as this frame or tendency of the conception we speak of doth no ways prove that therefore it must of necessity or what will or can befall it come in time to be a perfect man so neither is it necessary that that life in the Saints which is seminally inchoately and conception-wise Eternal should against all possible occurrences of things adverse to it come to be actually properly and compleatly Eternal The result of this discourse amounts clearly to this that our Saviour in the words in hand doth not oppose the life which comes by drinking his water to the life of Nature in respect of the present and imperfect condition of it in this World but in respect of the future and compleat growth and condition of it in the World to come Therefore 2. When he saith that the water which he shall give him shall be in him §. 12. a well of
production into Being 3. And lastly In respect of their permanency or continuance in and with these Natures and Beings In the first consideration they are absolutely and in every respect determined by God neither themselves nor any other contributing any thing at all towards their Natures or Beings in that sence nor being in any capacity to withstand or make any resistance against that hand of Pleasure and Power which made them so or so and imparted such and such a nature or frame determinately unto them But secondly In respect of their respective actuall productions into Being they are not at least a great part of them are not so determined by God as in the former consideration Men may sow more or less grain or corn in their fields as they please and so likewise herbs in their gardens Yea the ordinary course and assistance of Providence only supposed they have power to multiply individuals in some species of animal creatures and however to restrain such a multiplication Yea doubtless many Persons both of men and women have been propagated and born into the World whose Parents were not determined or necessitated to their generation In the third and last consideration though things cannot at least all things cannot be said to be absolutely positively or irresistibly determined by God as in the first yet doth his will and pleasure for the most part interpose effectually though by the mediation of Causes either naturall or morall or both for a determination in this kinde also The continuance of Herbs Plants and Trees in their vegetative lives or Beings in respect of their species or kindes respectively is determined by God but by the intervention of their severall natures temperatures constitutions or the like So that those Herbs Plants or Trees more generally and in respect of their kindes are longer liv'd whose tempers and complexions are more healthfull and strong and so better provided to resist and defend themselves against such inconveniences which endanger and are destructive unto the lives and beings of such creatures as they The continuance of individuals or particulars in each kinde of these vegetative creatures in their respective Natures or Beings is not so determined by God but that they are obnoxious at least many of them to the hand and will of man who may at pleasure serve himselfe of which and of how many of them he pleaseth being within the reach of his arme and under his power A man may cut down and suffer still to grow which and how many of the Trees growing in his own ground he pleaseth Thus may he do also by the Herbs in his garden There is the same consideration in all respects of sensitive creatures also The lives of many of these are subjected to the wills and pleasures of men Concerning the Naturall Lives and Beings of men in the World neither §. 2. is the continuance of these so absolutely or peremptorily fixed or determined by God but that either themselves or others may either abbreviate and contract them or else enlarge and protract them to a longer period by means proportionable unto either By excess in sinning and so by defect in caution and use of means for their preservation men may draw the evill day of death neerer to them as by righteousness and a prudent circumspection to prevent dangers and things destructive unto life they may put it further from them But thou O God saith David shalt bring them downe into the pit of destruction bloody and deceitfull men shall not live out halfe their days a Psa 55. 23. e. i. the half of those days which according to the course of Nature and Providence and Will of God otherwise they might have done To like purpose Eliphaz in Job speaking of a wicked man who stretcheth out his hand against God and strengtheneth himselfe againct the Almighty i. e. who sinneth at more then an ordinary rate of provocation His branch saith he shall not be green but shall be cut of before his day God shall destroy him as the vine his sowre grape and shall cast him off as the Olive doth his flower b Job 15. 32 33. And againe afterwards Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have troden who were cut down out of time whose foundation was overflown with a flood c Job 22. 15 16 It is probable he here speaks of the old World who because of that redundancy of wickedness which was amongst them were destroyed by a deluge of waters which otherwise they might have escaped according to what our Saviour speaketh to Capernaum concerning Sodom If the mighty workes which have been done in thee had beene done in Sodom it would have remained unto this day d Mat. 11. 23. And whereas God threateneth Ephraim meaning the ten Tribes that within threescore and five years Ephraim should be broken that he be not a People e Isai 7. 8. this judgement according to Musculus his computation was put in execution within twenty years after this Prophecy and that propter enormitatem maliciae as he faith i. e. for the enormous heinousnesse of their wickednesse So then as God hath by no decree determined that men shall be wicked especially not outragiously wicked which we shall further demonstrate afterwards so neither hath he determined that abbreviation of the lives of particular men which their voluntary excesse in wickednesse brings upon them He hath indeed determined indefinitely and in the generall That bloody and deceitfull men shall not live out halfe their days but if we speake of any particular persons who being bloody and deceitfull came thereby to an untimely end neither their sin nor their suffering by an untimely end was determined by God Againe That men by a prudentiall and providentiall care in preventing §. 3. dangers sicknesses and such inconveniences which are of a known malignity to the life of man may advance their days to a greater number then under a contrary neglect especially as the neglect for degree might have been they would or could in reason have amounted unto is evident God himselfe informed David That if he stay'd in Keilah till Saul should come thither to demand him which he was now ready to do the Lords of this City would deliver him up unto him a Sam. 23. 12. in which case he had been but a dead man Therefore David by departing from Keilah before Sauls comming downe to demand him added many days unto his life above what their number would have been had he neglected the Divine Oracle and by staying in Keilah fallen into the hand of Saul The men that were with Paul in the ship by hearkning unto his counsell for causing the Mariners to abide in the Ship got enlargement of quarter for their lives which upon their leaving of the ship had certainly been denyed unto them For Paul said unto the Centurion and the Souldiers Except these abide in the ship yee cannot be saved b
Acâ— 27. 31. whereas upon their staying in the ship it so came to passe that they came all safe to land c Vâ—s 44. The Lord Christ himselfe by the care and faithfulnefs of Joseph in conveying him being yet an Infant into Egypt according to the charge of the Angel which appeared unto him came to see many more days in the flesh then he was like to have done in case he had bin found in Bethlehem or near to it when Herods bloudy Inquisition came forth against him For this is the reason which the Angell gave unto Joseph why he was injoyned by God to remove the child Jesus into a place of safety Herod saith he will seeke the young child to destroy him which supposeth not only a possibility but a probability at least if not a certainty That if the child had remained in or about Bethlehem Herod both would have found him out and also destroyed him So afterwards we read Luke 4. and elsewhere That Christ by declining the present rage and bloody intentions of the Jewes from time to time drew out the days of his mortall Pilgrimage to that just period and â—our wherein according to his ever-blessed good pleasure he had appointed that happy meeting between his own death and the life and salvation of the World True it is the days of humane subsistence and continuance on Earth are §. 4. in the generall but finite yea and few yet if we speake of particulars they are not properly determinate or set down as so many and no more by any decree of God It is indeed appointed by God unto men once to dye d Heb. 9 27. yea as Job calculateth within a short time Man saith he that is born of a woman is of few days e Iob 14. 1. But I do not find it said of particular persons that it is appointed unto them to dye precisely at such or such a time day or year of their lives or that they shall neither dye sooner nor live longer I deny not but that there are some few examples in Scripture of persons the precise number of whose days seemeth to have been fixed by God His gracious Message to King Hezekiah being now sick unto death was That he would adde unto his days fifteen yeares a King 20. 6. Yet this expression doth not necessarily imply that they should be adequately and precisely so many and no more Nor when Job in passion reasoneth thus with God as our last Translation rendreth his words Seeing his days are determined and the number of his moneths are with thee thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot passe turne from him that he may rest b Job 14 6 7. c. doth he suppose that the bounds and limits of all mens lives are so rigidly or immoveably pitched by any decree of God that they must of necessity live home to them and cannot possibly live beyond them but only this that if God will at any time interpose by his power to cut off the life of any man he may determine and put a period to it without being resisted or hindred by any According to the exigency of this sence both Tremellius and Beza translate that clause and the number of his moneths are with thee out of the Originall thus Numerus mensium ejus penâ—â— te est i. e. the number of his moneths is in thy power meaning that thou mayst make them fewer or more if and thou pleasest Doubtlesse if either David or Hezekiah had conceived the date and period of their lives to have been irreversibly concluded by any precedaneous decree of God they would not have interceded with that affectionate importunity which is found in their Prayers for a prorogation of them I said saith David O my God take me not away in the midst of my days c Psal 102. 4 And again O spare mee that I may recover my strength before I go hence and be no more d Psal 39. â— These expressions clearly imply That David apprehended as well a liberty in God as an executive power either presently to take away or else to continue his life and being in the world for a longer time For who will sollicite a man to do that for him which he apprehends him in no capacity or possibility to do or for that which hee conceives him whom he requesteth absolutely engaged and necessitated to do for him whether he requesteth it or no Now such a liberty in God as we speak of and as David supposeth was wholy inconsistent with such a peremptory and irreversible decree concerning the punctuall extent and duration of his life which some imagine So when he fasted and wept for the life of his child being sick he neither supposed God bound by any unchangeable decree either to continue or presently to take away the life of it but at liberty to do either In the Prayer of Hezekiah though there be no expresse Petition found for the enlargement of his life yet there are grounds laid down which are proper to inforce such a Petition upon and by the tender whereof unto God it is evident that he did sollicite for a reprieve which is yet more apparant from that gracious return which God made unto him of this his Prayer by the Prophet Isaiah Go saith God unto him and say unto Hezekiah Thus saith the Lord God of David thy Father I have heard thy Prayer and seen thy Tears behold I will adde unto thy days fifteen years e Isai 38. 5. Therefore doubtlesse when Job saith as we heard That the days of man are determined or paecisi i. e. cut short as Junius and Tremellius render it and that God hath appointed his bounds that he cannot passe he doth not speake of any determinate number of days or years set out by any decree of his unto particular Persons for life which by no interveniency of means or occasions on either hand can either be diminished or protracted but of that generall councell purpose or decree of his by which he hath reduced and contracted the mortall Pilgrimage of man on Earth to a very short and inconsiderable space of time Nor doth it follow from any the Premisses but that God doth frequently §. 5. interpose and that after a very speciall and remarkable manner sometimes for the preservation other-while for the abbreviation and cutting off the lives of Particular men When God will undertake and resolvedly engage to stand by the life of man as now and then he doth at least for a time a thousand shall fall at his side and ten thousand at his right hand and the danger not come nigh him i. e. he shall remain as safe and as free from evill as if all danger of evill were far from him He shall not be afraid i. e. such a man needeth not to be afraid for the terror by night nor for the arrow that flieth by day Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darknesse nor for