no Liberty nor Power of Choice but where Beings have a Power to act two different ways in such a Case it is proper to give such Beings a Law to tie them up or oblige them to act only one way and for this Reason it is that among all the Creatures found in this lower World Men alone are bound to the Observation of Laws because no Creature beside is indowed with Freedom of Will and Liberty of Choice Nothing doubtless can be more unreasonable than to believe that God should give a Law to Mankind and expresly promise Rewards to them that will obey on the one hand and on the other hand threaten Punishments to them that disobey and yet believe withal that he has eternally decreed whatsoever shall come to pass so that it is not in the Power either of the Righteous or the Wicked to do otherwise than we see they do or in other Words that it is not in the Power of some to disobey so far as to damn themselves nor in the Power of others to obey so far as is effectual for Salvation for were it so that Men had no liberty or freedom of Choice in these Matters there then would need no Law to forbid Men to do what is impossible they should do or command the doing of that which they unavoidably must do Wherefore God's giving unto Man a Law is a plain Demonstration that there is in him a Freedom of Will Hence the Lord God thus speaks unto Israel See I have set before thee Life and Death Good and Evil. In that I command thee this Day to love the Lord thy God to walk in his Ways and to keep his Commandments and his Statutes and his Judgments that thou mayest live but if thine Heart turn away so that thou wilt not bear I do denounce unto you this Day that ye shall surely perish And he adds I have set before you Life and Death Blessing and Cursing therefore chuse Life that both thou and thy Seed may live Deut. 30.15 16 17 18 19. From which Words we may infer safely that God has laid upon Man no absolute Necessity of being either happy or miserable but he deals with them as with Persons who have from him a Power to obey or disobey as themselves by the Power of those Faculties they have from him do best please only he tells them what the Consequences either of Obedience or Disobedience will be that Life shall be the Reward of the one and Death of the other and withal that his Desire and Will is that they should choose Life and not Death The Words of David unto Solomon do also plainly imply this free Agency of Man And thou Solomon my Son saith he know thou the God of thy Father and serve him with a perfect Heart and willing Mind If thou seek him he will be found of thee but if thou forsake him he will cast thee off for ever 1 Chron. 28.9 as do likewise the Words of the Prophet Azariah unto Asa And he said unto him Hear ye me Asa and all Judah and Benjamin The Lord is with you while ye be with him and if ye seek him he will be found of you but if ye forsake him he will forsake you 2 Chron. 15.2 And we find accordingly that the Scriptures do most abundantly declare that both Vertue and Vice are the Effect of our own free Choice and for this Reason we are commanded not to envy the Oppressor and that we should choose none of his ways Prov. 3.31 And therefore Mary is said to have chosen the good Part which should never be taken from her Luke 10.42 And it is also written Thus saith the Lord unto the Eunuchs that choose the things that please me I will give them an everlasting Name Isa 56.4 5. On the other hand it is said They did Evil before mine Eyes and chòse that wherein I delighted not Isa 65.12 They have chosen their own Ways and their Soul delighteth in their Abominations Isa 66.3 Ye will not come to me that ye might have Life Joh. 5.40 My People would not hearken unto my Voice and Israel would none of me so I gave them up to their own Hearts Lust Psal 81.11 12. They would none of my Counsel they despised all my Reproof Prov. 1.30 O Jerusalem Jerusalem how often would I have gathered thee as an Hen gathereth her Chickens and ye would not Mat. 23.37 All which wholly lays the Guilt of Sin upon the Sinner's Wilfulness they chose to do ill when they might have chosen to do well as others did by virtue of those Powers which God had given them Hence 't is said that to whom ye yield your selves Servants to obey his Servants ye are to whom ye obey whether it be of Sin unto Death or of Obedience unto Righteousness Rom. 6.16 Which plainly implies that 't is our own voluntary Act that makes us Servants either to God or the Devil as for God 't is plain that he necessitates no Man to serve him he gives to all Men a Power to obey his Will but he will not force them to obey whether they will or no he could force them to do so if he pleased but his infinite Wisdom does not think it fit yea should he do so he would then deprive them of the Advantage of those Rewards which his Goodness has been pleased to promise to that true Love which only can be manifested by a free and unconstrained Obedience But as for the Devil his Power does not extend so far as to force any Man to do wickedly he can tempt indeed but he cannot necessitate for God is faithful and will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able 1 Cor. 10.13 Do but resist him with that Ability that God has given thee and he will fly from thee Jam. 4.7 Men do not sin for want of Power to do otherwise but because they will not use the Power that God has given them If God will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able then 't is our willingly yielding to the Devil when we had Power to resist that makes us the Subjects and Slaves of Sin 'T is manifest that every Man has a Power to do that which God has made him able to do and God does not require more of any Man If there be a willing Mind saith the Scripture it is accepted according to what a Man hath and not according to what he hath not 2 Cor. 8.12 He that improved his two Talents was kindly accepted as well as he that did improve his five Talents see Mat. 25. Be sure to make the best Use that thou canst of the Powers that thou hast and then if thy present Powers are not sufficient to enable thee to make thy own Calling and Election sure God will not sail at last to give thee that Power that is sufficient for he has made a Promise unto Men by the Mouth of our Blessed Lord that more
I know endeavour to perswade the World that the Doctrine of Free-Will does encourage Men to Wickedness because they say it makes many think that if God has given Men a Power to repent when they will that therefore they may sin as long as they please and repent at last but in this they are strangely mistaken for tho we teach that Men who have not hardned their own Hearts by many repeated Acts of wilful and malicious sins against God may repent if they please at any time yet we don't teach that Men can live as long as they please and we know that when Life ceases then the Opportunity of Repentance ceases also God that promises Pardon whenever we sincerely repent has not promised us a To morrow to repent in and no Man who rightly believes that there is in Man a Free-Will will be so mad to say I will yet sin on one Week longer and then repent when for ought he knows his Death may come this very Day and prevent his so repenting Thus 't is plain that no Free-willer who truly understands the Nature of the Doctrine which he professes can sin without being sensible of the Danger of Damnation whereas the opposite Perswasion plainly infers that Disobedience can never make void the Decree of God to save them that are elect or in a State of Salvation even in spite of their own resistance so that 't is evident a Predestinarian may sin with some Confidence and Comfort but the Free-willer always sins under great Discouragement from his own Principles there being in his Faith nothing that can yield him any Security in his so doing I will conclude this Point by asking the Predestinarians this one Question as I before have done under some of the other Heads Suppose all Mankind that believe the Gospel and endeavour to live up to it should be perswaded that 't is possible for those that are in a State of saving Grace to fall from it and should they by virtue of this Perswasion be careful through the Divine Assistance not to fall from their own Stedfastness 2 Pet. 3. 17. nor fail of the Grace of God Heb. 12.15 and so live good and pious Lives what hurt would this do either to the Interest of Religion or the Good of Souls Where is the Impiety or Perniciousness of such a Faith and Practice that the Predestinarians should so long and so loudly exclaim against it I am sure 't is a Faith that all truly good Men practise and which he Adversaries do themselves teach in all their Exhortations to a vertuous and godly Way of living Of the Period of Humane Life The Predestinarians teach likewise that the Period of humane Life is unchangeably fixt by God so that no Man can either live longer or die sooner than he does but this is also an Unscriptural Doctrine as well as unreasonable and therefore an Error The Scriptures do plainly imply that by Wickedness Men may cut their Lives short and that by Righteousness Mens Lives may be prolonged Thus 't is said The Fear of the Lord prolongeth Days but the Years of the Wicked shall be shortned Prov. 10.27 Again as Righteousness tendeth to Life so he that pursueth Evil pursueth it to his own Death Prov. 11.19 Again 't is said Evil Doers shall be cut off but those that wait upon the Lord they shall inherit the Earth Psal 37.9 Besides these Testimonies 't is evident that in many Places of Scripture Wickedness is threatned with a short Life thus 't is said Bloody and deceitful Men shall not live out half their Days Psal 55.28 Be not overmuch wicked neither be thou foolish for why should'st thou die before thy time Eccles 7.17 LOng Life is also promised to Goodness and Vertue as thus My Son forget nto my Law but let thine Heart keep my Commandments for length of Days and long Life and Peace shall they add unto thee Prov. 3.1 2. Because he hath set his Love upon me therefore I will deliver him with long Life will I satisfy him and shew him my Salvation Psal 91.14 16. Happy is the Man that findeth Wisdom and the Man that getteth Vnderstanding she is more precious than Rubies and all things that thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her length of Days is in her right Hand and in her left Hand Riches and Honour Prov. 3.13 15 16. Hear O my Son and receive my Sayings and the Years of thy Life shall be many Prov. 4.10 Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy Days may be long in the Land Exod. 20.12 Thus you see the Scriptures do plainly confute this foolish Notion And as the Scriptures confute it so the universal Voice of Nature is against it or that which we call the Law of Self-preservation and indeed 't would be utterly in vain to make Laws to punish common Murders yea and King-killers too with Death if 't were not possible for those that are so killed to live any longer and to say that a Man that is executed upon a Gibbet for any Crime should have died that very Moment had he not done those things that brought him to the Gallows is perfect Nonsense and yet this must have been if the Period of every Man's Life were so irrevocably fix'd that he could neither live longer nor die sooner than he does Besides this Doctrine has been of pernicious Consequence to many who in Sickness out of a false Perswasion that they should not die before their time as they call it have neglected to seek the Means which by God are appointed to heal the destructive Infirmities of Nature and so they have died before they attained to that extent of Days which God has allowed unto Mankind even that Period which ends with old Age in which through a natural Decay of Strength we are rendred unable any longer to subsist And thus having gone through what I did intend to say on these several Heads I shall conclude by only adding that the Reason of my making this publick to the World is not out of ill-will to any Man's Person who does profess these Doctrines but out of a Desire to convince them all of their Error and that I may express that sincere Love and just Esteem which I bear to many of this Perswasion who in the Belief of so ill a Faith do yet live a sober good Life hoping that hereby I may do some good to them for whom I have so great a Kindness by thus endeavouring to perswade them not to trust on such an unsecure Foundation as is that of the Doctrine herein confuted Besides all which it may possibly be that hereby divers contending Parties may be induc'd to a more easy Reconciliation as to the Matters in difference between them by which means the Peace and Unity of this Church may be advanced which at this time is so necessary in order to the making us better able to resist both the publick and private Enemies of this protestant
he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting Life Joh. 3.16 and therefore 't is said that to every one is given Grace according to the Measure of the Gift of Christ Eph. 4.7 and that the Grace of God that brings Salvation hath appeared unto all Men Tit. 2.11 that he is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance 2 Pet. 3.9 that he would have all Men to be saved and come to the Knowledg of the Truth 1 Tim. 2.4 Besides all this we find the Angel thus speaking to the Shepherds Fear not saith he for behold I bring you good Tidings of great Joy which shall be unto all People for unto you is born this Day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord Luke 2.10 11. And the Psalmist tells us that the Lord is good to all and his tender Mercies are over all his Works psal 145.9 For which Reason he proclaims himself to be the Lord God merciful and gracious long suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth Exod. 34.6 Which universal Declarations of his Goodness do make it most evident that the saving Intentions of God in Jesus Christ were extended to the whole World God having thereby put all Men into a Capacity of being made Happy if they will but do on their Part what he has commanded and what he for the Sake of Christ has made them able to perform and none can miss of Salvation but by their own wilful Neglect If they will not come to Christ that they may have Life the Fault is their own How shall we escape saith the Apostle if we neglect so great Salvation Heb. 2.3 Some I know are so sensless as to imagin that their Notion of particular Grace does magnify and more exalt the Glory of God's free Grace than it would be exalted were the free Grace of God universally extended to all Men. But the Reason of every common Man will serve to confute this for every one knows that he who contributes towards the making a thousand Persons happy is much more good and gracious than he who is kind only to two or three the Grace of God is never a whit the less free for its being extended unto all but as for the Riches of the free Grace of God there 's no Comparison to be made between that which is general and which is particular for the more universally the Grace is extended the more rich in all Respects it is which shews that the Predestinarian Notion of God's intending to be gracious through Jesus Christ but to a few Men to the utter Exclusion of all the rest does but tend to eclipse the Glory of the free and undeserved Grace of God and that which does so must needs be an Error 'T is evident likewise that this Doctrine is an Error from the Practice of those Preachers that profess it for they often declare that God hath committed unto them the Word of Reconciliation and therefore as Ambassadors for Christ they pray the People in Christ's stead to be reconciled unto God that so their former Trespasses may not be imputed unto them 2 Cor. 5.18 19 20. For say they as God has commanded all Men every where to repent Acts 17.30 so we have a Commission to preach Repentance and Remission of Sins to all Nations in the Name of Christ Luke 24.47 but at the same time you never hear them say Beloved don't think that by this we preach that cursed Doctrine of Universal Redemption by Christ as if by what he has done for Mankind all were put into a new Capacity of obtaining Life eternal no we declare the contrary that tho by us God does command all Men every where to repent yet by his eternal Decree he has made it impossible for all those to repent which are not first elected we may exhort you all to repent indeed because we don't know who are elected and who are not but if there be none of the Elect among you our Exhortations will all be in vain for the Non-elect cannot come to Christ that they may have Life tho he bids all come that are weary and heavy-laden that they may find Rest to their Souls Mat. 11.29 No Man I say ever heard a Predestinarian Preacher speak thus but thus they ought to speak were their Practice answerable to the Principles which they hold but their not doing so evidently shews that this Doctrine is repugnant to the true Office and Duty of a Minister and for that very Reason ought by all Men to be rejected as an Error Of FREE-WILL The Predestinarians teach that God has not given unto Man such a Freedom and Power of Will as does enable him either to do or not to do what he requires of him for they say that as one part of Men are reprobated and the other are elected so he will unavoidably make them righteous whom he decrees to save and as unavoidably make them wicked whom he decrees to damn for as God has decreed the End of Men whether it be Salvation or Damnation so he has decreed the Means that shall bring them thereunto these things say they are not left to their own Choice neither is it in their own Power to be that which God has not absolutely determined them to But this Notion is contrary also to Scripture and Reason and is therefore an Error The general Importance of the Scriptures does make it evident that Man is a Being to whom God has given such Powers as do sufficiently enable him either to do the Will of God or else to disobey it and therefore we are exhorted to give all Diligence to make our Calling and Election sure 2 Pet. 1.10 and to work out our Salvation with fear and trembling Phil. 2.12 and to labour to enter into that Rest Heb. 4.11 and to cleanse our selves from all Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit 2 Cor. 7.1 and to cast away from us all our Transgressions and make us new Hearts and new Spirits Ezek. 18.31 And to the same purpose St. James presses those to whom he wrote saying Cleanse your Hands ye Sinners and purify your Hearts ye double-minded Jam. 4.8 All which do clearly imply that God has given Men a Power to do his Will else he would not exhort them to do it as we see he has done and if he exhorts all Men to do this and yet they all do not do it as we see they do not this is a plain Proof on the other hand that they have a Power to disobey And indeed the Divine Law of God is a clear and demonstrative Proof that the Will of Man is free for it would be in vain to oblige Men by a Law to do one thing and not to do another if there were a natural Necessity that Men must do these things As there is no place then so neither is there any need of an Obligation where there is
Church and Nation FINIS Books printed for Richard Cumberland at the Angel in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1696. THe Government of the Thoughts a presatory Discourse to the Government of the Tongue In Octavo Price 1 s. 6 d. Reform'd Devotions in Meditations Hymns and Petitions for every Day in the Week and every Holiday in the Year Divided into two Parts The fourth Edition Price 2 s. 6 d. A brief and plain Exposition of the Church-Catechism compos'd for the Use of a Private Shool Erected and maintained at the Cost and Charges of several Charitable Persons belonging to the New Church in Westminster By Thomas Jekyll D. D. The second Edition Price 9 d. An Essay concerning friendly Reproof explaining clearly the Nature Excellency and Usefulness of it Proving both from Reason and Revelation that it is an indispensable Duty And laying down very plain Rules concerning the properest Methods both of giving and receiving it c. Price 1 s. 6 d. Serious Reflections on Time and Eternity with some other Subjects moral and divine To which is annex'd an Appendix concerning the first Day of the Year how observed by the Jews and may best be employed by a serious Christian With an Exhortation to Youth to prepare for Judgment The third Edition certected and very much enlarged Price 1 s. 6 d. Sacramental Discourses on several Texts before and after the Lord's Supper with a Paraphrase upon the Lord's Prayer The second Edition Boty by Mr. John Shower Price 1 s. 6 d. The Batchelor's Directory Being a Treatise of the Excellence of Marriage Of its Necessity and the Means to live happy in it Together with an Apology for the Women against the Calumnies of the Men. The second Edition Price 1 s. 6 d. Horological Disquisitions concerning the Nature of Time and the Reasons why all Days from Noon to Noon are not alike twenty four Hours long In which appears the Impossibility of a Clock's being always kept exactly true to the Sun With Tables of Equation and newer and better Rules than any yet extant how thereby precisely to adjust Royal Pendulums and keep them afterwards as near as possible to the apparent Time With a Table of Pendulums shewing the Beats that any Length makes in an Hour A Work very necessary for all that would understand the true Way of rightly managing Clocks and Watches By John Smith C. M. To which are added The best Rules for the Ordering and Use both of the Quick-Silver and Spirit Weather-glasses And Mr. S. Watson's Rules for adjusting a Clock by the Fixed Stars Price 1 s. An Essay for Regulating of the Coin Wherein also is set forth first How we have lost that Import of Plate and Bullion we formerly had Secondly What is become of the great Quantities of Money coined in the Reign of King Charles II. and the preceding Reigns Thirdly The necessity there is at this Time for to rectify the present Coin of the Kingdom Fourthly By what Methods the Church of calling in the present Money and bringing it to a designed Standard may be accomplished Fifthly Whether the Method proposed for the advancing of our Money and the Bullion of which it 's made be convenient or inconvenient for the Trade of the Nation The second Edition with an additional Proposition By A. V Price 6 d. The Proposal for the Raising of the Silver Coin of England from 60 Pence in the Ounce to 75 Pence considered with the Consequences thereof Price 3 d. Lately Published A Scriptural Catechism Or The whole Duty of Man laid down in express Words of Scripture chiefly intended for the Benefit of the younger Sort. Divided into two Parts The first containing the chief Principles of our Christian Belief The second instructing us in our Duty to God and Man according to the Method observed in the Excellent Book intituled The whole Duty of Man To which is added some private Devotions in express Words of Scripture With devour Collects for several Occasions Recommended by the Right Reverend Father in God Edward Lord Bishop of Gloucester An Account of one Ann Jefferies now Living in the County of Cornwall who was fed for six Months by a small sort of Airy People call'd Fairies And of the strange and wonderful Cures she performed with Salves and Medicines she received from them for which she never took one Penny of her Patients In a Letter from Moses Pitt to the Right Reverend Father in God Dr. Edward Fowler Lord Bishop of Gloucester An Antidote against some Principal Errors of the Predestinarians A Work designed for the Information of the Common People