beheld all the sons of men even so beheld and looked upon them with an eye of pitty and compassion as that he hath looked out for himself a Lamb for a burnt-offering to take away their Sin and so bring in Grace and Salvation to them as the same Word is used Gen. 22.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where it is rendred So to look as to provide and thence the Name of that place Jehovah Iireh Vers 14 and then it follows from the place of his habitation or dwelling which is properly and in the truth of it Christ as having Dyed for all men he is raised again ascended and glorified he as so considered as one that hath performed his will in Suffering for us is the habitation of God's holiness his beloved one in whom his Soul delighteth and where it hath pleaseth him that all fulness should dwell even all the fulness of the Godhead bodily from thence even in and through him as having done his will he looketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hath consideratively looked or set his heart to take care of and for them upon all the inhabitants of the Earth As he looked down with pity upon them at first to consider their misery and provide them a Saviour so now having taken up his rest and dwelling in him he through him yet again beholds them to take care of them and to extend his goodness and favour to them to load them with his benefits and afford them discoâ— veries of his Truth and then He fashâ— oneth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He is fashioning or is thâ— fashioner of their hearts together oâ— alike 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in his beholding them dispenâ—sing his goodness and truth to them diâ—covering his Being Power Goodness thâ— vanity of the World and of their Lives and all things here below c. He is secretly convincing them and by his goodness leading and drawing them to and after or toward himself in his Son to repent to grope and feel after him and seek him who is not far from any one oâ— us and so is in like manner or together one with another and one as well as another framing and fashioning their hearts even towards himself who is one and in meeting with or coming to whom they would be together and then it follows He considers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mindeth understandingly takes notice of all their work When he hath framed or frames their hearts even the heart of all the Sons of men or Inhabitants of the Earth in their several times together to one object himself as in Christ his dwelling place or aliâ—e as to the manner of his framing them then and not till then he considers their Works and minds how they work whether they yield up to him in his framings of them to work and walk in them or in that truth and goodness by which he is working and framing them or else to rebel against him and then it follow No King is saved by the multitude of an Host a mighty man is not delivered by much strength an Horse is a vain thing for safety neither shall be deliver any by his great strength Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him upon them that hope in his Mercy to deliver their Soul from Death c. As if he should say upon the Lords framing their hearts a like or together though he leads and draws all men one way yet minding their works there is there great difference some of them withdrawing rebelling or resisting his grace and Spirit and smothering the truth in unrighteousness are chusing their own ways and running to Hosts and Horses and Chariots and to their own strength to creatures Idols which are vain and therein are disallowed of God and meet with disapprovement and destruction but others in his framing their hearts chuse the fear of the Lord â—nd hearkning to his voice do betake themselves to him and to his Mercy to home therein and make him their stay and refuge to own and accept him for their God and Saviour And upon these his eyes are in a further sense to own and take special care of them as his Portion People and inheritance to chuse them to himself and bless them and stand by them in all Conditions 10 deliver their Souls from Death and to keep them alive in Famine when others want and Perish as Isa 65.13 14. According to that in Prov. 1.31.32 33. The refusers of the Lord and of his fear that despise his counsels and set at naught all his Reproofs shall eate the fruit of their own ways and be filled with their own inventions the turning aside of the simple shall slay them and the prosperity of Fools destroy them when who soever hearkneth unto Wisdom in any or every Nation shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from the fear of evil SECT 3. That Gods operations in Men are neither properly Phisical or properly and simply Moral but supernatural having some thing like either in them THere is great contest amongst Men wither God do work Phisically or as a natural Agent or only Morally by swasion and counsel in Men for the converting and regenerating of them That I may cast in my verdeit amongst others towards the deciding that controversy upon which men on both sides lay a great part of the weight of their apprehensions they that are for the Physicalness of them thence argueing their irresistibility and they that are for the Morality of them thence arguing the contrary I shall briefly say 1. That I conceive those terms are not apt and proper to be applyed to Gods Operations for Phisical signifying natural it should imply that they that say he works Physically say he works naturally which must mean either by or according to the nature of the things in which he works but nature being his work and corrupted too since the fall his workings must needs be both distinct from and far above the workings of it or else that he works naturally as opposed to voluntarily or by free Election and choise in himself which is not true neither for though in all his works he according to his own glorious nature and so naturally works most holily righteously wisely c. And it is not possible for him to work otherwise yet in respect of the work it self the matter of it and way of carrying it on he works freely and according to the counsel of his own will as was noted above And again Morally signifies properly after some manner and custome habituated in the subject by often exercise which is not competible with Gods nature and essence But I conceive the mind of that distinction is either as God wrought in his making and giving beings and natures to things or as men work upon one another by arguments and motives perswading to better or other manners in a word whether creatively by introducing by almighty power new species nature principles or the like or whetheâ—
of blessing and good through Jesus Christ And so on the other-side when a Righteous Man or People as the Believing Gallatians while they ran well Ezek. 33.13 Gal. 3.4 4.11 5.3.4 with 4.8 9. and were known of God were turned from their Righteousness they miss and deprive themselves of the good purposed to Righteous Men under which they were while Righteous Christ shall now profit them nothing God's purpose toward them is Changed without any Change in the purpose it self for it is not the same purpose they were under before that now they are under but another the purpose of Evil which stands unalterably towards Evil Doers to which they be now changed They now persisting in their Evil way to which they have turned must expect to meet with the Evil and Death purposed against such as do Evil and continue therein Yea this change of purpose proceeds from the immutability of God's Counsels and purposes and not from any changeableness in his purposes as in themselves even as the unchangeable nature of the Sun in giving forth his Light produces different Effects in the Eye that 's changed refreshes the same being sound which it Afflicts being sore Mens changes from Sin to Grace or the contrary bring them under different unchangeable purposes not God's different purposing towards them as personally considered brings them into different States In this Dialect the Lord speaks in Jer. 18.7 8 9. if that Nation turns from their Evil I will repent of the Evil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which I thought or purposed to do to them So Jer. 26.3 If they will hearken and turn every man from his evil way that I have repented me of the evil that I 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 purpose to do to them because of the evil of their doings Where both his purpose of Evil against them is expresled to respect their evil doings and is represented as reversible because not absolutely against those persons as persons but against evil doers generally as such and against those particular evil Men in such a particular way onely as such evil doers The like is in Jer. 36.3 also Hitherto we might refer that notable passage of God to Eli 1 Sam. 2.30 And the Case of Nineveh Yea what is herein said is agreeable to and confirmed by what is said of writing Mens Names in the Book of Life and Blotting them out being but allusive Expressions signifying the same in substance with what I have here said which being expresly and plainly spoken to in the former part Chap. 5. Sect. 2. I shall thither refer the Reader for it as also hither I might refer that Phrase of God's breaking Numb 44.34 Which some render breach of Promise or alteration of purpose but seeing neither the Word Promise nor Purpose be in the Hebrew Text I shall pass it SECT 7. Of God's purposes as they concern his Dispensations of the means of Grace or Truth of God to Men that they might know and believe it WHat we have hitherto said concerns for the most part the contents of the Gospel-Doctrine and the things Asserted therein and the Judiciary and Retributive Acts and Works of God But the purposes of God as mentioned in the Distinction were more properly such as respect or concern his Dispensations of the knowledge of that Object or Truth of God to Men and h◠dealings with them in order to their knowledge and Faith of it that they might be Saved thereby and so respect his Distributive Acts as distinguished from Retributive and such Distributions too as pertains to Mens Knowledge of and Faith in God which are more clearly distinct from the Faith Truth or Doctrine the Knowledge and Faith whereof is to be and is distributed Though our knowledge of those purposes too is to be ordered or had by what is said of them in the Scriptures which also declare the Gospel-Doctrine and by the Gospel-Doctrine it self so as no apprehension of them that clashes with that can be right Now those purposes are more primarily and properly irrespective and absolute in regard of any previous dispositions found eyed or considered in the persons to whom such Dispensations are or were purposed except of Sin or misery and helplesness rendring such Dispensations needful to them in order to their Knowledge Faith Conversion or usefulness to other Men except in some cases when God gives or dispenses more to them that have by way of use or improvement of what was first and before dispensed meerly out of Mercy and irrespectively to any such goodness found in them and so accordingly purposed to give to such havers or improvers of Fore-given Talents according to that Matth. 13.12 To him that hath shall be given and he shall have more abundance and except in other contrary cases when God takes away former Dispensations or with-holds further Dispensations and so purposed to take away and with-hold in consideration of Neglect to receive or improve former Dispensations according to that From him that hath not shall be taken away even what he hath as God purposed in fore-sight of the Jews not receiving the Gospel to take away the Gospel from them Yea Matth. 21.43 and what Mercies and Dispensations they injoyed before the fuller coming forth of the Gospel to them Rom. 1.21 28. with 2.4 5. Act. 14.17 And purposed to give up the Gentiles for not likeing to retain God in their Knowledge to a mind void of Judgment or to walk in their own ways though yet not without mixture of Mercies bearing Witness of Himself his Being Power and Goodness provoking them to grope after Him and leading them to Repentance during the day of his Patience and purposed to send strong delusions amongst Men that had his Gospel amongst them 2 Thess 2.10 11 12. but received not the love of it that they might be Saved These purposes for dispensing to men his means of grace and grace with the means or withholding his Dispensations from them were indeed respective too being concerning Dispensations of a Retributive or rewarding nature Otherwise his purposes of first preventing men with his grace or the means of it are irrespective as to any good found in them or evil rewarded or punished by him and therefore are meerly according to his good pleasure both as to the manner and measure of his Dispensations And so are his purposes for dispensing and distributing to men grace or means of grace together with and during the time of his Retributing Judgments and Punishments for their neglects and abuses of former means and mercies he usually dispensing and so surely he purposed to dispense much mixture of grace and goodness leading to Repentance Eph. 1.9 11. even with his Judgments and with-holdings of some higher Dispensations from them while he is yet in Measure debating with men and waiting to be gracious to them And his purposes concerning these Dispensations both in the one consideration and the other are very different To some
observed the Passover in remembrance of their deliverance out of Egypt and as a type of his own suffering presently to follow and of the Redemption of mankind thereby The matter and outward rites of it namely the taking blessing breaking and giving Bread to his Disciples bidding them to take and eat it and telling them it was his Body broken for them as likewise his taking and blessing the Cup or Wine and bidding them drink it telling them that Cup was the New Testament in his Blood being also dear significations of his Body broken for 〈◊〉 and his Blood shed for us as he also himself informeth us and the end of it being by himself expressed to be the remembrance of him what more clear than that our Lord and Saviour hereby sets before us that he Christ as come in â—he flesh and his Body as broken with sorrows and sufferings for our sins to the Death is the true Bread of Life and that the believing mindfulness thereof and of the love testified therein is the way for us to be nourished up in the hope of Eternal Life and to be strengthned to serve God by him and suffer with and for him And also that his blood as shed his Sufferings and Sacrifice as indured and presented unto God for us and hath obtained for us the remission of our sins and confirmed the promises of God for giving us forgiveness the Holy Spirit and Eternal Life and the love and grace of God and Christ therein testified towards us is Drink indeed fit to exhilerate and chear the heart more than the choisest Wine and to fill it with Spiritual Consolations As also that he would hereby instrict us to love one another as Brethren and as he hath loved us walking together as partakers of the same grace and laying down our selves for the good of one another as he hath given us example Neither doth this Ordinance witness to any goodness in us though we in eating and drinking together in remembrance of Christ do therein profess our belief of those things therein set before us and oblige our selves to cleave to him and one another but rather of our want and sitter inability to live in the favour and service of God but by the faith of Jesus and so by him as yielding therein conâ—â—â—al nourishment and strength to us And therefore also though it behoves men to come and Eat and Drink worthily meetly and so as becomes the grace in the Ordinance set before us even Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ that is to say to have our hearts minding the grace set before us and to consider and owne our own vileness and unworthiness as therein discovered to us that we may neither be puft up in our selves or Eat by virtue of any goodness or worthiness found in us or be puft up one against another yet it is to be exposed to and pertook of by all that profess the Name of Christ and that seek salvation by him being capable of discerning the Lords Body and the grace therein set before them in some measure and so of examining themselves according thereunto Yea the Baptised and Professors of Christs Name are to be instructed and called upon to remember the grace of God in Christ towards them and not because of weakness to be kept there from for which we have no president to warrant us only in case any after profession of Christ and desire to seek him do walk scandalously such are to be withdrawn from and may be secluded for a time till they be ashamed and confess their fault and at least profess repentance of the same as well for their amendmendment as also to vindicate the Society of Worshippers from the scandal of alowing and tolerating evil doers in their prophaness and evil living This Ordinance also instituted but the night before Christs suffering is to be continued till his coming again even till he come in the Clouds of Heaven to raise the Dead and to take his Servants into fellowship with himself in his Glorious Kingdom in which they shall be ever with him and eat and drink of his Consolations with him for ever Till then his Death never to be forgotten nor then neither because of the great Testimony of His and his Fathers Love and the great Procurer of all our good and happiness but till then it is in this Ordinance to be remembred and shewed forth by us And these two Ordinances Baptism and the Supper are what he hath appointed to us since his coming in the flesh to be generally observed and practised by us his Death and Resurrection having put a period at least as to us Gentiles to all the rest before observed by the Jews As for prayer and thanksgiving and the like they were in force at all times and so will be at least till Christs coming again if not after also its sure thanksgiving will And its clear they have as now to be performed their foundation in Christ and what he hath done and is become for us and are to be offered up through him unto God in and by his Spirit but because these are not instituted with any visible Rites to signifie the Grace of Christ to us except kneeling and lifting up our hands and eyes to Heaven be judged such which yet are not commanded though commendably practised implying our â—â—se of our own vileness and our humbling of our selves before God and hope in his mercy but rather are exercises that the sense of our own wants and belief of Gods goodness and grace leads us as it were naturally to I shall not say any thing more to them but after I have a little digressed to take notice of the rabuses of these Ordinances too generally through mistake observable in all ages I shall speak a little of the other way of Gods witnessing to his truth and so conclude this Chapter also SECT 9. Of the too General mistake of the mind of God in his Ordinances and mens abuse of them in all Ages ZEal is good if it be ordered with discretion and guided by right judgement and understanding otherwise it is very hurtful it being like fire which kept within its bounds and discreetly ordered is very useful but out of its due place is often very damageable kept within the Hearth it 's serviceable but in the Thatch destructive Now zeal is then right and profitable when it springs from and is ordered by the knowledge of God 〈◊〉 and Christ and so is mainly for and 〈◊〉 bout the great matters of his Law Judâ—ment and the Love of God as Luke 11. 〈◊〉 but when those things are not known regarded but the eagerness of the Spiâ— is exercised and spends it self about thâ— superstructures and matters of lesser mâ—ment it produces no good Fruit but tenâ— to much Confusion onely And yet heâ— generally hath this been and yet is thâ— way of the World even of those that wâ— be or seem to be some bodies
the Earth But SECT 5. How and in what sense the foresaid operations of hardning blinding c. are Attributed unto God and how he worketh in and unto them LEt us view now how or after what manner God may be said to harden blind deceive men and turn their heart to hate his people as Psal 105.25 tho that might be rendred their heart returned to hate his people 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as in Exod. 14.5 Their heart was turned against the People Seeing it is said That God is not a God that hath pleasure in iniquity he hates the workeâ— of it Psal 5.4 5. Ezek. 33.11 and he himself swears that he hath no pleasure in the Death of the wicked namely that they should continue in their Sins and dye but rather that they should turn and live Surely they are not his operations properly and directly aâ— those of his mercy in drawing men to himself and framing them to his mind 〈◊〉 but by a kind of indirect permissive accidental operation as the Sun may be said to cause darkness by leaving the Horizon or to make men blind that look against it and not by it or the like 〈◊〉 yet they are ascribed to God because against his will setting it self to hindâ— them effectively they could not be wrought or because also it is with 〈◊〉 will as a just and righteous thing that such things as hardness blindness deceâ— should befal them for their punishment by running therethrough upon their own Calamities and because they are occasioned by something properly and directly wrought and done by him we may say that by such ways as these God may be said to do them 1. By permitting leaving and giving to men to themselves and to their own imaginations and lusts to be hardned by them not giving forth his grace any further as to such and such a particular or in a total hardning not at all to hinder and keep them back from such hardness and blindness but letting them have their wills and liberty to follow after their â—wn devices and purposes and so to run themselves into desperate stiffness of heart against God and his counsels as in Psal 81.11.14 Israel would none of me So I gave them up to their own hearts lusts and they walked in their own counsels And so the Gentiles becoming vain in their own imaginations and not likeing to retain or have God in their Knowledge God give them up to vile affections and to a mind void of Judgment Rom. 1.21 25 26 28. And so as the Sun going from us causes darkness so Christ who is the Light of the World hiding himself from a people it follows upon it Joh. 12.39 40 42. that their â—ryes are blinded and he hath blinded their eyes namely by taking away his Light from them not by imparting or â—utting malice into them but by withdrawing his mercy from them as Augustine well says Non impartiendo malitiam sed non impertiendo misericordiam 2. By giving leave and commission permissively to Satan to enter into them as it were and possess them with lying and false imaginations hopes and fears and so to deceive Job 1. and blind and harden them So the Lord took away all that Job had by permitting 2 Sam. 24.11 with 1 Chron. 21.1 1 King 22.20 21 22 23. and giving leave to Satan to do it And he is said to have moved David against Israel to say Go number the people in letting Satan provoke David to it So he hardned Ahabs heart by giving leave or commission to a lying Spirit to intice him to go to Ramoth Gilead by promising him by the mouth of his false Prophets success and prosperity in his so doing And he may be said to have deceived those Prophets not by his Spirit dictating any deceit to them far be it from us so to Blaspheme him but by giving way and leave to the False Spirit to enter into them and deceive them as in the same way he is said to send men strong Delusions that they may believe a lye c. namely by letting Satan who is forward to such work 2 Thess 2.10 11 12. if permitted bring strong Delusions to men and insinuate them into their sancies as he might be said to * Mark 5.12 13. with Math. 8.31 32. Luk. 8.32 33. send the unclean Spirit into the Herd of Swine when upon their desire of it he gave them leave to go 3. By ordering such good and holy Providences to men as by which their hearts especially if left to themselves and Satan will take occasion to harden â—lind and stiffen themselves in their resolutions for Sin and against God So his very suffering the Magicians to do such â—ings by their Inchantments as Moses and â—aron did by his Finger or ordering Moses and Aaron to do such things as they could do the like occasion'd Pharaoh to 〈◊〉 light by those Judgments yea his gradous readiness to remove the Judgment and give respite to Pharaoh so easily at his promise of doing better and intreaty of Moses to pray for him hardned â—baraoh ' heart or rather as the Apostle says Rom. 2.4 5. He after his hardness and impenitency despising or looking overly upon God's easiness to be intreated and so upon his goodness and long-suffering which should have moved him to Repentance hardned his heart against God and treaâ—red up wrath to himself against a day of Wrath according to that in Psal 50.21 These things hast thou done and I kept silence thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a me as thy self c. And that in Eccles 8.11 Because sentence against an evil doer is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the Sons of Men is fully set that is is hardned and made obstinate in them to do evil So that accidentally and eventually God's goodness and forbearance to them hardens them and blinds them because they take boldness thence-through their wickedness to presume to Sin yet more and becoming 〈◊〉 in their imaginations blind themselves and are made uncertain whither God dislike their ways or not or whither there be any God or providence of God because he doth not punish the evil of their ways Again by ordering Israel to march through the Wilderness where according to probability it might be thought they would be intangled and so by ordering a kind of Tryal to Pharaoh whether by all his fore-past Judgments he would yet stand in awe of him seeing he would yet hold fast his covetous design of enriching himself by their bondage He also permitted Satan to put into his heart such a thought that now he might have a good advantage to force them back and so he was strengthned and animated to pursue after them to his Destruction And so God turned the hearts of the Aegyptians to hate his people by ordering such blessings and multiplication to his People as provoked them being evil to envy and fear them and then permitting them