and supernaturall there 's a great pronenesse in creatures to Revolt from it like a Rolling stone on the steep of a hill The Remains of old nature would torrent-like bear down all if Sovereign Power did not barr up the One and sustain the Other For a spark of Divine nature to live in the brest of a lapsed Creature is as great a miracle and as high an effect of Sovereign Power as all the Instances before enumerated and More Lastly The Sovereignty of God is most glorious and adorable in Ordaining His own son who was holy harmless undefiled and seperate from sinners and was also United to the Second Person to be the Mediator and to make His soul an offering for sin And then in His Eternal disposing of Mens everlasting condition To shew or not to shew Mercy unto Men equally dignified or rather Indignified in themselves To make of the same lump one Vessel to honour and another to dishonour is the highest act and demonstration of Sovereign power concerning Men Which thing when ever we hear of or think upon we should put our mouths in the dust Before I come to the Inferences I would add a Caution or two to prevent those sinister deductious which our deceitfull hearts may be apt to draw from this Sovereign Truth First Caution 1. See that you make not God the Author of sin by charging His sacred Decrees with Men's Miscarriages as if they were the Cause or Occasion of them which we are sure they are not nor can be any more than the Sun is the cause of darkness Be it alwaies remembred That the Lord's Rejecting of Men puts nothing of evil into them Nor necessitates the will It only leaves them to their own wayes which they freely choose yet Banking them in and stopping them up as He did the Fountains of the Great Deep lest they Deluge the World with sin Secondly Go not about to palliate Nor think to extenuate your sin by Arguments fetcht from those Decrees That sin of the Iews in Crucifying Christ was in no wise lessened because the Councel of God had determin'd the thing to be done For they perpetrated it with wicked hands Nor is any Man's Unbelief e'r the less culpable from God's Eternal disposement of Mens conditions For it is not upon that consideration that they stumble at the Word or turn the deaf ear to it or resist it but from their own natural blindness and enmity against it And so I come to the Inferences And First Infer 1. From the Scriptures so copiously holding it forth I infer That the Doctrine of God's Sovereignty is a very teaching Doctrine and full of instruction and consequently that it is both a Duty and much for our Profit to be well acquainted with it And great confidence I have That the farther ye go in an humble fiducial disquisition and contemplation of it the clearer will be the Reason thereof and the more usefulness will still appear to be in it Let Reason but keep its own place that is let it work by the Rules of Right Reason and nothing will be more consonant thereto than that the Most High should bear rule over all and Do according to his Will and that Men who are Atoms of Clay animated by his breath should own Him for their Sovereign Lord and accordingly submit to Him yea though so it were that our own personal welfare were not concerned in it It will be of singular Use and Moment to us in the whole of our lives Nothing like this will allay those carnal Reasonings which are so unreasonably prone to put in their Verdict of spiritual things which yet Carnal Reason hath no cognisance of and will indeed be silenced by nothing else The Apostle therefore in Rom. 9. ver 19 20 21. thinks them not worthy a further Reply whose captious Enquiries the Sovereignty of God will not satisfy A second Inscrence Infer 2. which naturally flowes from this Doctrine is that of the Psalmist Oh come let us Worship and bow down Ps 95. 6. and kneel before the Lord our Maker Let us give Him the glory of this great Attribute by a Real and Practical Owning that indispensible bond of obedience which it layes upon every Creature We are highly obliged by it both in point of subjection and in point of faith 1. In point of subjection to His Laws Ordinances Providences First For the Lawes of God and His Appointments These we are to attend Job 22. 3. 35. 7. observe obey I cannot say For the Lord hath need of them For neither can our Righteousness profit Him nor our wickedness impair Him He that is Wise is wise for himself but do it because the Lord hath commanded Ps 9. 1â— He is the Lord thy God and worship thou Him Pro. 45 11. This is that strong Reason by which He hath backed both Commands and Prohibitions Exod. 20. 2. I am the Lord thy God Thou shalt doe thus And thus thou shalt not doe I am the Lord This he sets in the front of All and with this He closeth the Râ—re and Guards them on every side Moses brings it in as a convincing Reason why we should love God with our whole heart and keep his Commandments namely because he is the Lord and He onely Deut. 6. 4. No One therefore may pretend to a right of giving Laws to Men or to an interest in their love and obedience save with respect to God and the authority they have from Him And though He is sometimes pleased and it is a great condescention in the great God by arguments taken from our own Good to draw us to obedience Do it for it is your life Deut. 32. 47. yet in our spirits That of His Sovereignty and Glory ought to have the preference To cast out Ishmael was a thing grievous to Abraham but being Commanded of God he debates it Not Nor delayes to do it Therefore hold on your way though never so great Obscurity be upon it at present Minde your duty in the midst of discouragements Do as Peter who though he had labour'd all night and caught Nothing yet Master At thy command I will let down the Net again 2 Be subject to His Ordinances If He please to Command the using such Meanes Lâ—ke 5. 5. as have no Natural virtue towards such an effect as in Moses stretching his hand over the Sea and smiteing the Rock with his Rod so Water in baptism Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper Presume not to say What is there in these Godliness is a Mystery which onely faith can understand There is no Divine Institution but hath Meat in it that you know not of which if rightly used will speak for it self If He please to make Clay of Dust and spittle Contemn it not but submit to His Will and way and be thankfull for thy Cure Iudges 12 â— with Ch. 16. 1â— Sampsons hair was an Ordinance to him
make effectual for that End As is seen in His sending Paul to certain places where he must preach and not hold his peace Why because God had much People in that City i. e. Many of His Elect Ones were there who must be brought in by Paul's Ministry Bythinia and other places he is not suffered to go into though he would God had not yet any Work for him there Those that are to be taken the Lord will bring under the Means as He did that Shoal of Fishes under Peters Net Witness the Eunuch Joh 21. 6. Cornelius the Jailour and others And this Means whether Powerful or Simple in Men's esteem â—tis all one to God His word shall accomplish That He sends it for and the weaker the Means are the more is the Power of God magnified Act. 2. 9 10 11 41 47. See Acts 2. How by Illiterate Mens Ministry He took them by thousands and added to His Church daily such as should be saved So then the Ministry of the Gospel is in no wise made useless or disesteemable by the doctrine of Absolute Election but is rather Greatened thereby as being the Power of God to that Salvation He hath Chosen us to Of what great consequence to the World are the Richest Gifts of Wisedom Knowledg Vtterance c. if all thâ—se who are in any possibility of being saved by them may and shall as certainly be saved without them That the Richest gifts of Wisdom Knowledge Utterance are of no great consequence to the World is no Consequent of the Doctrine of Absolute Election For They are given for the Perfecting of the Saints and edifying the Body of Christ that is The Elect And all the diversities of Gifts Manifestations and Operations do concur to the same End Since it is the same God who Worketh all in all that is He appoints Men to Salvation These Gifts as a Means to prepare them for it and Makes them Effectual thereto But that those richest Gifts of Wisedom Knowledge and Utterance are of no great use or consequence to the World is a very 〈◊〉 Consequent of that Doctrine which tells the World that the Sun Moon and Stars do preach the Gospel sufficiently for Salvation Which if they do wherein indeed are those Richest Gifts to be esteemed And to what end is this waste Why should the best of Men suffer Stripes Imprisonments and Death for doing That which might be done by those above the reach of danger And withal 't is too well known and obvious That Men of greatest Knowledge Utterance and depth of Reason such as are stiled the Princes of this World They are not alwaies Nay very rarely the fastest Friends of Truth and Godlinâ—ss And those Few that are are not alwayes most successeful in their Work Eccles 9. 11. When as Some others meanly furnished in comparison 2 Cor. 10. 10. with Acts 17. 6. have Turned the World upside-down The Lord oft-times rejects the Wise and Prudent and reveals himself by Babes To take from men occasion of boasting and to make it appear that the Faith of His People doth not stand in the Wisdom of Men 1 Cor. 2. 5. but Power of God Vpon what account can Men be pressed to a frequent diligent conscientious attendance on the Ministry if Salvation and consequently Preparation and Meetness for Salvation shall as certainly be had by a broken careless superficial attendance in this kind On what account did the Lord so frequently admonish that People To keep the Law without turning aside To Circumcise their hearts and to be no more stiff-necked and this as the Condition of their obtaining Canaan if all their unworthyness could not deprive them of Canaan which the Author of this Objection elsewhere affirms it could not But further As Men are Creatures it is their duty to serve and honour God and in order thereto to wait upon Him in His Ordinances and that with all diligence although the business of their Salvation were not concerned in it but much more since it is if any thing of Self-Concern may enforce a Duty And truly the present sweetness that is in the wayes of God is Argument sufficient to induce our most serious attendance thereon But that Salvation or Meetness for Salvation may as certainly be had by a careless Attendance is far from the Doctrine of Absolute Election to Assert For it presseth it still as an important duty to give all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure But really Remisness in duty is the natural result of that Doctrine which teacheth That a Man possibly may lose all he hath run-for at the last step For who will strain and toil himself as they term it for an uncertainty And if there be any such who neglect their duty because if Elected they are sure to be saved they give but a sorry evidence of their state And they are commonly such as most eagerly oppose the Doctrine of Election and not of those who hold for it Such an Election as we contend against we judge to be most unworthy the most excellent Nature of God and to be at manifest defiance with His Wisdom Holiness Mercy Justice c. If the Election contended against be such as the Objectors Arguments are pointed at It is such as I suppose was never held by any And then 't is ill-spent time to set up Counterfeit Notions and make a great business of confuting them But it is Absolute Election without respect to Mens Works that is striven against And for this we say 1. Absolute Election is no way contrary to the wisdom of God but most consonant thereto For how can it stand with His Wisdom to determine the death of His Son for the Salvation of Men and leave it undetermin'd and consequently uncertain whether any one person shall have Salvation by it 2. It is so far from being at manifest defiance with the Mercy of God that it is most congruous and suitable to the very nature of it To shew Mercy is To open the heart to one in distress To love and do good to Enemies whom he might as justly have destroyed and was no way oblig'd to spare much less to advance them Nay perhaps they were deeplier involv'd in guilt than other Men even the Chief of sinners which is sure the highest illustration of Mercy and farr from a manifest defiance with it 3. It doth not oppose the Justice of God For to whom is He Debtor or can be All had a stock in Adam and having lost it by their own default God is not obliged to Restore it Therefore no Injustice to Repair One and not Another Doth it argue any Sovereign or high strain of Grace when Ten Thousand have equally offended to pardon oâ—e or two and implacably resolve to punish and torment all the Rest to the utmost extremity And this against all possible interveniency of Sorrow and Repentance for their fault It were very desirable that men whiles they suppose to
if left to the wisdom of Men. But I shall not doubt to affirm That this Doctrine of Election's Absoluteness is much afore-hand with that which teacheth it to be Conditional both in point of Encouragement and otherwise And that as well Afore believing as Afterwards 1. Before a Man comes to believe supposing him to be Notionally instructed therein Before For being under conviction of the Greatness and Multitude of his Sins and finding the power of indwelling corruption so Insuperable Having also a sight of the Holiness of God It needs must prove a difficult Matter to believe that there is Mercy and Pardon for such a One as he Or that ever those domineering lusts should be made to submit But then considering 1. That Electing Love pitches on the Chief of Sinners 2. That it flowes not from nor is sounded upon any condition to be performed by Men And 3. That Election has in it All that conduceth to life and Godliness These things I say considered it cannot but have a farr greater influence on the Soul to cleave unto God and follow hard after Him than if his Election were suspended upon his Doing that which he finds in himself no power to pâ—rform For he sees by woful and yet through Grace happy Experience That as the Law is made weak through the weakness of the flesh so also setting aside the Absoluteness of Electing love all the meanes of Grace which are given in Common among Men would be wholly ineffectual to Salvation Which difficulties Electing love in the Absoluteness of it will Supersede and set him above them all 2. After a man comes to Believe this Doctrine of Absolute Election is of singular use and benefit to him both as tending to keep him on his feet and to raise him when he is down 1 It is a great Preservative in time of Temptation The Remembrance of that love which looked upon him when he was in his blood and said he should live and hath now also made good its Word to him must needs operate strongly with a gratious heart against what ever might be unworthy of such love Let the bait be never so aptly suited he will turn from it in a holy disdain as good Joseph did How can I do this Wickedness Gen 39. 9. and sin against God who hath dealt so bountifully with me 2 Nothing more tends to Recovery after a fall than the Consideration of the Freeness of God's Love at first and His Mighty Power in Quickening when altogether dead And that both these viz. This Love and this Power are engaged by an Absolute Covenant to bring every one that takes hold thereof unto Glory and therefore will receive him not only After upon his Return to his Duty but in the Midst of his backslidings He will come and heal him The Lord's way of dealing with Ephraim ver 17 18. ver 21 22. set down in the 57. of Isaiah is an instance pertinent to the case in hand And in the 44. Chap. He doth as it were Clench and fasten this Nail in a sure place Remember O Jacob I have formed thee Thou shalt not be forgotten of Me I have bloted out thy sins Therefore return unto Me And Jer. 3. 14. Return O backsliding Children for I am married unto you to wit by His Covenant of Election To this purpose also is the edge of Samuel's Argument applied in 1 Sam. 12. 20 22 Fear not ye have done all this wickedness yet turn not aside from following the Lord As if he had said your wickedness indeed is great ye have highly provoked the Lord by your casting Him off yet be not discouraged as if the Lord would therefore cast off you For the Lord will not forsake His people But why Because it hath pleased the Lord to make you His people And in ver 24. he further backs it with the remembrance of the great things God had done for them aforetime Than which there is nothing of stronger tendency to a Soul's recovery III. From the Personality of Election and IV. From the Eternity of its Original I gather in general That since the Scriptures have so highly Renouned these two Circumstantial parts of Election Inference by so frequent a mentioning of them and that on occasions of the solemnest import We ought not to pass them by as things of indifferent notice But as being diversly Instructive Worthy to be kept and soberly contended for The Holy Ghost doth not use to inculcate matters of Ordinary observance or little import But as Noting to us some great importancy in them as taxing also our sloth and aptness to neglect them and to stir up our minds to make the more diligent search What and what manner of things they are and how to be improv'd In particular From the Personality of Election I Infer I. Inference That it ought to be minded as matter of the highest honour to the Parties concern'd The Lord illustrates Moses at no ordinary rate when He tells him I know thee by name and doubtless intended that Moses himself should so account of it and be highly sâ—tisfied therewith though deny'd in some other things he would fain have had Thuâ— also Paul signalizeth those eminent Saints who were his fellow-Labourers in the Gospel Phil. 4. 3. That their names were in the Book of Life And our Saviour propounds it to His Disciples as matter of highest Exultation That their names were written in Heaven That our poor insignificant names should be written in God's book and lâ—id up among His Treasures in Heaven when the Generality of Names even Names of Note are written in the Dust let it not seem a light matter to us Isa 56. 5. For this is that Everlasting Name which never shall be cut-off II. Inference The knowledge of this thing namely that God has thus taken Notice of our Names is a great Priviledge It enlarges the heart to higher expectations it gives boldness or freedom of speech towards God as if Nothing were too great for such a One to ask See how Moses grows upon it No sooner Exod. 33. 17. sayes God I know theeby name But Moses as rapt into the Second and fain would be in the Third Heaven presently replies I beseech thee shew me thy Glory III. Inference As it is matter of Honour and Priviledge So it will prove one of your best Titles to your Heavenly inheritance It will signifie something one day however by some too lightly esteemed Now when it shall be the great distinguishing character between you and the World Whoever he be that derives not his Genealogie from this Register Nehe. 7. 64. will be put from the Heavenly Priest-hood The New Jerusalem admits None Rev. 20 15. but whose Names are written in the Book of life yea every One that is not found written there Ch. 21 27. shall be cast into a lake of fire Therefore Give all diligence to make yâ—ur Election sure IV.
But the difference lyes in this That the New Covenant consists of better Promises And this Betterness stands in the Free Absolute Independent engagement of God Himself to Invest His Covenanted Ones with all things conducing to the Blessedness held forth And that as well what is to be done on their part as on His Own upon their doing of it That is plainly To Give to them and Work in them Whatever in this Covenant He requires of them The law shews matter of Duty but gives not where-with to perform it The Covenant of Grace does both by writing the law in the heart And without this it would still have been but a Covenant of works be the Duties enjoined whatever you will It therefore runs not upon Conditional or Failable terms I will If ye will but Absolute and Sovereign I will and ye shall This Covenant does not only give life upon terms of Believing but Faith also and Holiness as the necessary means of attaining that life And this not upon your ingenuous complyance as some term it or better improvement of what you have in common with other Men such allegations the Lord disallows and often Cautions against but of Grace It 's a Covenant made-up of Promises and Promise by Scripture intendment is alwayes Free both freely made and freely perform'd without the desert or procurement of Men. Take Isaac for instance Abraham's body was now dead Gen. 18. 11. ver 14. and Sarah besides her natural barrenness it ceased to be with her after the manner of Women and yet Sarah shall have a Son But How The Promise had in it though Abraham and Sarah had not whatever might tend to Isaac's conception and birth Gal. 4. 23 28. and for this cause He was called The Son of the Promise as also Believers are Rom. 9. 8. Gal. 3. 29. They are also termed Heirs of Promise Heb. 6. 17. And on this account Christ is called The Promised Seed and the Holy Ghost The Spirit of Promise viz To shew the Independent freeness of those Divine Gifts The Promise of sending them Their actual Coming and Effectual operations are all free and free in all respects This Dew from the Lord waiteth not for Men. Mic. 5. 7. For further illustration the Jews are a pertinent Instance as ye read in Jer. 32. from v. 30. to the 36. They had done nothing but evil from their youth up and were a continual provocation And when scattered among the Nations they were no-whit bettered but caused even the Heathen to blaspheme And yet notwithstanding all this the Lord will Gather them and give them an heart to fear Him for ever v. 37. to v. 44. And this even whiles they were not moved neither could they blush chap. 8. 12. See also with what inexpressible freeness of Grace the Lord deals with them in Isa 43. v. 25. I even I am He that blotteth out thy transgressions and will not remember thy sins But what 's the Introduction to this so great a Promise See it and wonder at it Thou hast not called upon Me O Jacob Miâ— v. 22. ver 23. ver 24. but thou hast been weary of Me O Israel Thou hast not brought Me the small Cattel of thy burnt Offerings Thou hast bought Me no sweet Cane with thy money but hast made Me to serve with thy sins and wearied Me with thine iniquities I even I whom thou hast dealt so ingratefully with Isa 64. 3. and disingenuously even I am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake And this was a Great thing they looked not for As indeed considering themselves and what their demeanour had been they had no Reason to look for it Hence 't is cleer That Grace respects not the worthiness of Men in what It does for them Nay it must respect their Vnworthiness rather as that by which Grace is more illustrated and the glory thereof more advanced according to Rom. 5. 20. Where sin abounded Grace did much more abound And Paul proclaims it as verified on himself 1 Tim. 1. 13. I was a Blasphemer and a Persecutour and Injurious But I obtained Mercy and the Grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant v. 14 and hereupon he falls to Adoring that Grace Now to the King Eternal Immortal Invisible the only wise God be honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen v. 17. The Richeâ— of Mercy is made-out by Saving the Chief of sinners and in quickening us when dead Ephes 2. 1 4. And it is very observable That the Apostles when ever they mention the Grace of God in Saving Quickening c. do not give the least intimation of Mens Worthiness Preparedness Compliance or any such thing but Dead in Sins and Quickening come one in the neck of the other as light does upon darkness which in no sort induces the light or prepares the dark Earth or Ayr for it as is abundantly evident in all their Epistles And how oft and in good earnest does the Lord declare against all the pretensions of Men as to their activeness in this Matter in Isaiah Jeremy Ezekiel Hosea c. And as a barr to those pretensions The Holy People He calls A People sought-out and that He is found of them that sought Him not with many others This I shall end with a very observable Instance within my own Memory and I bring it not in for proof but Illustration I knew a Man who when he came under convictions endeavoured with all his might to stifle them His Convictions grew stronger and he hardned himself against them He saw their tendency but so opposite to it that he resolv'd in express terms He would not be a Puritan what-ever came of it To the Church he must go His Master would have it so But this was his wont To loll oâ—r the seat with his fingers in both his ears Here General or Conditional Grace was surely non-plus'd But a Chosen Vessel must not so be lost Now steps-in Electing Grace and by a casual slip of his Elbows drew-out the stoppers and sent-in a Word from the Pulpit which like fire from Heaven melted his heart and cast it in a New Mould Surely in this the Lord did not wait for the Man's complyance or improvements His work was not Originated thence nor dependent thereon II. II. If all that pertains to Salvation were not given freely Salvation it self should not be of Grace For to him that worketh is the Reward not reckoned of Grace Rom. 4. 4. but of Debt But Salvation is of Grace Ephes 2. 5. By Grace ye are saved And agen v. 8. By Grace ye are saved through Faith Where also lest the adding of Faith should occasion in their esteem a lessening of this Grace or seem to detract from the Freeness of it he cautiously subjoyns That this Faith is the work of that Grace Not of your selves It is the Gift of God For if Grace be perfectly free in Choosing it must be answerably