after this out of Paradise from taking of the Tree of life and in cursing the ground for his sake and laying such a burthen of labour and toyle upon him and pain of travaile upon the woman that in sorrow shee should bring forth her children Especially considering that the promise was made in Paradise while they were in it and before the curse was pronounced except only against the Serpent as by Genesis 3. appeareth And then if it were that Adam was so restored and all children ever since so conceived and born I ask the reason Why they did not from that day wherein the promise was made keep themselves in that estate of blessednesse by depending on the promise with their good and holy wills rather then fall so soon to commit actuall sin and lose all again which they might more possibly have done then they can now recover and be restored a second time seeing there is but one sacrifice for sin as it is written Heb. 10. And if their case bee not much worse now then it was before the promise was made And every child that dieth before it commit actuall sinne farre more happy than any of them If they answer and say as they use to teach and publish that the same sacrifice of Christ being included in the promise extended and doth still since Christ actually suffered to all sinne and sinners in the world of what kinde soever Which they would seem to prove by the words and example of Paul 1 Tim. 2.15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chiefe And so argue and say If Paul were the chief sinner in the world and was received to mercy then so may any other how great a sinner soever But Paul was chiefe of sinners as he saith and was received to mercy Therefore so may any other Ans Here this free-will teacher propounds a very false position at the first in saying That the Sacrifice of Christ extendeth to all sin and sinners in the world of what kind soever And in the next place hee wrongs the Apostle exceedingly in charging him upon his owne words to be the greatest or chiefe of all sinners For although it be true that Christ came into the world to save sinners and that hee died for the ungodly and justifieth the ungodly and the sinner as it is written Rom. 4.5 and 5.6 8. And as Christ saith Ali sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men Matth. 12.31 And that the Sacrifice of Christs death did and doth extend so farre and that Paul was such a chiefe sinner and blasphemer injurious c. and caused others to blaspheme as he saith yet was hee not the greatest or chiefe sinner in the world neither was his sinne and blasphemy the greatest neither doth hee so speake or mean But there was and is a greater sin and blasphemy then his which Christ nameth The blasphemy against the Spirit and saith that it shall not be forgiven in this world nor in the world to come Matth. 12.31 32. And the Apostle Iohn saith that it is not to be prayed for 1 Joh. 5.16 And Christ came not into the world for to save any of these kind of sinners neither dyed he for these nor doth his Sacrifice extend to any of them neither was Paul such a one But as he saith I was received to mercy for I did it ignorantly in unbeliefe Implying plainly that if he had knowne so much as they who set him aworke to persecute knew he could not have been received to mercy They knew what they did as Cain that slew his brother because his own workes were evill and his brothers good and as Judas that knew he betrayed innocent blood And therefore Christ when they crucified him prayed onely for those that knew not what they did Luk. 23.34 And so it is true that Paul was chief of those sinners whom Christ came into the world to save and that he prayed and died for but not of the other If the free will teacher shall say that Peter had knowledge of Christ when he denied him and cursed and sware that he knew him not and yet was forgiven though Christ had said Whosoever shall deny me before men him will I deny before my Father which is in heaven This is true But there are two things to be considered in the unpardonable sinne which wee all ought to understand that is willingnesse of the heart as well as knowledge which was not in Peter he did it of weaknes through feare very unwillingly in his heart and was forgiven And Paul he sinned wllingly and with his heart but very ignorantly and was received to mercy And therefore in describing that great sin unto death he saith by way of exhortation For if we sinne willingly after wee have received the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sinnes but a certain fearfull looking for of judgement and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries Heb. 10.26 27. So that where willingnesse of the heart and knowledge of the truth are both together in persecuting or denying of Christ or his truth that mans sin cannot bee forgiven and Christ will deny him before his Father which is in heaven Such a one was Cain and Esau also that despised his birth-right wherein the promise lay who afterward could find no place for repentance and Iudas who therefore hanged himselfe And such were those Scribes and Pharisees unto whom Christ spake and said Fill ye up the measure of your Fathers yee Serpents ye generation of vipers how can ye escape the damnation of hell Matth. 23. And those who though they knew of the great works which he did and how he had raised Lazarus from the dead yet sought to kill him and Lazarus also and did soon after crucifie him and many more such have been and are So that then there is no such generally Redemption as the free-willer teacheth nor is originall sinne cut off by the promise nor by Christs actuall sufferings nor by the new birth from above But Adam remained wholly polluted by his sinne in respect of nature soule and body and all his posterity are deeply stained therewith unto this day And although children do not presently so soon as they are born act the evill yet the seed is in them which soon sprouts up and brings forth fruit even in the holiest regenerate mens children as experience hath long proved and are under the law of sinne and death else why should God destroy so many thousand thousands of them by the flood and all the children in Sodom of which place he saith If ten righteous be found there I will not destroy it forâ—tenâ— sake Every child therefore must be regenerate from above or it cannot be saved It is true Adam having eaten of the tree of knowledge of good and evill which hee was forbidden upon pain of death to eat of or touch
and hee lying bound to death by that his sinne and by the justice of the law of God which now he knew that stood up as a fiery two-edged sword turning every way against him convincing him more and more of sinne and of death hee being not able possibly to doe the works thereof that from the very first houre after the promise was made he and all in his loines were set out of that unrecoverable estate wherein they lay bound without any remedy and a way prescribed and set before them in and through the same promise whereby to live again so gracious and faire as could not be more That whosoever would but confesse his sinnes unto God and ask mercy like the similitude of the lost Sonne hee should have his sinnes forgiven and bee saved Such a generall Redemption as this was from that houre and so gracious and fair a way was set before all mankinde in generall no one excepted And what sonne in the world could or can desire more of his father against whom he had so rebelliously sinned yet no man by his own wil or power in nature would or could doe this and live again It is true that Adam and Abell and all the children of the promise did attain thereunto but not by their own wills or power And though oftentimes since the promise was made God renewed the same his covenant of mercy and called upon man saying Whosoever is athirst let him come and whosoever will let him come and take of the water of life freely Yet where is the man that of himselfe so thirsteth that of himselfe so willeth and cometh and taketh of the water of Life or was there ever such a man No doubtlesse not one But on the clean contrary such is the hardnesse and stoutnesse of mans heart since hee is become so wise by eating the forbidden fruit that rather then hee will stoop so low as to mourn and weep for his sinnes and confesse them unto God with teares from a truly sorrowfull broken heart and defire mercy and forgivenesse he will doe any thing else take up and submit to any forme of religion though never so strict and painfull entertain any opinion or doctrine that shall come to his eares in pretence of truth though never so erronious perform any outward work of the Law or of the Gospel so farre as Cain and Iudas went or as a Pharisee and hypocrite can goe some way to quiet his guilty conscience and to shun that straight way of the Lord it is so disagreeing to his lofty and prudent minde stubborn and hard heart so naturally given to pride and carnall pleasure as we may see by the experience of the many Sects of religious and sorts of opinions that are amongst us at this day as well as by the superstitions and idolatries that have been and are in the world that so his minde being quieted hee may pleasantly passe his time without repentance and without that faith of Christ which purifieth the heart the birth of water and of the Spirit So that if God should not by his speciall power from heaven like the husbandman that breakes up his fallow ground and then soweth his seed so turn the heart of man from his sinfull pleasures and fulfilling his owne will and doing his own works take away his hard and stony heart and give him a heart of flesh a soft and tender heart and write in the same by his Spirit his covenant of mercy and love as he did unto Adam his first lost sonne and Abell whose sacrifice therefore hee accepted Adam and all his posterity would have perished for ever But God foreseeing all things and having before the foundation of the world chosen of the fore-seen fallen lump of mankind a certain compleat number to save and glorifie did destinate them to be conformed to the image of his Sonne Jesus Christ his first borne and whom he so predestinated them he in his due times called giving them repentance and whom he so called them hee justified through faith and whom he justified them he glorified as it is written Rom. 8.28 29. And as God did thus call and justifie his chosen to Pauls time so hath hee done ever since and will doe to the end of the world that his number may be filled And they that are so predestinated and born of God shall certainly bee saved and none else as Christ hath absolutely affirmed Ioh. 3. What then Shall wee therefore say that God did predestinate the other to doe wickedly and so to perish Nay that followeth not neither did he so any more then he did decree the fall and sinne of Adam and so mans destruction for then God must bee the authour and cause thereof as he is of grace and salvation which may not once be thought Neither have we any more reason to charge God with unmercifulnesse in not saving all men by the new birth from above in and through Christ then we have for his not keeping Adam from falling and saving all that way It is true and it must be acknowledged that God could have done so and that he could also have kept those Angels which fell if it had been the good pleasure of his will as it was not shall wee therefore charge God with unmercifulnesse because he did not keep them and so have saved all both men and Angels Or shall wee make his not keeping them the cause of their fall sinne and destruction Who dares do so or have such a thought Nay Satan himselfe knoweth it to be otherwise and that their fall and destruction is of themselves and mans also of themselves thorough his eavie against them his malice and lies Neither did God ever harden the heart of any man that he should not repent and beleeve the Gospel and be saved or bind their wills or power therefrom by any decree or worke of his at any time nay let all men feare to think such a thing and know that it is his own hardnesse of heart and evilnesse of will that hinders him But this is true that God doth give some men up to their own hardnesse of heart such as having known God and tasted of his bountifulnesse and goodnesse which led them to repentance and reject the same as they whom the Apostle Paul speaketh of Rom. 1.19 20. to verse 32. And so is God said to harden the heart of Pharaoh in giving him up to hisown hardnesse of heart he having seen and known so much of the power and goodnesse of God and rejecting the same and still oppressing his people to fill up the measure of his wickednesse that God might declare his power as Paul saith Rom. 9. And according to this are the words of Christ to those Scribes and Pharisees of the Jewes the generation of them that killed the Prophets Matth. 23. Fill ye up the measure of your Fathers ye Serpents ye generation of Vipers c. Now what is there in any thing of
hands all one with baptisme in truth And therefore he saith further If then yee be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God Set your affections on those things above and not on things on the earth For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God and when Christ who is our life shall appeare then shall ye also appeare with him in glory Col. 3.1 2 3. This is that first resurrection spoken of Rev. 20.5 wherein whosoever hath part the second death shall have no power on him This baptisme then which the Apostles thus preached and describeth and causeth these spirituall and heavenly effects must needs be that given them in charge by Christ Mat. 28. Mark 16. the same which Peter saith saveth us 1 Pet. 3.21 according to the words of Christ He that beleeveth and is baptized shall bee saved This baptisme is of necessity to life and salvation which that with water of springs and rivers is not this may be where it is not and it where this shall never be And concerning the Belief that goeth before this Baptisme it is that common Beliefe which any man may have upon the generall publication of the Gospel as it is said Goe ye into all the world and preach the Gospell to every creature And is the same kind of Beliefe that Judas and those Disciples had who when Christ told them that except they did eate his flesh and drink his blood they had no life in them were offended and walkt no more with him of whom he said there are some of you that beleeve not though they did beleeve in that common kind And this kind of beliefe every one most have in some measure before hee can repent and beleeve unto remission of sinnes and salvation before he can eat the flesh of Christ and drink his blood by beleeving in him But he that beleeveth not that is to say he that rejecteth the word after he hath heard it and been convinc'd by it despising the counsell of God concerning himselfe as many of the Jewes and also of the Gentiles did and doe at this day hee shall bee condemned as Christ saith Mark 16. John 12.45 And so some mens sins goe before hand to judgment as it is written And whereas Paul faith There is one Spirit one Faith one Baptisme Ephes 4.4 5 6. he speaketh distinctly of those three speciall graces mentioned by Peter Acts 2.38 and by himselfe Acts 19.4 5 6. before observed whereof the birth from above and Baptisme spoken of John 3. Matth. 28. Mark 16. consisteth and calleth the baptisme of Repentance by the name of one baptisme as distinguishing it by that name from that one Spirit and one Faith which he doth also distinctly name as being all three speciall things peculiar to Gods elect agreeing in one So Ephes 6. he counteth them as principall parts of the Armour of God and calleth the baptisme of repentance The preparation of the Gospel of peace vers 15. And these are the three spoken of by John where he saith And there are three that beare witnesse in earth the Spirit and the Water and the Blood and these three agree in one 1 John 5.8 Meaning by the Spirit the Spirit of Adoption and by the Water the teares of repentance proceeding from an humble contrite heart and by the blood the mercy and love of God shed forth in the same heart by the Spirit and so enjoyed assuredly through Faith in Christ which is the garment dipt in the blood of the Lamb. And so they agree in one bearing witnesse to the truth And these three were in all the holy Fathers and Prophets from the beginning bearing witnesse with them to the truth And in that woman which washt Christs feet with her teares and with such spirituall affections of love kissed them and anointed them with oyle of all which Christ himselfe gives testimony and proveth by her much love that she had much forgiven her Whose example is recorded unto us all to this day to read and consider For although the sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ was not then offered yet it was in account with God as the price wherewith they all of his chosen were bought and those graces purchased for them And therefore it being now accomplished the Disciple whom Jesus loved testifying of him and bearing witnesse also of the truth having those three witnesses in himselfe saith This is he that came by Water and Blood even Jesus Christ not by Water only but by Water and Blood and it is the Spirit that beareth witnesse and the Spirit is Truth 1 John 5.6 For so had John seen it as he saith But one of the Souldiers with a Speare pierced his fide and forthwith came there out Blood and Water And he that saw it bare record and his record is true and he knoweth that he saith truth that ye might beleeve John 19.34 35. And so it is true indeed as John said That Christ came not by Water onely but by Water and Blood for both came forth of his fide with the speare He came by Water to purchase the Baptisme of Repentance for us in respect of our sins and by Blood that we might be washed therewith from our sins and by it and his resurrection jusâ—â—â—ied and by his life saved according as himselfe declared to his Disciples after he was risen from the dead Luke 24.46 47. and as Paul saith Rom. 5.10 Unto him therefore who is the faithfull witnesses and the first begotten of the dead and the Prince of the Kings of the earth to him that hath so loved us and purchased these great things for us washed us from our sinnes in his own blood made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father was dead and is alive and shall never die more to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen NOw if all these things be so and that no man can be saved except he be born of water and of the Spirit and that this birth is not from below but from above of God and not by the will of the flesh nor of man as the Scriture saith Joh. 1.13 Joh. 3. Then no man can by his own will or power attain thereunto as some men teach and perswade who say that Adam with all in his loins was restored by the promise of the seed which is Christ to all that hee lost by eating the forbidden fruit and that there is therefore no originall sin to be supposed and that all children are conceived and born without any sin holy and good as Adam was in his first estate and that every child which dieth before it commit actuall sin is saved This kind of generall Redemption which some teach is not onely contrary to the Scriptures and so deceiving to the people but they doe hereby also make God to deal very unreasonably and unjustly in putting Adam and all in him