blamed Now to answer this question that men are excusable Answ mans reason will yeeld unto and that they are to be freed from blame because Gods will is so and Gods will is irresistible But the true Answer is that men are not free from blame but they are justly to be taxed and God doth justly punish men for their hardness sins and for their evil doings they are blame-worthy And why because though Gods will and work be in mens hardening and in the sinnes that come from the hardening of their hearts yet doth not Gods will enforce hardnesse upon them making their hearts hard that were before soft neither doth Gods will compel men to the committing of those sins which they run into there is no such matter Gods will doth neither harden being soft nor thrust their sins out from them But for the understanding of this we must know that our first parents they broke the Commandement of God in eating the forbidden fruit willingly being not forced thereunto by Gods Decree as the Arminians and Anabaptists hold but they fell willingly they had free will to stand or to fall And Adam and Eve of their own accord put out their hands and did eat of the forbidden fruit And thereupon having broken Gods Commandement they brought upon themselves and upon all their posterity sin and hardnesse of heart all that come from them by natural generation have sucked the same milk and have natural hardnesse of heart and now men being in their natural hardnesse the Lord is pleased to withhold his softening grace from some amongst men and to leave them in their natural hardnesse the Lord in his just Judgment doth inflict farther hardnesse upon the hearts of men as a just Judgment of their hardnesse before they themselves by nature being willing to continue in their hardnesse so that God doth not thrust further hardnesse upon the hearts of men unwillingly whether they will be hardened or no. And again those sinnes that follow upon the hardnesse of their hearts are not drawn from men against their will whether they will or no but they doe freely and willingly consent unto sinne they give their free voluntarie consent unto sinne they sinne with a delight they doe according to their own will and according to the natural inclination thereof the Lords will moving their will as he moveth the Heavens in a round Circle according to the motion of it so he doth move and order mans will according to the motion of it being evil and so they freely and voluntarily commit sinne and so they sinne of necessitie but how not of necessitie of coaction or compulsion as if they were inforced to sinne but by the very necessitie of mans nature they are naturally inclined to evil and readie to commit evil Gods will bending them to their own proper motion and so they choose sinne and sinne of necessitie of nature and that will not excuse them they have brought the necessitie upon themselves and that will not free them from blame As for example was Judas compelled to that sinne for betraying his Master No his will was inclined unto it and the will of God together with his will in that act inclined it as it were to betray the Lord Jesus so that this will not excuse men that they doe sinne of necessitie As for example the Devil himself can doe nothing but evil necessarily he doth evil yet therefore he is not excusable because he doth evil necessarily by the strength of his corrupt nature that will not excuse him So then thus conceive we concerning this matter that men are not excusable nor free from blame but the Lord may justly punish and plague them for their hardnesse and sins proceeding from their hardnesse though it be so that Gods will is that they are hardened and Gods will is irresistible because though Gods will be in their hardening and hath a stroake in it yet Gods will doth neither force hardnesse upon their hearts nor cause them to sin but the Lord finding them naturally inclined to hardnesse and that they are hardened by nature they being willing to continue in it neither doth the Lord force out those sins that come from the hardnesse of mens hearts but they do it freely out of their own free consent for the Lord doth neither take away the will of man nor the power of mans will but the Lord doth onely order govern and dispose their wills and move it according to their own inclinations they freely consenting being not thereunto forced and therefore are justly to be blamed And for the application of it Vse let no man think out of the hardnesse of his heart to go on in a course of evil and sin and to excuse himself in this that the will of God hath a stroake in his sin It is true the will of God hath a stroake in thy hardnesse and thou sinnest of necessity and nature yet this will not excuse thee to say it is my nature and I cannot do otherwise no beloved though we are tainted by nature and prone to sin by nature yet never did any of Gods children hereupon excuse themselves but rather judge and condemn themselves in regard of the accursed corruption of their hearts Psal 51. David confesseth his sins of Adultery and Murther yet he saith not it was my nature but he condemns himself saying O Lord I lay the fault upon my self it was my own wicked heart I was born in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me And so the Apostle Paul feeling there was a law in his members resisting the law in his mind Rom. 7.24 layeth not the fault upon any thing else but himself saying O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death And thus those that will find mercy must lay the fault and blame upon themselves and give glory to God that is the onely and right way to find mercy go unto God lay open thy hard-heartednesse crying for mercy as a prisoner ready to go to execution and thou shalt find mercy with God Thou wilt say then unto me Why doth he yet complain for who hath resisted his will HEre is further matter offered unto us from this verse In that the Carnal Reasoner backeth his Argument thus That if the will of God be so that men shall be hardened then who hath resisted his will none can resist the will of God and this he doth to strengthen his Cavil that the will of God cannot be hindered from taking effect thus he laboureth to fortifie his conclusion Now this being a truth which the Carnal Reasoner putteth down the Apostle doth not confute him by gainsaying or denying this that Gods will is irresistible but he doth answer the Caviller another way as appeareth plainly in the verses following therefore hence this ground of truth lyeth plain before us That the will of God is irresistible and cannot be withstood Doctrine neither men nor devils nor all the
doth limit and restrain the mercy of God to them to whom the Lord vouchsafeth mercy and therefore mercy is not a natural property in God Answ To this I answer First of all this Cavil is grounded upon a mistaking and misconstruction of the words of the Apostle For the Apostle doth not here intend and mean the natural property and essential attribute of mercy in God but he meaneth the act exercise and work of that property which is extended and reached out unto man and that is ever guided by the holy will of God Again it is false and utterly untrue that this heretick affirmeth that all the natural properties of God are ever in use to us for justice mercy goodnesse and power and the like be essential and natural in God and yet God doth extend and reach them out to whom he pleaseth according to his own purpose when he will and where he will and how it pleaseth him so that it is false and blasphemous to say that mercy is not natural and essential in God for the testimony of Scripture contradicteth it in Exod. 34.6 the Lord there proclaimeth himself in this manner The Lord the Lord strong merciful gratious and abundant in goodnesse and in truth yea this might be illustrated by many testimonies of Scripture but I forbear it in so pregnant and plain a truth And come we then to that which may be truly concluded from these words I will have mercy upon whom I will And compassion upon whom I will These words being understood as heretofore I have explained them That the act the exercise and the work of Gods mercy and pity and compassion it is ever by God extended to them to whom he pleaseth Hence then we are given to understand thus much Doct. That Gods mercy reached out unto his chosen it is most free and voluntary it dependeth upon nothing out of God but cometh onely and merely out of his own good will and pleasure That the Lord is merciful unto any or that he sheweth any fruit of his love or mercy to any one it is merely from his own good will and pleasure and not depending upon any thing out of his holy and blessed Majestie the Lord being the author of mercy pity and compassion he extendeth his mercy pity and compassion to those to whom he will Or more briefly thus The reason why the Lord doth extend and reach out mercy unto any is his mere will and nothing else And to clear this a little further mark what the Apostle saith in 2 Cor. 1.3 the Apostle there calleth God Pater misericordiarum the Father of mercies shewing that God is the Father and begetter of mercy and that mercy and love are as it were his children coming from him and in Joh. 1.15 saith the Evangelist of him we receive grace for grace one grace to another And Christ Jesus saith Luke 10.12 Father I confesse Lord of heaven and earth thou hast hid these things even the things of thy Gospel from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes even so because it pleased thee It was so of thy good will and pleasure nothing moving thee thereunto so that the reason why the Lord doth vouchsafe mercy unto any it is the free will and favour of God nothing else moving him But haply then some may say to me It seemeth not to be true Object that God vouchsafeth mercy unto his chosen and pardon for their sins for the sake of Christ if he shew mercy of his own free will then not for the sufferings of Christ which were a grosse errour to conclude To this I answer that these two things are subordinate Answ as we speak in schooles they do and may well agree and stand together God vouchsafeth mercy to his chosen for the sake of Christ and merely out of his own will how can these two stand together yes very well for why God vouchsafeth mercy to his chosen for the sake of Christ the will of God is that his chosen should have the pardon of their sins through Jesus Christ and that pardon of sin should not come without Christ as Christ affirmeth John 6.40 for this is the will of him that sent me that every one that seeth the son and believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Now if any do object that of the Prophet Esay 43.25 Object I am he that hath put away all thine iniquities for mine own sake therefore it seemeth it is not for Christs sake but for his own sake as the Lord professeth I answer Answ God doth therefore pardon the sins of his chosen for his own sake because he doth it for Christs sake for all the works of every person is the work of the whole Trinity that which the Son worketh the Father and Holy Ghost worketh in Unity of Godhead so that mercy cometh only from God the Father And the reason why God vouchsafeth mercy to any is nothing else but Gods free will This first meeteth with a false conclusion of Arminius and of the Arminians Vse 1 that say God may decree to shew mercy unto such as believe and repent and such as persevere in grace and sanctification Now this is to restrain Gods shewing of mercy to mens qualification And to make something in man to be the cause and reason of Gods shewing mercy Where as these two stand together never they can possibly agree being contraria contraria sine medio That Gods will is the cause of his mercy to man and that God sheweth mercy because of their faith vertue and qualification in good things they are two opposites but to leave them Farther this being so That Gods mere Will is the cause of his mercy Vse 2 unto us and nothing else hereby then we must learn to magnifie the mercy of God vouchsafed unto us in any kind whatsoever hath God vouchsafed mercy unto us in regard of our bodies but especially in respect of our soules hath he converted our sinful soules from wickednesse to himself hath he reached out his mercy so far as that he hath extended his saving grace unto our soules Oh then learn we to acknowledge that it is most free and that it hath been vouchsafed merely from God himself nothing in us as a reason or cause to move him why he should shew us the least mercy And thus meditate and think with thy self whosoever thou art that hast found Gods mercy and his saving grace reached out unto thy sinful soul Oh consider surely I was in the common estate and condition of all men I was guilty of damnation by reason of the sin committed by Adam I was begotten and brought forth in sin and lived therein in a miserable estate and condition and I had no feeling of my misery no desire to be saved and when God sought me I desired him not I closed mine eyes against him and would not see the light I stopped mine eares and would not hear his voyce But the
and sin and this being so then what can carnal reason say against it the prophanest wretch hearing this that God did decree to reject some out of fore-sight they would continue obstinate and rebellious in their wilful sins and then to harden them surely the prophanest wretch in the world must needs be silent and glorifie the Justice of God in leaving of such persons to themselves and so to harden them even mans reason can go thus far that then there was just cause why God should complain and no cause of this Objection even in the sense reason and understanding of man because if man will be wilful in sin it is just with God to harden them And so they put aside the absolute decree of God and make it to depend upon the obstinacy of man so that we see they quite cut away this Cavil and leave no place for it and so they pervert and quite overthrow the purpose of this text but this which they alledge is false for this is that which reason doth stumble at and cannot conceive that God should harden mens hearts and then complain of their hardening that God out of his own mere will and pleasure hardeneth them and then punisheth them for hardening this cannot possibly but be unjust this is the stumbling block of the carnal reasoning of man this is that which maketh carnal reason to rise up and insult against God why doth God complain when he doth of purpose harden men so that the Arminians reasoning and this Objection cannot stand together Come we now to stand upon this carnal Objection more particularly why doth he yet complain That is as I shewed you in the opening of the Text doth God harden whom he will why doth God then blame threaten and punish them what reason hath the Lord so to do seeing they are hardened according to his will and so the fault and blame lyeth upon the will of God Here we see how ready mans carnal reason is to put off the blame from themselves and to lay it where it ought not to lye and so consequently we may hence note thus much Doctrine That men naturally use to put off the blame of their sinnes from themselves and they commonly seek to lay the blame and fault thereof upon something out of themselves yea sometimes upon God himself and say that he is in the fault of them This we find was the practice of our first parents so ancient is it as from the beginning of the world for when Adam had sinned and God cometh to call him to account for his sin we see Adam putteth off the blame of his sin from himself to his wife and in her to God himself for he saith Gen. 3.12 The woman which thou gavest me gave it me and when he came to the woman she put it on the Serpent so that here is a putting and posting off of the blame from one to another Adam to his wife yea to God himself and she to the Serpent and we beloved have sucked the same milk and drawn out the same poyson and this corruption we have naturally every one by nature will seek to shift off the blame of their sins from themselves As to appeal to our own experience common experience sheweth it Do not some when they are convinced of sin lay the blame upon the times which they live in saying Oh we live in a hard time and we must do according to the time some again on their callings and conditions of life Oh they are of such and such a calling and vocation that they cannot keep a good conscience they must lye and swear and deceive as others do or else they cannot possibly keep open shop some upon the provocation of others they were provoked to it and some upon the Command and example of others such and such a one did the like and his example led me to it or such a one commanded me as if a Master comand his servant to lye he is excusable because his Master commanded him And some lay the fault upon their destiny it was my chance my lot my evil fortune I was ordained to such a sinne And some lay the blame upon the Devil and say they had not become guilty of Whoredome Adultery Murther and the like but that the devil owed them a spite and now he hath paid them home and thus they seem to post off their sin upon others either upon the time their callings the provocation example and command of others or upon their evil fortune and the devil himself they care not where so they may draw their own neck out of the collar yea sometimes Gods own children are hardly brought to this to lay the fault of their sin where it ought to lye they will say Oh I was too blame wretch that I was I was drawn unto it by such and such a mans company and so they seek to extenuate and to lessen their sins and to put off the blame from themselves But beloved take we notice of it Vse and learn we to lay the blame of our sins where the blame ought to lye Do not belye the devil It is true indeed that the age and the time wherein we live the callings and conditions of life the provocation example and command of others and the devil may be occasions of sin unto us but causes they are not for the cause and the root of sin is from our selves the cursed corruptions of our hearts and the vile lusts of it that is the very ground cause and root of sin and were it not for the vile corruptions in our selves neither could the devil nor the world nor any thing draw us to the practise of our sin if we were freed from that vile cursed inmate our own corruption that lodgeth and abideth in our hearts we could never be drawn to any sin therefore let this teach every one of us to learn to lay the fault and blame of our sins upon our selves and not upon any thing else Again further this Cavil and this reasoning of the flesh it is farther to be considered together with the proof of it in the words following for who hath resisted his will As if the carnal Reasoner should say thus That men are hardened it is the will of God it should be so God hardeneth whom he will and Gods will cannot be resisted none can stand against his will and so men that are hardened they are hardened unavoidably out of necessity for they must be hardened whom God will harden and therefore they cannot justly be blamed or taxed Now then from hence ariseth this Question to be discussed Whether men are excusable and free from blame Quest and not to be taxed for their hardnesse and for the sins they commit and fall into by reason of their hardnesse because Gods will is that they are hardened and Gods will is irresistible and cannot be withstood and so they are hardened unavoidably and of necessity are they then to be
absurd thing for men to quarrel with God as for example it is as if a piece of clay in the hand of the Potter should rise up and find fault with the potter for making one vessel to a better use and another to a baser use why because the Potter hath full power and authority over the clay to make what he will Now the particular implication of this verse that which is herein implyed is thus God is the Potter and man is the clay and as it is lawful for the Potter to make of the clay one vessel for service at the Table and another for baser service in the kitchin or Chamber so much more is it lawful for God to make of man one for honour and another for dishonour the Apostles reasoning is à minore ad majus from the lesser to the greater and if the Potter who is but a creature hath power over the clay which is a creature also to make one vessel to an excellent use and the other to a baser use surely then the authority of God over all and every creature is far greater the Lord hath absolute power to dispose of all as it pleaseth him this way or that way that is the general drift and purpose of the Apostle Now the words of this verse being taken as the first part of the Comparison of the Potter the clay there is no hardnesse in them for the sense and meaning of them Syr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 An non habet potestatem figulus Luti Explication of the words of verse 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Syriac 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ex eadem massa Divers opinions concerning the sence and meaning of these words onely they are put down by way of interrogation which is of greater force and not by way of position and the affirmation of this Interrogation is thus much That the Potter hath power and lawfull authoritie over the clay for so the word in the Original signifieth But being taken in the Application as that which they doe imply as namely implying God to be the Potter and man to be the Clay then there is something in them very needful to be explained and there is difficultie in them Hath not the Potter power over the Clay That is in the implication of them Hath not God power and lawful authoritie over Man as the Potter hath over his Clay Yea much more hath the Lord power over Man to make to ordain and to appoint of the same lump Some doe understand of the same lump to be meant the sinne of Idolatrie in which the Children of Israel were in Egypt That the Lord out of that same lump of Idolatrie in which the Children of Israel were with the Egyptians saved the Israelites and destroyed the Egyptians but this is too scantie too narrow and not large enough for to expresse the Apostles meaning for the Apostles drift is not here of inflicting of punishment for that man can give a reason of but the Apostle speaketh of Gods ordaining and appointing And again some Divines doe by this word lump understand the masse of corruption mans fall mans corrupting by Adams transgression Adam being wrapped in sinne Alludens inquit ad Adami creationem humanum genus umdum conditum nisi in opificis mente comparat massae Luti ex qua Deus postea prout ab aeterno decreverat condiderit quotidie condat tum eligendos tum reprobandos qui etiam declarat verbum faciendi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Objection of the Anabaptiste propounded and answered But though this be the opinion of many reverent Divines yet it cannot be the Apostles meaning because as saith Reverend Beza in this sence the Lord cannot be said to make men vessels of dishonour but to finde men alreadie in their estate vessels of dishonour Again the comparison it self seems to exclude and shut out all respect to corruption that there is no respect had to the corruption of man from everlasting for you see here God is compared to a Potter that taketh a piece of clay not stained with any pollution corruption spot or tincture for then the Potter might have some excuse to make a base vessel of it because it was a spotted and tainted piece of Clay so God taketh man as in himself not corrupted for then there was some cause why the Lord should cast away this man and not that man therefore we are here to understand not man corrupted but mankind generally taken One vessel to honour and another to dishonour that is to make one vessel to his Glory to honour everlasting and another to be vessels of wrath to shame and confusion I know what the Anabaptists object against this for they say it is very impious grosse and absurd thus to expound this comparison this maketh God to have no wisdome For what Potter is so foolish to make his pots to break them and to throw them away purposely shall we say then God made man to destroy him to throw him to utter confusion so that say they this is a very impious Exposition of the comparisons But herein they shew their foolishness and weakness I answer we affirme no such matter either of the Potter or of God that God makes man to destroy him for what is it for God to destroy a man It is when he confounds and turneth man to nothing when he doth annihilate and dissolve him to nothing but for God to finde a man in his corruption to throw him into Reprobation this is no destroying of a man Again beloved the Potter is a Creature and hath received a Law from God his Creatour that he must carrie himself toward his workmanship according to his Law that he may prove profitable either to the Church or to the Common-wealth Now this he doth not if he make his Pots with a purpose to break them then he liveth idlely and is a vain foolish fellow But God the great Lord of Heaven and Earth who hath made the world he is not bound to any such law will the Anabaptists in their foolerie bring God under a Law he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and he hath the Prerogative Royal and he is bound to no Law no more to preserve them being made then to make them of nothing when they were not will they bring God under their girdle and under their law therefore notwithstanding their cavil the meaning remaineth a truth and it is as if the Apostle had said Sence and meaning of the words Hath not God power and absolute lawful authoritie over man and as the Potter hath over the Clay even out of the same lump and mass of mankind taken generally to appoint and to ordain one man to be his vessel of mercy in life and glory in Heaven and to another to be a vessel of his wrath in the destruction of hell And thus much for the Apostles meaning Come we now to stand upon the words