blind to thy self such are full of Darkness and then how great is that Darkness Mat. 6.22,23 for that leads to utter Darkness But for some there is a Redemption in the World to come for all that dyed in Adams Transgression will be cleared from Original Sin by Christ 1 Cor. 15.22 and so a Redemption for all Children in time to come For then the Son shall not bear the Iniquity of the Father neither shall the Father bear the Iniquity of the Son the Soul that sinneth it shall Dye Ezek. 18.20 But in this time it is only the Children of the Believer is Holy 1 Cor. 7.14 before they have committed actual Sin and the Believer is he that believes Salvation is to be had according to the words of Christ but at Judgment there is none Condemned but for the Deeds done in the Body 1 Cor. 5.10 and then all Children will be cleared and likewise all them unto whom God hath promised Mercy will then accordingly find Mercy as the Meek the Mercifull c. Mat. 5. and all that order their conversation aright Psal 50.23 and the Ignorant shall be beaten with fewer Stripes than those that wilfully offend Luke 12.47 And whereas it is said He that hath the Son hath Life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not Life 1 John 5.12 These Words do no ways exclude a Redemption by Christ for some in the World to come or Restoration but for some Sin there is neither forgiveness in this World nor in the World to come Mat. 12.32 1 Joh. 5.16 But whereas it is said Where the Tree falleth there it lieth thereby it shews that after Death we can no ways help our selves as we may now by Repentance and Amendment of Life but all that go into the Pit must there stay till they are brought to Judgment to receive their Sentence of release or final Condemnation but the coming of the Lord the raising of the Saints the judgment of this World and the restoration of Israel will be many Ages before the last Judgment when the Sea Hell and Death deliver up their Dead Rev. 10.12 In which God hath secret places for Souls which we know not of for all that go not to Heaven do not go to the Fire of Hell for what the Lord speaks by the Law and Gospel is but to them that are under it as I have proved and for them that are under the greater light they will fall under the greater Condemnation but whereas the Prophet prays Jer. 10.25 Pour out thy Fury upon the Heathen that know thee not and upon the Families that call not on thy Name for they have eaten up Jacob and devoured him and consumed him and have made his Habitation Desolate The Prophets Petition here is only against those Heathens that devoured Jacob and laid wast his Dwelling Place The same also is said upon their like Cruelties in Psal 79.6,7 And whereas the Apostle saith The Lord will come to take Vengance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Thes 1.8 And those are they that know not God that believe he will not Reward and Punish according to his Word VIII Concerning the drawings of God as to when and upon what account Christ then thus Spake NOW whereas the Lord saith No Man can come to him except the Father draw him John 6.44 And also the Lord saith in vers 65. No Man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my Father The Lord Christ hath here his reference to the then time in which he appeared as a mean Person which in Scripture is termed the form of a Servant and those that were then first called in had the more immediate drawings of God and the Words of the Lord here had their tendency to the Remnant with the rest of the Elect that were given him of his Father unto whom the Holy Ghost was afterwards given to be in them And therefore the Lord saith in the 45. vers It is written in the Prophets and they shall be all taught of God The Lord here having his reference to the time that the Holy Ghost should be given for the establishing of the Gospel Heb. 2.3,4 and as an earnest of their Inheritance in time to come Ephe. 1.14 And whereas the Lord saith Every Man that hath learned of the Father cometh unto me Whether the Lord in these Words meaneth only the Sheep that were his Fathers before and given to him or all them of Israel who then lived according to the rule of Gods Word for of such it may be said they were taught of God in that they were guided by his Precept and unto all that fear his Name in Israel was the Word of this Salvation sent Acts 13.26 But the Lord seems rather here to have his peculiar reference to them that was then given him by his Father but the reason the Lord speaketh thus mystically to them was because the Multitude had seen the great Miracle that he did in feeding Five Thousand with Four Loaves and Two Fishes Upon which the Multitude thought to have taken him by force and to have made him a King but the Lord knowing their thoughts went privatly from them and the Multitude seeking after the Lord which when they again had found him he then spake so mystically unto them that they could not understand him and therefore they said they were hard sayings who could bear them and from that time many of the Disciples went back and so the Lord brake their design of making him a King for his time to Reign was not then but these very Persons that did not then wilfully depart from him but went away because they could not then understand his sayings Christ said unto them in the 27. vers Labour not for the Meat which perisheth but for that Meat which endureth unto everlasting Life which the Son of Man shall give unto you Which was to those very Persons that sought after him to make him a King and who had eaten of the Loaves and were filled For though by those hard sayings the Lord brake their design yet from the Word of the Lord it is plain they were not to be forgotten by him And whereas the Lord saith vers 39. This is the Father's Will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing Again in the 40 vers And this is the Will of him that sent me that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting Life That is every one that so believeth in the Son as to walk in the Precepts of the Son it is likewise the Father's Will that all such may have everlasting Life which is if they continue in well doing then will the Lord raise them up at the last Day which is the last Day of the Power of this wicked World For God is not willing that Man should perish but that they
further to consider wherefore the Lord sent them forth from the Garden Which was Least he should put forth his Hand and take also of the Tree of Life Gen. 3.22 By which words we are to take notice that God doth positively declare that he did not know what Man would do till he proved and tryed him and saw what was in Man And Therefore least he should also take of the Tree of Life and eat and Live forever God having before pronounced Death for his offence God sent him out of the Garden These words we are to take in the plain Letter of the Text. That God did not then know what Man would do And this God declaring we are bound to believe In as much as it is impossible for God to ly Heb. 6.18 But many by not rightly apprehending these forementioned places have laid the generality of the world under Eternal Damnation by a fore sight in God of Adams transgression Notwithstanding God hath fully declared that when he saw that the wickedness of Man was great upon the Earth and that man had wholly corrupted his way except Noah It repented the Lord that he had made Man on the Earth and it grieved him at his Heart Gen. 6.5,6,9,12 And this we are to take in the plain Letter of the Text without we will blaspheme his Holy Name in making the God of Truth a lyer which is impossible for him to be Heb. 6.18 And when God promiseth a Blessing whether conditional or absolute according as he hath promised he will make it good Hath he said and shall he not do it or hath he spoken and shall he not make it good For God is not a man that he should lye nor the Son of Man that he should repent Numb 23.19 But upon man's returning God is often said to Repent of the Evil he thought to do unto them So likewise of a Blessing when it is promised on condition and the condition not performed Jer. 18.8,9,10 And it was after God had proved and tryed man he saw what was in man And seeing our great High-Priest could not be touched with the feeling of our Infirmities till he took our Nature Heb. 4.15 So it was much more impossible that God who is of purer Eyes then to behold Iniquity with approbation could be cumbred with the foresight of all the abominations and wicked stratagems of the Devil or Man before they were created or the World in which man offended And the God of Truth having sworn that he delighteth not in the Death of a Sinner but rather that he should return and live Ezek. 33.11 And how can this be true if God had reprobated the generality of all Mankind from all Eternity And likewise God saith The Soul that sinneth it shall dye the Son shall not bear the iniquity of the Father Ezek. 18.20 that is when they come to be judged And accordingly it is said when they are judged That every one shall receive for the things done in the Body whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5.10 For Christ will then condemn none for the Sin of Adam's Transgression the which we call Original Sin for which we have laid the greater part of the World under Eternal Damnation by a foresight in God of Adams transgression And it is by the false Notions which the Christians have received through the mistaken places of Scripture which has caused several to deny the Lord Christ to be the Son of God knowing that the God of Truth would not send his Son and the Servant of his Son to contradict what he had before declared for tho' our Faith in some things may be above our Reason but not contrary to Reason And tho' it is said He that planted the Ear shall he not hear he that formed the Eye shall he not see Psal 94.7.9 This is spoken only to the time after Man had a being and when they transgressed and thought God did not see But in that God said when Man had corrupted himself that it repented him that he had made Man and that it grieved him at his heart Therefore with permission I speak this it being not improbable that if Man had fallen no otherwise then in Adam's transgression that then Christ by taking our Nature and therein performing perfect Obedience he might thereby have satisfied Divine Justice without making his Soul an Offering for Sin Which made the Lord Christ desire of God that if it were possible that Cup might pass from him But it being impossible that God's justice could be otherwise satisfied therefore he drank it and God was troubled that Man had so corrupted himself as to fall under his severe Condemnation he having no pleasure in the Death of a Sinner Ezek. 18.32 But many by their false apprehensions that all things were fore-ordained before the Creation making no distinction between the great difference that is betwixt the Creation of the World and the meaning of the Foundation of the World and by several mistaken places Whereby they have made the wonderful Love of God in the gift of his Son only a thing fore-determined according to the Counsel of his own Will and that from all Eternity And the wonderful Love of Christ in laying down his Life for the World which Love passeth Knowledge has been made a design in God that thereby some might be saved and the rest damned And these conjectures some have had of God who is the Fountain of all Wisdom Love and Justice as to think that God from all Eternity elected some without Reason and left the rest to eternal Damnation without having any regard to Reason Pity or Love But when such come to be judged they will find that God has a reason for what he doth And some there are that hold that God hath two Wills an outward Will to invite all to come and accept of Salvation and a secret Will that only the Elect shall be saved Which Notions were no other then Blasphemy against the God of Truth were they wilfully committed And because most of the received mistaken Notions will not permit God a Reason for what he doth therefore the foresaid Elias Thomas Moor pretending to vindicate God's justice more than the others saith God not making the Angels that fell nor Man at first of ability to stand and therefore he saith God in Justice cannot punish Man in Hell nor leave the Devil to damnation And were this true that God did not at first make the Angels that fell and Man of ability to stand I should be of his mind also in thinking it could not be justice in God to condemn them to the Fire of Hell for doing that which he had before determined But now the Prince of Darkness through our mistaken Notions by the false Interpretations put upon the Scriptures has compleated his design in throwing his miscarriage and the World 's upon God that thereby Man might be as wicked as the Devil would have them Concerning Adam's Fall I
Lord comes forth which will be at the eleventh Hour them that he then calls in at the last Hour to Labour in his Vineyard will be Israel when he again comes who then will be brought home by Repentance when ' they see him whom they Pierced ' Zach. 12.10 ' For then shall they come with Weeping and with Supplications ' Jer. 31.9 ' And then will the Lord cause them to walk in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble ' verse 9. For then will the Lord Establish his now promised new everlasting Covenant and then will the Labourers in the Vineyard be alike Rewarded being made Partakers of one and the same Covenant the which will Crown life to the Soul But let not the Christians be offended at that but let them remember that when Israel for Sin was cast out then were the Sinners of the Gentiles taken in because they had not Sinned against that Light the others did for the Lord was a light to lighten the Gentiles before he was to be the glory of his people Israel Luke 2.32 And therefore here the Gentiles are put down in the first place and whereas it is said in the Gospel the Lord will come in the last day because to us that are under the Gospel it will be our last day for we shall not then be called to work in the Vineyard for we are then to be brought to Judgment and then them that are found in their Obedience will be made partakers of the Promises and the Wicked among them Condemned in Judgment to â—…e now threatened Punishments but for the Christians that have not opposed the Truth and have not 〈◊〉 guilty of the Sins of the Times yet have not a Supâ—…lative Love to the Lord Jesus as is required in a well grounded Faith according to the Promise such will be left out and not be numbred with them with whom the everlasting Covenant will then be established when the Lord returns and builds again the tabernacle of David which is fallen that the residue of men may seek after the Lord and all the Gentiles upon whom his name is called Acts 15.16.17 The word all in Scripture doth not include the whole and herein are not included the Gentiles that belong to the everlasting Covenant neither them that fall under the threatned Condemnation And the Apostle had here his Reference in this Text to the word of the Lord Amos 9.11,12 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the Heathen which are call'd by my name This all is spoken as aforesaid after the good are secured and the bad Condemned for the Lord will save the Tents of Judah first Zach. 12.7 That is the Remnant with all that are found in their Obedience to Christ by which they come in as Heirs to the Promises by the Lion of the Tribe of Judah For were it not so the House of David would be the Head of the House of Judah verse 9. Now whereas it is said that the residue of Men might seek after the Lord and the Gentiles upon whom his Name is called the which must be those Gentiles whom Christ compares to the foolish Virgins who though they were Virgins so as not to be guilty of the Sins of the times yet for want of a sound or right Faith upon which the promised Blessedness depends the Lord therefore then saith he knows them not Matth. 25 12. And so those that were and might have been first will then become last for the Heathen are plac'd before them and so will the Word of the Lord then be fulfilled that the last shall be first and the first last Matth. 19.9.30 That is the Gentiles that received the Gospel they were first and Israel last but when Christ again comes Israel shall be then first and those under the Gospel which have been as foolish Virgins shall be last for then those Gentiles all that come not in to have a share in the everlasting Covenant will be then given to be Servants to Israel and Servants to them that are Israel's Servants Joel 3.8 And when Satan is bound and afterwards loosed again their Off-spring lies liable to Satan's Temptations by whom they being deluded will then be miserably taken off Ezek. 28.22 Rev. 20.9 And the Lord foreseeing the sad Condition the Christians would be in that are found unprepared for his coming therefore the Lord charged them to be upon their Watch as that day might not overtake them at unawares And God hath promised that knowledge should be increased at the time of the end Dan. 12.4,9 And at Evening time it should be light Zach. 14.7 For the vision is for an appointed time but at the end it shall speak and not lie though it tarry wait for it because it shall surely come Hab. 2.3 The knowledge of this Vision the Christians ought to have retained but being lost God now of his great Mercy according to his Promise hath again brought to light the which Vision we are now to wait for or how will Israel's Constancy in waiting for the Promises made to their Fathers appear for an Evidence to Condemn us who were to have a share with them in those Promises for the Door that is now open to all that will lay hold of the offered Mercy to come in Heirs to the promised Covenant will then be shut to the Gentiles and the wicked Christians will then be Condemned for then will be the last day of the Gospel Institution and likewise the last day of the Power of this wicked World so as their time will be no longer And why is it foretold that Israel's Return should be in the latter days Hosea 3.5 And their Glory then when the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains God thereby shewing that their blessed time was a great distance off for the Gospel Institution was to come in between and be ended before their blessed time would be which was a Secret hid in God from the Fathers how the Gentiles or true Christians should be brought in Heirs with Israel for it was but darkly Prophesied by the Prophets But when the appointed time that the Lord had determined for the Gentile Power and Gospel Institution and that their time should be no longer than till the Lord cometh who is represented to stand upon the Sea and upon the Earth Rev. 10.5,6 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he shall begin to sound the mystery of God shall be finished as he hath declared to his servants the Prophets verse 7. For then will this whole Mystery of God be compleated for the Saints will then be raised and then Israel will remain no longer scattered So accordingly it is said Dan. 12.7 When he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people all these things shall be finished and again hitherto is the end of the