gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity for his heart was not right in the sight of God And saith Duveil upon this place Many that are not of a right heart in the sight of God may oftentimes excel in the Gift of the Spirit for neither did the perverseness and Hypocrisy of Judas the Traitor hinder him to excel in the Gifts of the Spirit neither had the Gifts of the Spirit been so corrupted 1 Cor. 14. if their hearts had been sincere Luke 8. 13. These are they which for a time believe and in time of temptation fall a way But we are fallen into an Age that the practick part of Christianity is almost destroy'd by the speculative part As if the truth of our Faith did not stand with a course of holiness and strict walking with God And as Dr. Burnet saith in his Preface to the Life of God in the Soul of Man That in more antient times those that wrote Apologies for the Christian Religion did appeal to the Lives of the Christians to prove their Doctrine holy but alas when we write Apologies we must appeal from the Life to the Rule and Precepts of Faith which ought not to be Philet But it hath wrought Reformation of Life in me Philad Hyprocrites have been famous for moral virtues yea many that you will not own for Christians in many things excel you at this day Remember the Scribes and Pharisees read 2 Pet. 2. 20 21 22. where you may see that some that shall not escape the damnation of Hell may notwithstanding escape the pollutions of the World and that through the knowledg of the Son of God Philet But I see such Excellencies in Christ that I have longings of Heart after more intimate acquaintance with him Philad Strong desires may Hypocrites have after Christ and Heavenly things John 6. 34. Mat. 25. 8. Numb 23. 10. Philet But the Lord hath given me through the Spirit a foretast of Heaven it self in the first-Fruits of it Philad May not this be found in Apostates also Heb. 6. 4 5 6 So tho I do not charge you to be a Hypocrite to pretend to what you do not injoy yet this I say since every saving Grace in the true Christian hath its counterfeit in others this will not be sufficient to prove Christ died for you but must find better grounds for it than such marks which are as proper for Hypocrites as true Believers you may indeed have an opinion that Christ died for you but where are your grounds seeing the certain knowledg whom Christ died for must not be built upon any good which we may suppose in us but upon the Word of the Lord so till it be proved beyond all Objection that Christ died for you and hath not decreed to leave you in the Fall c. all comfortable assurance of your Eternal State will be cut off if ever you should fall under the dread and horror of it and methinks could I be got to believe that Christ died but for a few and no Man could prove Christ died for him but by such Marks as you talk of I am so conscious to the failings and deceitfulness of my own heart that I should despair of Mercy but here 's my support that God would have all Men to be saved hath redeemed all calleth all to Repentance and believing in him with gracious promises of Life and Salvation and now seeing God loveth all Men and desireth their eternal good therefore mine as well as others if I by true Faith apply that through the assistance of the Spirit to my self which is offered in general to all And how doth the certain knowledg of this tend to beget honourable thoughts of God and fill our Hearts with precious indearedness to Christ yea soften our Hearts when we sin against such Mercy and Grace yea make us look upon him whom we have pierced Zach. 12. Yea and if at any time poor Souls come to be bowed down under the weight of Sin and knows not how to be delivered from their fears and dangers but are ready with the Church Lam. 3. 18. to sit down and say My hope is perished from the Lord Now at such a time as this when the Love of God in Jesus Christ is set home upon the Heart O what work will this make upon such a one O the dear Love that this begets in a sincere Soul for Christ and O methinks what a comfort is it to Gospel-Ministers that in their declarations of the Gospel they can offer it to all and labour with Souls to bring them over to the Lord But how faint and cooly must other Ministers be in tendering of Christ to Sinners or how can your Ministers tender Christ to their hearers or be earnest with them to imbrace Christ or believe in him when they do not know whether Christ died for one of them So notwithstanding all you have said to prove your Title for Heaven and to be one of those that Christ died for yet since you place Salvation upon the absolute Decree of God and that Decree is kept secret to you you cannot say of your self you are one of those that Christ died for and that you shall go to Heaven because you at present believe no more than you can say of any wicked Man in the World that he is one of those that God hath left in the Fall without a Saviour since he that is now wicked may be called and saved such were some of you 1 Cor. 6. and you may make shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience fall from your first Love and so miss Heaven Philet I see you are for falling away from Grace Philad No I am not I am against falling away Philet Yea but you hold that a true Believer a Child of God and in a state of Grace may so far fall away as to miss Heaven you are not able to prove by any Example in the Scripture where any true Believer hath fallen from Grace Philad Suppose I cannot prove by any Example in Scripture that any true Believer hath fallen doth it therefore follow that no true Believer can possibly fall suppose no true Believers ever yet fell away yet 't is possible they may Philet How prove you that Philad From 2 Pet. 2. 20. If those that have clean escaped the pollution of the World and that thro the knowledg c. may fall away then other Believers may Philet That is not the description of a true Believer Philad How any one can escape the Pollutions of the World c. and yet not be a Believer I know not Philet 'T is meant of gross Pollutions of the World and so a Man may be free from the gross pollutions of this World in the midst of inward Impurities and Hypocrisies they were free from the gross acts of Sin so that they did not come into the view of the World Philad That is as much as to say their escaping was not
to come are taken away by Christ Rom. 8. 33. Who shall lay any thing to the Charge of God's Elect c. and so Rom. 4. 23. Isa 35. 8. The Lord hath laid upon him the Iniquity of us all and 1 Pet. 2. 24. himself bore our Sins on his Body c. and what I said I will say that tho the Elect may sin as well as others yet their God in Christ will never un-son them nor yet touching their Justification and eternal Salvation will he love them ever a whit the less yea tho they commit never so many and great Sins For this is a certain Truth that as no Good in them or done by them did move him to elect and justify them and to give them eternal Life so no Evil in them or done by them can move him to take that away when once given Philad This is like that which is in the Mouth of some Be in Christ and sin if thou canst what pity is it that Men pretending to Wisdom and Sobriety and Professors of Godliness should fall into such Raptures as are next to Madness What a bundle of Errors are here wrapt up together and that under Scripture-guize but surely you do not read the Scripture in that Spirit in which it was wrote or else you might see notwithstanding the Apostle's triumphing that till Persons repent of their Sins and turn to God they stand charged with many things as I have told you from Eph. 2. and from Paul who was before his Conversion a Persecutor a Blasphemer and confess'd himself the chief of Sinners yea before the Apostle comes to this Triumphing he was long exercised with Frights Terrors within and Frightnings without and tells the Corinthians 1 Cor. 2. 3. that his Preaching among them was in great fear and trembling so that we must Fight before we Triumph and Mourn before the Lord Comfort us And how clearly doth 1 Pet. 2. 24. shew that the proper intention of Redemption is Dominion eternal Redemption is an eternal Obligation to Service Ye are bought with a price ye are not your own your Bodies and Spirits are the Lord's 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. Rom. 14. 9. You may see that one end of Christ's being a Redeemer was that he might be a Sovereign Lord over his Purchase yea this is one great end of the Lord 's entering into Covenant with his People promising to do great things for them Ezek. 11. 19 20. I say the end of all is that they might serve him Hockins on God's Decree p. 93. Can we entertain so ignoble a belief that the eternal Son of God should suffer for any less end than to advance our Human Nature to the greatest height of Piety and Purity of Life and to raise our Souls to the most refined and sublimate goodness What did Christ take our Nature upon him and become Surety for us and pay such an infinite price for us that we might spend more freely and daringly on the Stock of our Surety's Satiffaction Ah! Who can with-hold their Eyes from Tears to think that any should make use of Mercy to damn them For many had not been guilty of so many Sins nor persisted in them without Repentance had it not been for their false hope in Christ not considering Christ came to redeem from all Iniquity as well as from all Wrath. Philet But Christ dying for the Elect hath thereby fulfilled all Righteousness satisfied Divine Justice and purchased Heaven for them Philad And what then Philet Why then there 's no doubt but they shall be saved for in the very moment of Election they were pardoned of all Sins past present and to come Philad What as if now nothing could endanger their Souls they have enough for Heaven Pray what should hinder them from bidding all Sin welcom Why may they not kill whore c. and commit all Abomination and if impleaded for it bring in this as an Evidence that they were in the very moment of Election pardoned of all Sins past present and to come they have a Gracious God that will forgive them and a Surety who hath paid for all Philet I perceive what you are driving at You hold that Faith and Obedience in us to be the cause of God's Electing or Chusing us to Life and Salvation Doth not the Scripture prove that Election is not according to foreseen Faith not because Men do or will believe but because they should believe Rom. 9. 11. 1 Pet. 1. 2 3 4. 2 Tim. 1. 9. Tit. 1. 1. Now if Faith and Obedience be the cause of God's loving us then here is Merit this eclipses the Glory of God's free Love and renders Salvation of Debt and not of Grace Mar. This is down-right Popery nay I affirm that Faith and Repentance are no more a means to go to Heaven by than prophane Cursing and Swearing Philad That Faith in Christ and Obedience to the Lord is a cause without which God chuseth none to Life and Salvation is a Truth unless you can prove that God hath designed his Son to die to save such as will neither repent of their Sins believe nor obey him but live and die in open Rebellion against God and do despight to the Spirit of Grace and trample under foot the Blood of the Son of God c. but that it is the cause for which God chuseth any I disown as well as you For the Love of God the Father to the Sons of Men as they were Sinners and Enemies to him was the essential cause of our Salvation John 3. 16. Rom. 5. 6 8 10. 1 Pet. 3. 18. and Jesus Christ the meritorious and procuring cause of Man's Salvation and should we admit of any thing else but Christ to be the matter of our Justification or the meritorious Cause of Eternal Life this would be injurious to the Perfection of Christ's Righteousness and overthrow the freeness of Divine Grace and Love But you and all Men ought rightly to divide and distinguish between the Cause and Condition of our Salvation that Christ may be owned as the Cause and Author of it and Faith and Obedience as the way and means to attain to it for as God Almighty hath prepared a Heaven for Men so he hath appointed the way and means to fit and prepare them for it as Christ is the Way so if I should say that Faith and Obedience is a way to come to enjoy it I might say it was advancing Nature above Grace or setting up our own Righteousness in the room of Christ's Righteousness and so robbing him of his Honour or asserting Merits surely Eternal Happiness hereafter hath some dependance upon Holiness here Mod. I like this well and do believe that God that hath appointed the end hath also appointed the means as in the Case of Paul Acts 27. 22. though God had promised to save Paul and all that were in the Ship yet they were to use the means otherwise they could not be safe I would have
nor the other Philad I believe God hath a Secret Will and a Revealed Will a Will that neither Men nor Angels know If it be God's absolute Will that the greatest part should be damn'd it is then the duty of the greatest part of Men to go industriously to Hell and be damn'd and to do good would be a Vice to labour to attain Heaven a Sin because it crosseth the secret Will of God and if it be God's Revealed Will that all should repent and his Secret Will that very few shall it follows from thence that it is his Will that his Will should not be done and that when a Reprobate saith Thy Will be done he rather curseth himself than prays for a Blessing And since you affirm that God hath a Secret and a Revealed Will I would have you careful that you do not interpret his Revealed Will by what you conjecture of his Secret One his Secret Will being a thing that cannot be known but rather guess at his Secret Will by his Revealed one and so judg of his Eternal Decree by what we find in his Word concerning his Promises and Threatnings which are the Copies of his Decrees It is very ill done of you to say God hath a double Will the Revealed Will being not only diverse but opposit to his Secret One God ordaining Sin with the one whilst he forbids it with the other and not always willing in secret what he reveals himself will do So that by what you say you had as good tell us God doth not mean as he speaks and so make him a hypocritical Dissembler This is a very high Affront put upon the Divine Goodness and your Testimony is not at all to be credited unless you have the Witness of God for you 1 Joh. 5. For whosoever delivers any thing for a Divine Truth if it be contrary to what is revealed to us in the Scriptures of Truth it ought to be rejected as Diabolical Suggestions all things of this nature must be warranted by the Word Let our Hearts be never so strongly inclined to believe it yea let Persons pretend never so much to the Spirit and to receive new Light yet if it be contrary to the Spirit of God speaking in the Scriptures 't is no better than a delusion of the Devil therefore to the Law and to the Testimony Isa 8. 20. John 16. 13 14 15. 1 John 4. 6. Now seeing by this your Speech you make the pure and holy God who hateth and detesteth yea forbids and punisheth Hypocrisy and Dissimulation in Man 1 Pet. 1. 15. Psal 51. 6. 1 John 3. 18. insincere and a great dissembler in his Word professing one thing and intending another which Imputation consists not with his Honour Justice and Mercy which is always one with his Will and his Will always the same and not two opposite Wills I therefore challenge a proof for what you say or I shall record your words as blasphemous Philet I cannot prove it in those positive terms but if you look 1 Sam. 2. 30. it may give us some grounds to think so I said indeed that thy House should walk before me for ever but far be it from me c. Here you see the Lord said one thing and decreed another and so Jonah 3. 4. where Jonah in positive words asserts it to be the revealed Will of God Yet 40 days and Niniveh shall be destroyed yet it was the secret Purpose Decree or Will of God that it should not Yea and so far as the Prophet could conceive and he had already manifested his Counsel he purposed to overthrow the City but yet the Lord had indeed determined to preserve it Philad I called for a proof that God hath a Secret Will and a Revealed Will contradictory to each other relating to one and the same Persons and Things and instead of that you bring two Texts that make nothing to the purpose that of Jonah concerning Niniveh sheweth that God's Will whereof one part revealed and preached by Jonah was that Niniveh should be destroyed within 40 days if the Inhabitants thereof repented not but remained in an obdurate and impenitent State and the other part of God's Will which was kept secret and concealed was this that it should not be destroyed if it did repent within that time so that that part of God's Will that was revealed and the other part kept secret and concealed was one and the same and tho delivered in positive words yet there was a Condition implied in them tho not expressed That Niniveh was not destroyed at that set time which the Lord threatned they should plainly shews that his Purposes and Threatnings were conditional Upon supposition of their Impenitence he threatned to destroy them but when they repented he promised to preserve them this you know by what Jonah did when he withdrew to see what God would do with the City and by what the King and People did they understood the whole Will of God concerning them tho but part thereof was vocally revealed therefore I heartily advise you to detest that vile School-distinction of a Secret and Revealed Will in God opposite one to the other so that by his Revealed Will he would have none to perish but professes his unfeigned desire after the Salvation of those that perish and seems to be burdened in himself and lament over those that stubbornly run in destructive courses as Deut. 5. 29. Psal 81. 13 14. Isa 48. 7. 65. 2. Jer. 44. 4 5. Mat. 23. 37. and yet by his Secret Will he hath no desire after their Salvation Nay he 's so far from willing or desiring their Salvation that he hath grounded and settled Intentions to destroy them for ever By his Revealed Will he would have all Men to repent and believe in his Son and by his Secret Will the contrary Now if there be any Secret Will in God whereby he willeth the destruction of any at the same time that he willeth the Salvation of all these two Wills must needs contradict one another and of two contrarys if one be good the other is bad and so in God's Secret and Revealed Will if one be good the other is bad But surely if God injoyns Repentance Faith and Obedience unto all Men with Promises upon their complying with his Will they shall be saved as Mark 16. 16. Acts 3. 19. John 20. 21. then he doth not will with a Secret Will the condemnation of any for 't is clear that his Revealed Will runs that he would have all men every where to repent c. and certainly his Revealed Will must needs be one with his Secret Will or else we shall represent the great God of Truth as false as Man for if God's Word which is his Revealed Will be no Interpretation of his mind and meaning then it is not true for that speech that is no signification of the Mind is a lie God's love to Mankind page 96. this is properly lying saith
to walk by 't is far more safe to leave them to the Lord who will not gather where he hath not strewed than thus to censure them for where much is given much is required Mr. Baxter tells us More proof pag. 95. That as the Jews had by Promises Prophecies and Types more means to know God than other Nations so they were answerably obliged to more Knowledg and Faith than other Nations were that had not or could not have their means Yea Mr. Calvin in his Epistle to the French New Testament as quoted by Mr. Goodwin says After Adam was left in such confusion he was fruitful in his cursed Seed to bring forth a Generation like to himself vicious perverse void and destitute of all Good and abounding in Evil nevertheless the Lord of his Mercy who doth not only love but is himself Love and Charity being yet willing by his infinite Goodness to love that which is not worthy of Love hath not altogether lost and overwhelmed Men as their Sins did require but hath supported them in Sweetness and Patience giving them time and leasure to return to him and set themselves to that Obedience from which they had strayed and tho he did suffer them to go after the desires and wishes of their own Hearts without Law without Government without any correction by his Word yet he hath given them warning enough which might have incited them to seek taste and find him to know and honour him as it behoveth them for he hath lifted up every where and in all places and things his Ensign and Arms that there were none could pretend ignorance of the knowledg of so Sovereign a Lord for that in all parts of the World in Heaven and in Earth he hath written and engraven the Glory of his Might Goodness Wisdom and Eternity St. Paul therefore saith true That the Lord never left himself without Witness even towards those to whom he hath not sent the Knowledg of his Word forasmuch as all Creatures might be Witnesses and Messengers of his Glory unto all Men to draw them to seek him and having found him to welcome him and do him Homage according to the Dignity of a Lord so Good so Powerful so Wise and Eternal and also did help each other in its place to this Guest for the Birds singing sung God Beasts cried aloud to him the Elements stood in fear of him Mountains reasoned with him Rivers and Fountains cast their Eyes upon him Herbs and Flowers smiled upon him altho indeed there was no necessity to seek him very far by reason that each one might find him in his own self being that we are all kept up and preserved by his Virtue dwelling in us in the mean while for to manifest more amply his Goodness and Infinite Clemency among Men he hath not contented himself to instruct them all by such Documents as we have exprest but hath especially given to understand his Voice to a certain People Surely here Mr. Calvin hath acknowledged that God hath vouchsafed sufficient Means to all whereby to come to the knowledg of him and consequently to repent and believe in him Philet But without Christ and a Work of Grace upon the Heart and Faith in him none can be saved doth not our Saviour tell Nicodemus John 3. 5. Except a Man be born again of Water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God That is he cannot be saved Philad Do you think our Saviour did there mean the Kingdom of Glory Philet Yea doubtless Philad I rather think that Christ spoke it of the Kingdom of Grace or the Visible Church of Christ that none could not or at least wise ought not come into it without Regeneration and holy Baptism yet may a Person be a Member of the Universal Church yea and be received a Member of the Triumphant Church in Heaven that may not be a Member of the Visible Church of Christ here on Earth for there are two sorts of Persons that cannot in an ordinary way be regenerated and born again which yet may and shall go to Heaven to wit Children and Idiots So tho it is a truth that without Jesus Christ there can be no Salvation yet if there is no Salvation without believing on the Name of the Lord Jesus what then will become of these and all dying Infants who neither have Faith nor are regenerated and yet they shall have Salvation by him Now as God hath one way to bring Persons of Age to Heaven and another way to bring infants why may not those that never had the means to know the Mediator particularly and distinctly have Salvation by him Infants and those many millions of Heathens in some remote parts of the Earth to whom the Gospel was never preached must unavoidablely and eternally perish if God hath provided no other means of Salvation by Christ than such a way of preaching it as is vouchsafed to us We know that the Judgment of God will be according to Equity he knows what he hath laid down what he hath given and what to require and how to reward every Man according to his Works and his Mercys are infinitely extended over all his Works and he is not so severe as to exact more than frail Man is able to perform but according to what light and knowledg he hath given him and whosoever worship God and do his Will according to the manifestation which he hath given them of his Will shall be accepted of him Acts 10. 34 35. He that improves one Talent well shall be accepted as well as he that improves five for surely the Almighty will never require any more of a Man than he hath given him therefore I believe that all those that are obedient to that Light or Law which the Lord hath given them endeavouring according to their measure an exact conformity to the Divine Will shall be happy and it would be a great piece of uncharitableness to exclude them from all interest in Christ and to allow none to have any saving benefit by Christ's Death but such as own the true Orthodox Faith as it is called by some we may by this damn by wholesale not only all the Gentile Nations but also most other Christians who have erred in Judgment and have unwittingly mistaken the Truth 〈◊〉 God forbid Tho many in our days 〈◊〉 that without hopes or sense of their â—ondition exclude them from any part in Christ or the Church of God as did the Jews of old who reputed themselves the only Children of the Kingdom boasted of their Privileges as having Abraham to their Father and cried the Temple of the Lord how much soever they abused the means and neglected God and reputed the Gentiles but Castaways not being circumcised nor brought into the visible Jewish Church-state yet had the Lord a regard to them when the Visible Church-state extended it self no farther than the Familys of Abraham Isaac and Jacob as appears by the effect
and asserted for a Truth by Men of singular Learning piercing Judgments Gifts Piety Zeal for the Truth and greatest Pillars and Lights of the Christian Church next after the Apostles it being never scarce brought into question till near St. Austin's time which was about 400 years after Christ If you look into Mr. Goodwin he sheweth at large the Testimony of those called Fathers for General Redemption Those Fathers before St. Austin's time are Ireneus Justin Martyr Clemens of Alexandria Cyprian Tertullian Epiphanius Gregory Nazianzen Gregory Nyssen Basil the Great Arnobius Eusebius Cyril of Jerusalem Hilary Athanasius Jerom Ambrose Chrysostom these he cites and proves by words at length out of their Works that they held General Redemption Surely the Primitive Christians for between three and four hundred Years after the Apostles may fully ballance both for Number and Holiness all those in the Reformed Churches since Calvin's Days Philet I spake of our Days and Time which we live in Philad Well compare those Lands and Provinces where some hold to the one and the other and what are those Lands that own the Genevah Principles or the Doctrine taught by Mr. Calvin then those called Lutherans nay compare the People in the Vnited Provinces those that stuck to the Synod of Dort with those called Remonstrants or Arminians and how will you make it out that those Predestinarians that maintain unconditional Election and Reprobation are men of a more pious heavenly frame of Spirit making it more truly visible in the integrity of their Lives and Actions than the other called Arminians what Spirit the Calvinists are of has been seen these forty Years past not only in other places but in England also Philet I meddled not with any Foreign Lands Philad Well if you look home upon England I challenge you to shew me any particular Church or Person this day of your Opinion that is a Phenix whom none of the Universalists may compare with in Grace and Divine Life as far as the Eyes of Man are able to pierce the latter live as godly religiously and soberly in this present World and act as zealously for God and are as fruitful in good Works as any you can produce of your Judgment but I find 't is easy for any that fancy themselves the only Saints upon Earth to despise others In Gen. 38. 24. Judah when he heard that Thamar was brought in for an Adulteress presently sentenced her to the fire but when the Pledges of his own Folly were brought forth then he cried out she is more righteous than I. Consider the proud Pharisee tho he was ready to cry to the Publican Stand off I am more holy than thou yet the other was more justified You only bring Accusation without Proof I shall only say in the words of Seneca If it be sufficient to be accused who can be innocent for our Lord Jesus even Innocency it self was accused Remember he that is wise in his own conceit is but a fool and till you shew me in some Particular wherein you exceed all others in Divine Virtue I shall look upon your Speech to be nothing but the impulse of a giddy Zeal and desire you to be more considerate lest you thereby come to condemn the Innocent and justify the Wicked which are both abominable to the Lord Pro. 17. 15. so that neither the good nor the bad the godly nor the ungodly deportment of Persons professing such or such particular Principles is any proof of the goodness or badness of the Principles unless their Principle doth naturally tend to either nay should the foundness or rottenness of Opinions be esteemed by the goodness or badness of the Lives of many professing them the Opinion then of Atheism may be as sound as any other Christians seeing that many Heathens have acquited themselves upon far better terms of honour and approbation in their Lives than many Christians But come what if I should yield to what you say that many that hold this Opinion of yours are godly Men and walk in a pious and religious course of Life beyond all others yet we may say 't is no thanks to their Opinion that they are so your Opinion naturally tends to beget sloth disengageth from the strictest Rules of Piety Uprightness and Integrity of Life and countenances Men in carnal liberty seeing those that are elected can never fall out of his Love and Favour but he loves them as well while great Sinners as the most faithful humble mortified Christians May not this incourage any Man to take liberty to commit the most enormous crimes go on in sin and cry peace and safety and seeing the greatest part of Mankind are shut up in a state of unbelief without a Christ to believe in or power to believe but are left to die and perish may not such conclude their labour in Religion will be unprofitable and so will rather sit still than labour at all Moderat Come neighbour Martha and Philetus I would have you yield to this that Christ died for all for the Scripture fully testifieth that he died for all and every Man and we may safely conclude that the Lamb of God offered up himself a Sacrifice for the Sins of the whole World for tho Man by his Apostacy fell from God and by reason of Sin our whole Nature came to be at the utmost moral distance from the Lord which was and is the depth of all Misery yet did not God wholly leave Man in this state tho fallen into Misery but was he capable of recovery which was done by Christ's taking our Nature upon him and laying down his Life for all for he took upon him the Nature of Man not of Angels he pitied not the Angels that fell because their Nature was not to be received by Christ but he taking upon him the common Nature of Mankind made it saveable brought it nearer to Salvation than the lapsed Angels and what Christ hath done in the Flesh he must needs have done for all and the direct and immediate Fruit thereof belongs to all for he took upon him our Flesh not the Flesh of the Elect but of Mankind c. so that the Work of Redemption being by his Blood wrought for us thro his Flesh in which all Mankind have union it must needs be therefore universal Philet Surely Christ took upon him the Nature of Men because the Elect Seed was found in that Nature not in the Nature of Angels the Apostle saith Heb. 2. 14 15. that because the Children were partakers of Flesh and Blood therefore he took part of the same and herein there is a Union the Children have a Union with the Flesh of Christ above all others in the World Ephes 5. 30 31. And the reason Christ took part of Flesh and Blood was for the Elect and none shall nor can have any saving benefit by it but only such for to what purpose was it for Christ to be at the expence of his
to believe in him or to cast himself upon him for Salvation no more than the fallen Angels Now either Christ shed his Blood for all with an intent to save them unless they be their own destroyers or to damn them or for nothing pray tell me which of these three things Christ intended in dying for all Philet I cannot say to save all Philad For what then Philet Why truly I believe all that Christ did for the Reprobate was to effect for them the good things of this Life Philad But doth he not give his Grace to all Philet Yea common Grace Philad For what use is it given Philet For no use in respect of Eternal Life all that it effects for them is to make their Condemnation in Hell the greater or as some say if they use it well the lighter Mar. Others beside the Elect may have the inlightning and conviction of the Spirit and God hath wise and holy Ends in it to restrain some of them from being Persecutors of his Church and to restrain them from gross Idolatry and such-like Sins whereby they are less punished in Hell but if they abuse these common Graces it will make their condemnation in Hell the greater Philad Then was Christ's Death rather grievous than gracious and Christ came not that they might have life more abundantly but that they might have Hell and Damnation more abundantly Blush O ye Heavens at this How cruel do you represent the God of Love For if Christ shed his Blood for all and yet did not intend Salvation to all then he must needs shed his Blood not for them but against them and so God gave his Son to die for the condemnation of the World contrary to our Saviour's Expressions John 3. 17. 12. 47. 1. 29. So that here can be no potent Argument used to perswade all Men to love and live to him for he that shall pay for the ease and benefit of another what was sufficient to have eased me as well as him and yet shall neglect me in such a Paiment and leave me in misery when he might without the least trouble or charge to himself above what he voluntarily put himself upon for the sake of others have relieved me and of miserable made me happy what reason is there that I should wholly live to him who wholly neglected me in my greatest need or that he should expect service or thanks for doing nothing 'T is a sensless conceit to think Men are engaged in any Bond of thankfulness or service unto Christ for dying sufficiently for them unless he died intentionally also Philet What do you believe Christ shed his Blood intentionally to save all then if all be not saved Christ must miss of his Intention God shall be frustrated of his Design and Jesus Christ be defeated of that excellent Honour provided by his Father for him Now if one of those that Christ died with an intent to save should miscarry why not another and consequently all and so by this God's Counsel and Christ's Honour must be laid in the Dust Mar. For all you make such a noise about Christ's dying for all Adam's Posterity yet do you really deny that Christ died for any Man or Woman in the World in a true Scripture-sense for unless Christ died so for Persons as to make satisfaction for all their Sins and to purchase saving Grace here and Glory hereafter to be infallibly bestowed upon them all you talk of universal Redemption by Christ is a universal Nothing Philad It may very well be conceived that God may intend the Salvation of all Men by Jesus Christ and yet not all Men saved nay should all Men prove so neglective of themselves as voluntarily to deprive themselves of that great Salvation which Christ out of his great Love hath provided for them yet it doth not follow from hence that the Counsel or Design of God should thereby miscarry nor Christ's Honour be laid in the dust because of the wilful folly of Men to forsake their own Mercy and destroy themselves see Isa 49. 5. And now saith the Lord that formed me from the Womb c. Tho Christ was sent to save and make Israel blessed and as the Apostle saith Acts 3. ult Hath raised up Jesus and hath sent him to bless you and to turn every one of you from your evil ways here you see it was God's Mind to gather Israel and to turn them from their Sins yet all Israel was not gathered nor turned from their Sins yet no disparagement to Christ nor a defeating the Counsel of God Indeed if it had been the Design and Intent of God that the saving Benefits intended to Sinners by the Obedience and Sufferings of Christ should immediately become theirs upon the bare shedding of his Blood and that therefore God must needs pardon the Sinner and bring him in by head and shoulders that is by a strong and irresistible hand save him whether he will or no or whether they repent of their Sins believe in him or continue in impenitency then indeed if any should miscarry here would be a defeating of the Counsel and Intention of God but seeing that as the Grace and Mercy of God in Christ to Sinners is absolutely free so is the Lord free to apply the Merits of his Son's Blood to whom and in what way and upon what terms he in his Wisdom thinks fit for we must not conceive that God intended to save Man upon any terms or without any provision or exception at all but to put the World into a capacity of Salvation by removing those grand Obstacles which stood in the way of Mercy and obstructed its communication to the Offender and to afford unto the Sons and Daughters of Men means and opportunities to repent and believe and consequently to be saved so that whensoever Christ is faithfully and effectually preached to Men and the Holy Spirit convinces Men of Sin in order to their Salvation God obtains his end and intent concerning their Salvation whether they come to be saved or no so Christ is said 1 John 2. 2. to be the Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World it doth not therefore follow that the Sins of the whole World are so actually and compleatly atoned by him that they shall never be charged against them but that which Christ offered in order to atoning the Sins of the whole World is so full of Virtue and withal is so propounded and held forth by the Lord unto the whole World that if any Man's Sins remain actually unpardoned 't is through their voluntary neglect of this Sacrifice not from any intention on God's part that their Sins should not be atoned as well as others Many more such Testimonies I might add Dr. Holmes upon John 6. 37. pag. 13. saith That all the Sins of Mankind are become venial in respect of the Price paid by Christ unto the Father c. But all do not obtain actual remission
before wholly to be ascribed to the Grace of God in Christ as the principal and primary Cause Now as to Faith and Repentance being the Gift of God this is a truth God is said to give Faith and Repentance yea to intend the Salvation of all Men when he vouchsafeth a sufficiency of means Now Faith is taken many ways sometimes and very frequently 't is taken for the Gospel Acts 6. 7. Gal. 1. 23. So it is the Gift of God and he is said to give Faith and Repentance when he gives the Gospel which is the Word of Faith and so Faith is the Gift of God and when any Soul is by the goodness of God led to repentance God is said to give Repentance Also God gives the power or ability to repent and believe or else Man could do neither yet doth not God's Grace destroy our Duty tho God gives not only Grace necessary but also sufficient for yielding Faith and Obedience yet the Act or Duty of believing is not God's Work but Man's Heb. 11. Rom. 10. 17. James 3. 2. And the Person that is regenerate must be so far active in the Work that the Work it self may be as truly and properly ascribed unto Man and called his as it is ascribed to God and called his Gift now this you must believe unless you have so far forsaken your Reason as to say that Christ acts the Creature 's Actions and so Jesus Christ repents and Jesus Christ believes and Man doth nothing But surely we stand bound to believe repent and obey the Lord if we expect Salvation these are our own acts and 't is impossible they should be the acts of Christ for he that is said to act any action is said to do it Now if when we are exhorted to do these Duties Christ should do them for us while we sit still what sense must we make of Scripture must Jesus Christ break off his Sins by Repentance and amend his evil ways and doings or must Christ believe in Christ or walk in the steps of Christ And from hence it will infallibly follow that Persons shall be damned because God did not only make them Believers by an irresistible Power but also act their Work too Saith Paul Rom. 8. If ye through the Spirit not the Spirit without you nor ye without the Spirit intimating that Man must be an Agent in the Work it must be his own act and therefore he is not wholly passive neither have we ground to believe God will work these in such a way as shall be impossible to be frustrated Philet But if God works Conversion in a resistible way still Free-Grace loseth the triumph and Free will takes the Crown but when God works he works irresistibly Men cannot resist his Will if he works none can hinder it Philad I believe that God hath and still works and none can be able to hinder such are the Works of Creation and Redemption c. When Man was fallen none could hinder the Lord from setting his Love upon him nor hinder him from shewing Mercy to him in sending his only Son to die for them nor hinder the planting of his Will and Light in their Hearts convincing them of Sin Nor could the Jews of old or any in our days hinder or prevent God from rising early and sending his Prophets and Ministers to call Persons to Repentance nor hinder him from administring Grace and Mercy to them nor is it in the power of Man to frustrate God in raising up Persons from the dead in the Resurrection and setting the Godly with Christ in Glory and all the Rejecters of his Grace and Love in endless Misery Neither do I deny but God hath and may still if he please convert some by an irresistible Power we must not care to limit the Holy One of Israel in any of his ways yet it is not God's usual way of working to force Persons against their Wills to be Holy and to accept of Life but he is pressing by his Holy Spirit and by his Word and Ministers which is the ordinary way that the Lord takes to beget Faith c. and therefore Gospel-Ministers are said 2 Cor. 6. 1. to be workers together with God that is Ministers do co-operate with God in order to one and the same effect not that Ministers in their pressing and preaching should so work with God as to be able to do as much as God himself doth in perswading Men but rather they work after one and the same way Ministers in their preaching incline and move the Heart of Men to accept of Christ and this he doth perswadingly without forcing or necessitating their Wills to such or such Election this is God's usual way of working in the dispensation of his Divine Will Philet But I tell you 't is effected by the irresistible act of free Grace Persons are altogether passive in the work of Conversion yea have no more power to stir than Lazarus had when he had lain four days in the Grave Persons are dead in Sins and Trespasses and what less than the almighty Power of God can cause them to live a spiritual Life I do not know You ought not to believe there is any annext Power in the act of Conversion doth not the Apostle Ephes 1. 19 20. speak of the exceeding greatness of the Lord's Power wrought in them that believe according to his mighty Power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead Philad As for your urging Christ and Lazarus being both dead to prove Persons as unable to act in Conversion it is impertinent for tho the Lord in raising up Christ did the work wholly of himself by his mighty Power neither was Lazarus able to act any thing in the Grave towards restoring his Life yet in the Work of conversion the Lord comes to a Creature which he hath by free Grace furnished with Abilities to do what he requires of him And Lazarus after he heard the Voice of the Lord and received Life was active and came forth and so when Persons hear the Voice of the Lord and are thereby raised from a death in Sin or a deadly custom of Sinning to live soberly justly and godly this is said to be a raising from the Dead and a new Creation begotten again and by Faith and Repentance making new Creatures tho the Lord bestoweth Grace sufficient for the yielding to the Voice of the Lord when he calleth them by the Gospel yet through the alone proper fault of Man it becomes unfruitful for the Lord doth not usually come to Persons in such a mighty Whirlwind as 1 Kings 19. 11. to force their consent and carry them headlong to their duty and irresistibly compel them to embrace eternal Happiness and shew such a Miracle of his mighty Power as he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead or upon Lazarus when he had lain four days dead in the Grave Now it is true the Power by
I have already shewed it cannot still that of the Apostle will stand good Ephes 2. 8. By Grace you are saved through Faith and that not of your selves it is the Gift of God So that all boasting is excluded since we cannot change our Hearts cannot repent of our Sins or believe on him by virtue of our own natural Abilities but by the aid and assistance of Divine Grace Man's Perfection and Felicity is derived from God and we live daily in a necessary dependance upon him for his Grace and the Aid of his Holy Spirit to repair our Strength and assist our Faculties and every way to enable us to perform those Duties which are due to so Sovereign a Lord and as it becometh Creatures to do Yet still we are to remember that his assisting Grace doth not destroy our Endeavours for as we can do nothing without God so he will do nothing for us without our selves and as God works in us to will and to do c. so Persons are to work out their own Salvation with fear and trembling and not think to sit still and take their ease and live in a carnal state without improving those means that God hath vouchsafed them to repent and believe till the Lord by an irresistible Power pluck them out of their Sins This we are not to expect neither are we to thank our selves if we be saved but God's free Love and Bounty is to be acknowledged the sole cause of our Salvation neither can it be any diminution to Divine Goodness to say that unless Man doth concur with the first Cause the End cannot be obtained since Faith Repentance and Obedience to the Lord is made a condition with reference to Eternal Life Suppose a Prince should see one that has riotously mispent his Portion in great want and he out of his free Bounty should profer him a Sum of Money sufficient to supply all his Wants discharge all his Debts free him from all fear of Arrestments and enrich him for ever in this World provided he will but come to him and put forth his hand to receive this Treasure he shall have it if he will not he will give it to those that will Will any say that this was no free act of Love because it had such Conditions propounded with it or if any one should refuse so kind an Offer tho upon such terms as these and will not come to him nor put forth his hand to receive any of his Gold or Silver but will rather pine away or rot in a Goal unless he will force it into his Pocket whether he will or no would not all People look upon this as the greatest folly and imprudence in the World What be loaded with Bags of Gold and Silver and discharged from all Wants and Fears and yet not so much as reach out the hand to receive them Well suppose he should put forth his hand to receive this Treasure is it the act of receiving the Money or the Money received that enricheth him surely tho his putting forth his hand was a means yet it was the Mony received that inriched him and he had cause for ever to be thankful to him and admire his Love and Bounty and free Gift here would be no cause for such a poor Wretch to pride up himself as if by his own power and towardliness he had merited such Grace and Favour but rather the contrary so in spirituals O here will be enough for Souls to admire and that to Eternity the signal Acts of God's free Grace and Favour in that he has provided such effectual Means and afforded them so powerful Aids and Assistances in order to make them holy and to bring their Wills into a compliance with his own And I desire you to consider whether it will not be an aggravation to the damned to think that they might have been happy as well as others but that they wilfully refused Grace and Mercy when it was tendered to them 1. Now if Conversion is to be wrought only by the irresistible and unfrustrable Power of Grace why is it said that some resisted the Holy Ghost and made void the Counsel of God against themselves and would not hear come nor obey his Voice but closed their Ears and hardned their Hearts as may be seen Acts 7. 51. Luke 7. 30. Acts 13. 46. 7. 39. Prov. 1. 24 25. Zac. 7. 11 12 13. Jer. 5. 7. and of others that they heard the word readily and received it chearfully and obeyed it from the heart as Acts 2. 41. 13. 47. 6. 7. 17. 11. Rom. 6. 17. Now how can any of these be attributed to those who either can no ways believe and obey it being wholly above their power or could not but believe and obey by the force of Grace no ways resistible 2. But again if God by a strong hand of irresistible Grace works conversion in all then all the Exhortations Threatnings and Promises made unto Sinners in order to their repentance and believing are made in vain yea bootless and ridiculous The Divine Decree doth not impose any real and fatal necessity on any in respect of their eternal safety or ruin for the Voice of Reason must needs proclaim those Laws and Constitutions unjust which plainly forbid and prohibit that which a Man cannot possibly assume or avoid nor can no more be changed by our most earnest endeavours than we can stay the course of the Heavens or fly in the Air. Mr. Hockins on God's Decree p. 122. 3. If we have not a sufficiency of Means vouchsafed by the Lord to repent believe and obey him then doth the Lord deal more severely with Men under the Covenant of Grace than under the Covenant of Works now I say I suppose you will not deny but that the Lord endued Adam with sufficient Means for the persormance of that Covenant and so to obtain the Reward of that Covenant but now if the Lord should under the Covenant of Grace require of Persons a ready submission to his holy commands and yet pass a Decree that they should not move one step forward in the way of Obedience and wholly deny his Grace to them doth he not deal more severely with most of Adams off-spring under the Covenant of Grace by Christ than under the Covenant of Works in Adam requiring only possible things in the first and impossible things in the latter And saith Hockins on God's Decree pag. 189. If a Master should be so severe to require as much work of his Servant when his hands are fast tied as when he is at liberty this would argue an unheard of Cruelty joyned with the greatest Severity 4. Nay if Persons be not enabled by Grace to repent and believe the Gospel they are thereby laid under an absolute necessity of despising it thereby making themselves more the Children of Wrath and Death than before Heb. 2. 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation clearly implying that
that our Ministers preach the general Love of God as much as you do Philad I know it they are forced so to do or to preach themselves out of doors very few being so true to their Opinion as one I lately heard of that after he had been exhorting his Hearers a great while to Dutys at last told them That he did not know whether Christ died for one Soul amongst them And I believe very few ever heard any of your way that have managed any Theme but are necessitated to assert and own it otherwise such their Discourse would be as inconsistent in it self as it is far from Truth tho many in their Sermons speak much in their Exhortations to Holiness and when they take a Text of Scripture from thence labour to prove their Notions a Truth while they raise their Doctrin and give Reasons they seemingly go on fairly till they come to the Applicatory part where they knock all to pieces Mar. 'T is true many or most are to blame upon that account I have plainly told them of that my self that in private they have been one with me but in publick quite other Men as much for the general Point as you are Philad Tho they are professed Enemies to general Redemption yet it is of that use and necessity that they are forc'd to argue many things upon that account neither can they be without the service of it in the carrying on many of their Affairs yea and many times dissemble it 't is so odious in most Christians Eyes If we look within the Confines of our own Nation very few of the Church of England but own and believe Christ died for all yea I am informed that there are hardly six of your Opinion in both Universities The Quakers generally not one that I hear of but look upon it unworthy the belief of a Christian Not to mention any others you your selves are greatly divided about it and the most zealous of those that hold it dare not preach what they believe to the People lest instead of People which you say are as passive in Conversion as the Stones in the Walls they should have none but Stones to preach to Mar. Surely if Christ died for all with an intent to save all then all would be â—…ved and how comes it to pass that any miss it Universal Redemption must needs procure universal Salvation Christ's Blood must needs effect that for which it was shed Philad That Persons miss Salvation is not for want of a Jesus nor for want of the free tenders of Grace nor for want of an Advocate none can charge their eternal ruin upon the Lord Hosea 13. 9. but 't is their not believing on the only begotten Son of God their rejecting Light and loving Darkness taking pleasure in Unrighteousness and because they refuse to come at Christ's Call and will not open when he knocks nor take his Counsel nor mind those things that make for their Everlasting Peace but abuse the Lord's patience waiting upon and striving with them and so come at last to perish through their own vile stubborn and wilful Obstinacy Prov. 1. 24 to 32. 2 Pet. 2. 1 2. 2 Thess 2. 10 11 12. God doth not necessitate any to be wicked neither doth he withdraw Grace necessary unless first abused 1 Chron. 28. 9. The Lord is with you while you are with him c. 2 Chron. 24. 20. There is no let in God that all Men may believe and be saved Nay what could God have done more for Man that he hath not done Isa 5. 4. that is what God in his Wisdom thought meet to do and which was most agreeable to those Properties and Principles of Reason and Understanding placed in Man For 1. God hath placed in Man an inward Witness to wit Conscience which if it be hearkned unto will convince of Sin and lead to Duty And not only so but hath discovered by his Word to Men the damning Nature of Sin and hath plainly forewarned Persons that if they will go on in a way of Sin and Disobedience they are like to suffer the Vengeance of Eternal Fire hereby to deter them from Evil. And hath also made many most gracious Promises to those that are faithful and obedient to him of infinite Glory incomprehensible Rewards with the injoyment of the infinite good and gracious God himself in Heaven to Eternity And that Man might escape Eternal Wrath and obtain Life and Glory God that foresaw Man's Fall did from the beginning purpose to provide a way to make Man happy and therefore in infinite Wisdom and tender Mercy contrived the saving lost Man by sending into the World and delivering up unto Death his only Son that so all the Enmity that was between God and poor sinful Man might be renewed and Man through him might have peace with God Ephes 2. 14 15. Rom. 5. 1. And also the Lord stands engaged by Promise to justisy and save Sinners if they believe in his Son and hath promised the assistance of his Infinite Spirit to all those that by true Faith and Love seek it of him Luke 11. whereby Persons may be able to repent and believe and able to oppose Sin and advance forward in the Path of Righteousness and persevere therein to the end Now what could God do more than this So that if any perish their destruction is of themselves Jonah 4. Dr. Holms upon John 6. 37. pag. 17. speaking of God's freely pardoning Sinners and of the Bridegroom and Bride the Church and the Spirit all calling to Sinners to come Rev. 22. 17. saith Therefore why O ye Sons of Men stand you still in a damnable mistaken doubting condition so as not to come to Christ Why will you die you need not perish unless you will perish no Reason in Christ's Will but in your own Will You never improved the least Gift to go forward towards Christ but he prospered it more What would you have more than a Christ suffering a Christ offering a Christ intreating that you may come And in pag. 18. having repeated the same words saith You have a Christ that hath suffered for you a God that hath sent him to you a God that invites you to him and if you come to him you shall not be disappointed the Text saith He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out All which so fully and freely declares the Mind of God and Christ to poor Sinners that nothing can be said against it as Isa 5. 4. Hosea 6. 4. Now O Sinner look about thee God acquits himself therefore the fault must lie upon thee if thou dost not improve what thou hast tho God's Will doth not depend upon Man's Will yet God will be tied to his own Ingagement and do what he hath said Philet Come forbear any farther discourse on this Point we all hold that Man's destruction is of himself there is no damning to misery without relation to sin Philad Well we will wholly
real they had but seemingly escaped the pollutions of the World they were at best but Hypocrites how then could the latter end of such be worse than their beginning Nay what if they had put off their guise of Religion wherewith they deceive the World and appeared like themselves in their swinish nature could that make their end worse than before seeing Hypocrites are like to meet with the greatest condemnation Mat. 24. 51. But how those can be said to be Hypocrites that have clean escaped the Pollution of the World thro the knowledg of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ I cannot see unless Hypocrisy be no Pollution and if it be then were they no Hypocrites or else they had not clean escaped the pollution of the World nor from them that live in Error ver 18. which he affirms But we must hasten to put an end to this days Discourse Now consider Heb. 6. 6. where the Author speaks of the impossibility of renewing some by repentance in case they fall away which plainly supposeth there is or may be such a thing incident to Man and it is very evident from this Scripture that the Author admonisheth those whom he judged true and sound Believers for he here speaketh not of ordinary and common but of special and excellent Grace and yet these are under a possibility of falling away for ever for doth not the Author give them to understand that notwithstanding they were most eminent Saints and Believers yet through carelesness and carnal Security they might make Shipwrack of their Souls and perish Philet What are these Characters applicable to none but true Believers Philad If there be any Persons under Heaven that may be judged true Believers they are such as these mentioned and if you can shew me any that had all these Gifts and yet were destitute of true Grace Philet I cannot give you a particular Instance of all these meeting together in one Person that was not a Believer But can you prove that these Qualifications are applicable to none but true Believers Philad If they be applicable to any others give me an Instance where for I know of none from whence we have cause to believe that true Believers may possibly apostatize so far as to be under an impossibility of being renewed again by Repentance and so perish Again in 1 Cor. 9. 27. you may see that Holy Paul after his Conversion to Christ took great care and pains to beat down his Body c. which was needless in him if he were under no possibility of falling Again that true Believers are under a possibility of falling appears a truth because the Lord by his Holy Spirit in his Prophets and Apostles doth by many Exhortations Promises and Threatnings labour to prevent apostatizing in them and to cause them to persevere But if your Doctrine be true that there is an utter impossibility of a final falling away what savour of Wisdom or Sense is there in admonishing Persons against that which there is no possibility of ever coming to pass but that God will by an irresistible hand of Grace and Power preserve them in a state of Grace and Favour how desperately careless or wicked soever they shall be yea tho they fall into ten thousand abominable Sins yet they shall be brought to repentance before they die doth not this make all Exhortations Threatnings and Promises unnecessary For if Men be assured they shall never perish pray tell me why they should labour to prevent their perishing Moderat But you must understand that the Means and the End are coupled together and that God that hath appointed the End hath appointed the Means to attain the End and God makes use of our own Endeavours as the Means to attain Heaven and prevent our Apostacy as in the case of Noah tho he was assured and that from God himself that he should not perish by the Water yet he was to make the Ark here you see that tho he knew God would save him yet he used the means or else he knew he should not be saved he did not say to himself God hath bound himself by Covenant to save me now if I make not the Ark his Word is his Word and he will stand to it tho I be false yet he will be true tho I do not as I should yet he will do as he hath promised and therefore I 'll spare my labour but you see Noah is of another mind he will not sever God's Word from the Means he judged that if he made not the Ark he was to look for no deliverance this was his Divinity So in Hezekiah's Case tho God had promised to add fifteen years to his Life yet he was to use the means God had appointed to sustain Life as Meat Drink Rest c. yea tho the Lord had absolutely promised that he would add fifteen years to his Life yet there was to be a Plaister of Figs applied to his Sore in order to his recovery So likewise in that of Paul Acts 27. 22. compared with 31. tho the Lord had promised there should be no loss of any Man's Life yet afterwards Paul said to the Centurion and the Souldiers Except these to wit the Mariners by whose skill the Ship should be brought nearer to Land for their safety abide in the Ship ye cannot be safe So tho Christ had assured his Disciples that they should never perish and none should pluck them out of his Father's Hands yet he bid them watch and pray lest they fall into temptation Philad I perceive you look upon these Promises tho absolutely express'd yet conditionally intended so that none of all these should perish provided they should obey wholesom Advice and use all Means that in them lay for their preservation now do you believe this is true in Spirituals Moderat Yea doubtless Philad I say so too and dare be bold to assure from the Word and Promise of that God that cannot lie that not one true Believer shall ever perish who faithfully uses the means God hath prescribed in order to his standing And if Philetus be of this mind we shall soon agree What say you Philetus Philet I believe as God hath required his Children to use the means of Perseverance so he hath decreed they shall all of them use it accordingly and that he will so overpower them by his Spirit that it shall be beyond all possibility of miscarrying Philad Pray produce such a Decree if you can Philet In Jer 31. 33 to 37. you have an absolute Promise of Perseverance made by the Lord to the Church of God Philad You cannot prove by this Text that none can fall away this Promise was made to the dispersed Nation of the Jews whom the Lord in his anger had driven into all Countrys and therefore had a respect as well to the Unbelievers as true Believers amongst them Compare Ezek. 11. 17 18. where is a Promise of the same import yet in vers 21.