which I refer the Reader to my former Treatise of Free Grace Pag. 36. to 39 and 44. John 6.39 Rev. 10.6 printed 1642. to the pages in the Margent But as concerning mankind so to be made to honour and dishonour as is affirmed the Scripture affirms its last execution and final consummation shall be at the last day Rev. 20.12 13 that is after that day when time shall be no more as now it is in which day the Text affirms all the dead shall be raised and judged every man according to his works 2 Cor. 5.10 for saith another Text We must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ that every man may receive the things which are done in his body according to that he hath done whether it be good or evil and that this shall be executed last it further appears by the words of our Saviour who saith of himself When the Son of Man shall come and all his holy Angels with him then he shall sit upon the Throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all Nations Mat. 25.31 32. to 46. and he shall sever them as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the Goats And he having instanced in one particular of works good and bad as comprehending the nature and kinde of all their works concludes all namely That the wicked shall goe into everlasting punishment and the righteous into life everlasting So much for the second thing premis'd namely what Gods final end is for which he made or created all things namely both men and Angels and all his works subservient unto them and their use the further inlargement of this point will fall in the following Chapters in its full proof and what Gods suitable rule to man is Hence observe that the moving cause why God created all his works was this final end it being the ultimate end of all his glories centuring in himself for which he made all things yea the wicked for the day of evil because they all attempt to assume his glory not to him but to themselves which he will not give unto another as will appear more in its due place CHAP. II. In which is made known a sevenfold means to Gods foresaid final end whereof six are handled in this Chapter THe which End in order of Nature in Gods intention was first and in execution last and the means in Gods intention in order of nature last but in execution first Therefore the first thing that God did he gave being to means for his final end and they primarily were seven some more remote and general and some more near and more particular The first means more remote and general was this inferior world as included in its remotest matter which God did make out of no pre-existent matter as Heb. 11.3 and saith another Text The earth was without form and void Heb. 11.3 and darkness was upon the deep and the Spirit of God moved upon the waters and yet the first verse names it by the name of heaven and earth and the ground of it is this because that confused lump was the preexistent matter of heaven and earth and all things else and the ground of that is this because the spirit of God by its moving fil'd it with an intrinsical vigorous disposedness to be whatsoever God by his Creative Will and Word would command it to be Rev. 4.11 Wherefore when he commanded light out of that darkness Gen. 1 2 3. it presently was then saith the Text God said Let there be light and it was so Then God commanded a Firmament to be in the midst of the waters and the waters to be separated from the waters that is the water under the Firmament from the waters that were above the Firmament and God called the Firmament Heaven verse 6 7 8. Then he commanded the waters to one place and so the earth to be for use as now it is verse 9 10. Then he commanded the life and being of all vegitable creatures and it was so verse 11 12. Then he commanded to be the Sun Moon and Stars in their orderly course and warbling influence to fall on the earth and for signes and seasons and succession of daies and nights and it was so verse 14. to 19. Then he commanded the innumerable number of all sensative creatures to live and move and have their being from verse 20. to 25. Thus God gave being to the first means more remote and general to his final end Then God gave being to a second means more near and more particular the principal part of the Creation Namely man whose personal existency was in a twofold nature the one sensible the other an intellectual spirit or rational soul The first was his elementary body of earth for a time a lifeless trunk but God staid not there for saith the Text And breathed in his nostrils the breath of life Gen. 2.7 and man became a living soul And because he was a principal part the whole did terminate in his nutrimental support some to feed some to cloth the aire to imbreath and the earth to bear and the sweet influence and aspects of the heavenly bodies to his delight Again because the chief part therein God put the whole to depend on his operations not for his being but for its wel or woe and therefore the whole creation together with himself fell into the aforesaid vanity bondage and corruption and man thus made was Gods second means for man must first be and so supported to be before he could be to honour or dishonour to Gods foresaid final end Again mans reasonable soul being of an immortal nature and so of an everlasting duration was therefore a third means suitable to Gods final end that is to be to honour or dishonour to eternity which could not be if he were not of an everlasting duration From this ground it is that mans dead body shall be raised and spirituallized therefore when some men denyed the immortality of their souls and consequently the everlasting duration thereof our Lord proved to them the truth thereof Have you not read what was spoken unto you of God saying I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not the God of the dead but of the living Affirmatively inferring to them that those three men then were and now are living though their bodies are dead and turned to dust Mat. 22.31 32. Again God having indued mans reasonable soul with two natural faculties his understanding and will the understanding its natural property to look to truth as really such or as it appears so to be and to judge and accordingly so to operate the whole man and to the will Two things are natural to it the one is that it doth follow a good as the eye doth follow the light that is the true good or as it appears so to be the other is to nil and will that
figure wherefore he said to the Iews Destroy this Temple and I will raise it and so forth Secondly I answer This Temple also was a figure that God would take up his dwelling place in the hearts of true believers only and in a word this dwelling in the Temple and in Christ himself and in the hearts of his members is no more but this his abiding residence in a manifestation of himself in a peculiar presence of his love and favour as in the Temple more then in any peculiar place in all the world and most eminently in Christs humane body more then in any created nature as is proved and his dwelling in the hearts of believers is a secret and silent manifestation of himself to their minds and is so restrained to them as it once was to the Temple at Jerusalem and therefore the Text says to believers if they destroy this Temple in themselves God will destroy them Again Observe that Gods dwelling place as personally considered is only in the humane Nature of Christ therefore Christ alone is personally Gods Elect for this end so to be the said seventh means therefore to affirm that any part of humane Nature besides that in his person is personally Gods Elect to eternal life is a great mistake The Reason why God thus dwells in the hearts of no men else in al the world is this because they are Regenerated only and their belief or faith the principal part thereof is that by which Christ dwelleth in their hearts as saith the Text Christ dwells in our hearts by faith so that the truly sanctifyed mind is Christs only habitation of all mankinde A Second Reason why Christ thus dwells only in the hearts of Believers by Faith is this because where this Sanctification or Holiness is not there is no proper place for him to manifest himself there as is said for all men else that are by being faithful in their little are but coming towards Christ or God by the said striving of his Spirit that so he might give them Faith but yet having it not there is no dwelling place for him and for all sorts of men in the world besides they are dead in sins and in trespasses their Light being turned into Darkness and therefore the children of the Devil and then what fellowship hath Christ with Belial Question If Christ by his Spirit thus strives with the spirits of all men not only as by his Prophets and Ministers but also in the days of his flesh personally by himself Why do so few men believe rightly as to receive Gods gift of Eternal Life and be saved Answer Because men do so follow this life of sense sutable to the body and in their Understanding do wink to follow their Lusts and will not see nor understand that which they do by the Doctrine of Christ truth shining to them either by the Creation or the sacred Oracles in which Christs Spirit so strives with their spirits And therefore because they are not faithful in their little they precedently had received whereby they might in some degree have been brought towards that Right Faith and received Gods gift thereof and also the said gift of life by it is that so few are saved For from this ground it was that Christ could not do no great works amongst them to whom he preached in his own person and so by a demonstrative force strengthning the striving of his spirit Mark 6.5 6. by his Doctrine upon their spirits For the Text implies it was because of their unbelief that is of what they might have believed from that light which formerly they had received as we see proved by those heathens which had not the Oracles of God yet being faithful in their little by the assistance of Christs Spirit striving with their spirits were brought to Circumcision of the heart which as saith the Text is by Nature and were saved as is proved The ground why Christs Spirit can do no great works to such men as is said is this he will not cross the orderly means to his fathers final end namely not to force the Will of man for then the nature of the Will is destroyed consequently the Reasonable Soul annihilated which must not be in respect of Gods final end for so God should destroy that means purposely made by himself that man might be made to honor or dishonor as is proved and therefore Noah by the spirit of prophesie in his prayer to God concerning the Calling of the Gentiles into the said posture doth rightly point at the manner of Christs Spirit striving with mans spirit saying God perswade Iaphet to dwell in the Tents of Shem that is not only by a moral perswasion in the voice of the Gospel but also by the Spirit of Christ the rectitude of the Understanding and the Will rightly to operate to receive the said gift of Christs Righteousness and life in it and thus always God proceeds with the spirits of men ordinarily in all the world Rom. 10.20 except in case of Restauration of the World from one universal Apostacy then as is proved Act. 2.17 God is found of them that sought him not as in the Call of the Gentiles and pouring out the imbreathing of his Spirit as it were compelling the Gentiles into the said posture by a more cleerer manifestation to their minds in the Gospel being unvailed then ever the Iews had but still this must be remembred that this extraordinary Cause is in prosecution of his final end against the Apostate Angels design against the said particular Branch and therefore not for mans sake but for his own Names sake for to this end he gives to some a greater emminency of Gifts and Graces throughout all Ages and Generations of men as to Moses Abraham Daniel and David and the seventy Disciples and the Apostles and so forth but in an ordinary course God proceeds with men to give them more Faith and so of every Grace according as they are faithful in their little and not otherwise Obser You put so much stress upon the use of mans Natural faculties in reference to his operations to that Rule which you call suitable to all men yet the Scriptures lead us another way namely that mans happiness is from a more immediate thing without all this ado Quest What thing is that Answ The Text affirms when God had made the body of man of earth a liveless Trunck he then breathed into his face or nostrils the breath of life that is God breathed into that body his own Essence or Nature and so man became one spirit with God partaker of his divine Nature as saith the Text. Therefore here is no use of all those natural faculties nor mans operations to a Rule to receive Eternal Life as given by God in Christs imputed Righteousness For God himself is Eternal Life which is Christ in us the hope of Glory as saith the Text and this Life of God or God in
persisted in quenching and also in resisting the said Spirit by following lying vanities and so forsaking his own mercies as did Demas and the seven Churches of Asia till God removed the Candlestick from them and left them in darknesse and Demas to imbrace this present world Is it so That the Gospel and the Universe of this Creation has a tendency and bends joyntly as one in mans universal good and vertually to breed in him the faith of God in Iesus Christ as is proved Then hence observe That those that stand in an universal relation to men at the Stern of Magistracy as Gods stand bound universally to further the good of man not of this life only but of that which is to come namely to set up in their Territories and Dominions in all convenient places the Preaching of the Gospel to beget the belief of God in Iesus Christ in the minds of men CHAP. XI In which is handled the third particular in the said Rule namely to let all men see how suitabble this Rule is to them THe suitableness whereof is opened in nine particulars as first It has its Institution in Gods word of truth and the natural property of the understanding of all men being as is proved to follow truth as such or as it appears to be such wherefore we see the Apostate Angels came to our first Parents in the appearance of truth therefore it is universally suitable to all mankind in this respect Secondly This rule tenders to man not only a good to be received by his operations according to it but also his sweetest and chiefest good namely to enjoy God in belief of the truth in this life and according to truth to eternity in the next and so this rule is suitable to mans will whose natural property is to follow good or as it appears so to be as the natural property of the eye is to follow the light wherefore the Apostate Angels came to us in our first parents as is proved in appearance of a good wherefore this rule is universally suitable to all men in this respect Thirdly ever since the fall of Adam God in his word requires no man by his workings to attain eternal life for himself or others but only by his workings in the said posture to receive eternal life attained only by the Lord Christ and given imputatively by God himself therefore this rule is universally suitable to all men none excepted but Christ himself Fourthly Because the natural liberty of mans will consists in this namely to chuse and refuse all objects as it likes them or as it likes them not as is proved And because this rule tenders a twofold object to will or nill that is to chuse or refuse namely good or evil that is eternal life or death for it to chuse or refuse therefore it is universally suitable to all in this respect none excepted Fifthly because this just and mercifull rule admits mercy to man after he hath not done well according to his said posture man being ever since the fall imperfect therefore this rule is suitable universally to all men none excepted but Christ the Lord. Sixthly Because it is propper to all men which propound to themselves an end in their workings to ground those workings and operations upon their own belief or faith of a good to be attained and attainable as do Merchants which send or go by Sea or Land for wealth or the like or upon their own belief of some evil or danger as did these Marriners which to avoid the danger of death by their operations cast the wheat out of the Ship into the Sea and therefore because this rule requires mans own belief of Gods truth and the said good and to avoid the contrary evil to be the ground of all their operations in the said posture He that believes shall be saved he that will not believe shall be damned as is proved Wherefore because this Rule requires all men thus to make their own belief as is said the ground of their operations in this posture therefore this rule is universally suitable to all men none excepted but men that are dead in sins and trespasses by acquired habits herein or sots idiots mad men or the like From this ground it is that our Lord saith This is the work of God That ye believe and so forth and from this ground it is that Abrahams believing operations in this posture Rom. 4.4 was so much respected as opposed to men that made their own works as works in this posture to be the ground only of their acceptance with God to eternal life and from this ground namely That man makes his own belief of Gods truth and the said good to be the ground of his operations in this said posture it is that faith is so highly extol'd in Scriptures by the Spirit of Christ for in so doing they render unto God the sole glory of all his truth and goodness revealed in the seed of the woman Christ the Lord and his imputed righteousness and Gods gift of life therein Seventhly Because mans reasonable soul or spirit is of an everlasting duration and never to be extinct and mans body when raised a spiritual body so to be also and because this rule tenders to man an estate of well and woe of an everlasting duration and that all things else under the Sun are only suitable to his moldring body and to a change as also is it therefore this rule is universally suitable to all men in this respect none excepted Eightly Because this rule not only admits man to do well after he hath done evil as is said but when he so returns admits pardon of the guilt and punishment due to him for his sin or sins as is proved therefore this rule is suitable to all men capable to operate to this rule Christ only excepted in whom was no sin Ninthly Because God hath given an impression and dictate of the effect of this rule as it respects its execution in reference to his final end in the minds of all men naturally namely that he will render unto all men according to their works and from this ground it is that the consciences of all men do either excuse or accuse them according to their own works good or bad the which is the dictate of this rule and Gods said final end as is said therefore this rule is universally suitable to all men none excepted From the Premisses thus proved ariseth these following Observations First That this Gospel as carrying along in it this Tenor a just and a mercifull rule is it which all mankind are under to work by in relation to their eternal state and none other as is proved Hence saith the Apostle The Gospel was Preached unto us as to them meaning to us in the last daies as to the Jews and unto all in former ages before them wherefore not any of mankind since the fall ever was or now is nor never shall
Christ in us in its own Nature is above all Ordinances wherfore to speak truth all Rules and Operations and Ordinances to us are useless and void Reply 1 We will examine all those Texts you alleadge and first that in Genesis the Metaphor being taken from breathing spoken of by Moses is taken from Creatures that live by breathing as man or beast or the like and although there be a neer relation between their breath and their Nature yet they are two distinct things that is their breath or breathing is one thing and the Essence or substance of their bodies in another thing still distinct although never totally separated but by death so in this cause the divine Essence or Nature of God is one thing and that Virtue that he was pleased to put forth to give being to the Reasonable Soul of a man are ever distinct As for Example The Nature of God in the person of Christ breathed upon the Apostles and indued them with an Apostolical spirit that is in the Rectitude of their Understandings in Divine light and their Wills in pure affections in love to his Glory in the Conversion of the World by the Gospel yet still that virtue in its Effects in them was one thing and his Divine Nature or Essence in himself was another thing Matth. 5.30 so likewise from the same divine Essence there went virtue to the woman of a bloody Issue for the Text saith He knew there was virtue gone from him and it gave her health and her Nature was not the Divine Nature of God so likewise in the shadow of the Apostles bodies God was pleased to put forth himself by vertue flowing from himself to the cure of many diseased people as they went in the streets yet the peoples bodies that were cured and the shadow of the Apostles bodies and the virtue that flowed from God and Gods own Essence were all distinct things in their several Natures and Kindes even so when God gave being to the Reasonable Soul by breathing into mans Nostrils the breath of lives his own Divine Nature Gen. 2.7 and that Creative power another thing by which he was pleased to put forth to the production of mans Reasonable Soul and as formerly is proved the Essence of God is one thing and that Radical virtue or potency is another thing in its Effects so when he was pleased to reduce that virtue and potency to act creatively that was another thing from which thing it is that the Creature is the Off-spring of God from whom it sprang and in whom it continually is and cannot be otherwise Act. 17.18 he being Infinite In him we live move and have our being but for the manner how we live move and have our being is known to God alone and not perceived by us but because Gods Word hath said it we must believe it Again 1 Cor. 6.17 for the next Text that Believers are one spirit with the Lord The Text refers it onely to Believers and not to all man kinde as the drift of your opinion point at for the words are these But he that is joyned or cleaveth to the Lord is one spirit with him and is apposed to those that did joyn or cleave in their minds as well as with their bodies to Harlots yet these men and women were not one spirit Essentially but Individually still they were twain so on the contrary true Blievers are of one spirit in pure Affections cleaving to God and Christ yet nevertheless the Divine Essence of God is one thing and still their bodies and souls are two distinct Natures so the scope of this Text is directly against your opinion Again for the next Text in regard it refers Believers to Gods precious Promises and Faith 1 Pet. 1.4 5. and Love and Virtue and Knowledge to flee the Corruptions that are in the World through Lusts and that by these they are partakers of the Divine Nature they all imploy the use of their operations as flowing from their Natural Faculties to the said sutable Rule by the assistance of the Spirit of Christ therefore the scope of this Text also is against your Opinion Again the other Texts Christ in you the hope of Glory the drift of it is no more but this Colos 1.23 27. That Christ dwells in Believers hearts by Faith and Love from whence they live in hope of a full fruition and glory with him for ever in the next Life But as for your blaspeamous Error If you be the Divine Nature Essentially it fully injoys it self infinitely therefore your Error is Contrary to the Nature of Hope therefore the drift of this Text is also against you Again Whereas you alleadge the Texts of Scripture and the like it is onely an Introduction to draw mens minds from believing the sacred Scriptures to be Gods Word to believe that the onely true Scriptures is the Divine Essence essentially in themselves and so to believe a lye for what man can believe that is in his right minde that himself is God or Christ and yet cannot walk upon the Sea as Christ did nor deliver himself out of the hand of his enemies and not render himself into their hands till he pleased as did the Lord Jesus Christ when his hour was come nor cause the Sun to go back so many degrees as pleaseth themselves as God did Again for Conclusion take this one Observation more from the precedent premises Gen. 17.10 11 12 13. Namely that there is a threefold ground why God made a Law that Infants as such should be members of Christs visible Church and so under the use of Ordinances in the Church The first is this because the whole Humane Nature as such God Elected in the person of Christ the seed of the Woman in the faln Mass out of that fall into a capacity of the said posture in which they might if they lived to the use of Reason by belief receive in the gift of Righteousness Eternal Life as is proved and this Election is the first ground of their right to be Members of Christs visible Church and so the first ground why God gave that Law Hence it is that Christ saith Matth. 19.14 suffer little children and forbid them not to come unto me for of such is the Kingdom of heaven A Second Ground is this If the whole creation have a right of relation to Christ by Virtue of his Righteousness imputed as interposing the unrighteousness of Adams imputed and by it travels untill now as is proved Then much more hath Humane Nature as such a right of relation to be Christs visible Church and this was the second ground of that Law why Infants should be members the which Law was never repealed A third Ground was this Because as is proved all mankinde dying in Infancy or the like ascended to Heaven and there are Members of the Church Triumphant therefore much more have they a right to the Church Militant and all Churches and Ordinances here upon Earth the which right can never be lost except they live to be able to act unbelieving Operations and so put away their right as did Esaw judging themselves unworthy of Eternal Life and this is a third Ground of that Law whereby Infants are instituted Members of the Visible Church of Christ FINIS