clearly and distinctly see that though Christ be not so ill formed amongst us in some of these Doctrines as he is in others yet he is represented very unlike and much beneath himself in them all So that as Joshua though he performed the part of a valiant Captain and made a worthy progress in the Conquest of the Land of Canaan before his death yet left a very considerable proportion of the work to be atchieved by others after him n Judges 1. â— 9 c. in like manner Luther Calvin Melancthon with others who labored with much honor and success in the work of Reformation and reduced the Body of Christian Religion to a far better complexion and constitution then that wherein they found it yet left it under so much craziness and unsoundness that other Physicians also and those of best value have large opportunities before them for enriching the World and themselves also by perfecting the cure I look upon you as Men the likeliest I know to wear this Crown As for those who of late attempted the building of a fence-wall of Discipline under the Name of a Reformation about that Vineyard of Christ amongst us of which I now speak and to this day seem to lie under much regret of spirit both against God and men for hindering them in their Building the truth is in such an attempt the unreformedness and unsoundness of the Doctrine commonly received amongst us and taught by themselves considered they ran a like course of inconsiderateness which an Husbandman would do that should go about to make a strong and tight hedg about his field whilest his Neighbors Cattel are feeding and spoyling the Corn in the midst of it Brethren my Pen hath transgressed the line and law of my Intentions These confined me to a much narrower compass in my Epistle and prohibited me the troubling of you to any such degree as now I have done The truth is my affections to you interposed and occasioned the Transgression Love is bountiful and I trust will as naturally produce Pardon on your side as it hath brought forth such a Transgression on mine In all this address I have desired nothing of you little or much upon mine own account save onely so far as your ingenuous and worthy Deportment in the Particulars offered together with the unspeakable Benefit and Blessing which you shall bring upon the World thereby will be matter of joy and high contentment unto me Envy me not my rejoycing with the Truth though herein I should be found equal to the greatest of you it is the best of my portion in the world I shall discharge you from any further sufferings from my Pen at present onely with my Soul poured out before the Great God and Father of Lights in Prayer for you that he will make his face to shine upon you in quickening your Apprehensions enlarging your Understandings balassing your Judgments strengthening your Memories in giving you ableness of body willingness of minde to labor in those rich Mynes of Truth the Scriptures in breaking up before you the Fountains of those great depths of Spiritual Light and Heavenly Understanding in assisting you mightily by his Spirit in the course of your Studies in lifting you up in the spirit of your mindes above the faces fears respects of men in drawing out your Hearts and Souls to relieve the spiritual necessities and extremities of the World round about you in making you so many burning and shining Lights in his House and Temple the joy glory and delight of your Nation in vouchsafing unto you as much of all that is desirable in the Things of this World as your Spiritual Interest will bear and the Reward of Prophets respectively in the Glory and great Things of the World to come Your poor Brother in CHRIST always ready in Love to serue the meanest of you John Goodwin From my Study in Colemanstreet London Feb. 22. 1650. THE Preface to the Reader GOOD READER THE account of my application unto thee in this Epistle is this Not loving with Job to eat my morsels alone I desire thy company at my Table in the ensuing Discourse If thy intellectual taste be the same with mine which I question not if thou hast not eaten somewhat already which disordereth and corrupteth it and thy spiritual constitution the same also from which if thou beest healthful and sound it cannot much differ I doubt not but in case thou pleasest to accept of the invitation and eat of the bread here set before thee thou wilt finde it both pleasant in thy mouth and strengthening to thy Soul I confess that till some few years last past I was my self accustomed to another dyet and fed upon that bread which was commonly prepared by my Brethren in the Ministry for the People of the Land and Children of God amongst them But the truth is I found it ever and anon gravellish in my mouth and corroding and fretting in my bowels Notwithstanding the reverent and high Esteem I had of many of those who prepared it and fed upon it themselves in conjunction with those harder thoughts which I was occasioned by some undue carriages in many of those who lived upon bread of another molding to take up against them together with a raw and ill-digested conceit I had that there was no better or less-offensive bread to be had from any hand whatsoever prevailed upon me to content my self therewith for a long time though not without some regret of discontentment also with it But to leave my Parable that which first turned to a sharp engagement upon me to search more narrowly and throughly then formerly I had done into the Controversies agitated in the subsequent Discoursâ— was a Pamphlet published by a young man about five or six years since under the title of A Vindication of Free Grace c. which though libellous enough and full of broad untruths yet the face of it being fiercely set against me and my Doctrine it was lifted up well-nigh as neer unto the Heavens as Herods Oration a Acts 12 â—â— by the applause of such persons in and about the City whose ways in matter of Discipline and thoughts in other more weighty Points of Christian Religion my Vnderstanding would never serve me to make mine Being for a time under a conscientious resentment of a necessity lying upon me to publish some Answer to the said Pamphlet as well the Person as the Doctrine therein stigmatized being innocent of all crimes there charged on them I fell to work accordingly and drew up a competent Answer as I supposed thereunto with the perusal whereof I was willing upon request to gratifie some private friends amongst whom it lay dormant for a time In the Interim perceiving that the noyse which the said Pamphlet had made was but like the crackling of â—horns under a pot and that the heat of the tumultuary rejoycing occasioned by it had exhaled and spent it self I began to
water springing up c. his meaning is not as if either the Doctrine or Spirit which He gives unto men and they drink or receive from His Hand should always actually necessarily and infallibly end or issue in Eternal Life properly and compleatly so called the Scriptures in many places testifying the contrary of both a Mat. 13. 20 22. Maâ—k 6. 20. Act. 8. 13 compared with Vers 20 21. Hebr. 6. 4 5 c. but that their natural course and tendency always stand that way as the course motion and inclination of waters in a river always stand bent towards the Sea though they may be turned by force out of their channel or dried up by the violent and scortching heat of the Sun Therefore neither is there any Promise in this Scripture of such a Perseverance of the Saints in Faith as is commonly notioned amongst us and hath been opposed hitherto Another place wherein the said Minor Proposition in the sence intended §. 13. by the Assertors is pretended to be found consists of these words And I will pray the Father and he will give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever b John 14. 16. But 1. Evident it is that our Saviour doth not in this place oppose the abiding or remaining of the Holy Ghost to his own discession or departure from the Hearts or Souls of men into which He is entered or come but to his departure out of the World by death which was now at hand Therefore 2. By the abiding of the Comforter or Holy Ghost with them for ever he doth not mean his perpetual or un-interruptible residence or abode in their Hearts or Souls or in the Heart or Soul of any other particular man determinately but His constant abiding in the World in and with the Gospel and the children thereof until the consummation and end of it In respect of which permanency of His Spirit with them and their spiritual Successors or Posterity He saith of Himself elsewhere And â—o I am with you always to the end of the World c Matt. 28. 20 And to put our Saviours meaning in the words in hand into words of more plainness it was as if He should have said to His Disciples thus The Counsel and Purpose of my Father in sending me into the World required that I should make no long stay or abode in it but that I should return by the way of Death again unto Him after a season and accordingly I am now upon my Return and so must leave you but when I shall have finished my Return unto my Father and am come to Him I will intercede for you and he will send you another Comforter the Holy Ghost upon better terms for staying and continuing with you then those on which I came for He shall be sent not to be taken out of the World by Death as I must be but to make His residence with and amongst you my friends and faithful ones for ever This to be our Saviours express drift and scope in the words appears by the carriage of the greatest part of the Châ—pter Now from such an abiding of the Holy Ghost with them as this cannot be inferred His perpetual abiding with any one person or Beleever determinately much less with every one 3. This Promise concerning the abiding of this other Comforter for ever §. 14. must be conceived to be made either to the Apostles personally considered or else to the whole Body of the Church of which they were principal Members If the first â—f these be admitted then it will not follow That because the Apostles had the perpetual Residency of the Spirit with them and in them therefore every particular Beleever hath the like no more then it will follow That because the Apostles were infallible in their Judgments and Doctrine through the Teachings of the Spirit in them therefore every Beleever is infallible upon the same account also If the latter be admitted neither will it follow that every Beleever or every Member of the Church must needs have the Residence of the Spirit with him for ever There are Priviledges appropriate to Corporations or Bodies Politique which every particular Member of these Bodies cannot claim The Church may have the Residence or Presence of the Spirit of God with her for ever and yet every present Member hereof lose his present Interest and Part in Him Yea that the abiding for ever of the Spirit in the Apostles themselves was not absolutely promised unto them appears from those and such like passages of our Saviour unto them If ye shall keep my Commandments ye shall ABIDE in my a John 15. 10 c. If any man love me he will keep my Word and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and will DVVELL with him b John 14. 23 4. And lastly Notice hath been taken and given formerly that this Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut that doth not always import the certainty of the thing spoken of by way of event no not when speech is of God Himself but oft-times the Intention onely of the Agent c See Cap. 10 Sect 50. 53 In this Dialect of speech those words that he may abide with you for ever do not imply an absolute necessity of his abiding with them for ever but onely that that should be the intent of Him that should send Him and that He would send Him in such a way or upon such terms that if they were true to their own Interest in so weighty a matter and proportionably careful they might retain Him and have His presence and abode with them for ever Turn the words any way with any tolerable congruity either to the scope of the place manner of Scripture expression or Principles of Reason and the Doctrine of Perseverance which we implead will be found to have nothing in them As for such Passages as these He that heareth my Word and beleeveth on §. 15. Him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation d John 5. 24 c. And again He that beleeveth on the Son hath everlasting life e John 3. 36 And He that eateth me shall live by me f John 6. 57 with many others of like import enough and that with advantage hath been said already to evince them innocent from all compliance with the common Doctrine heterodoxly sirnamed Oxthodox of Perseverance * See cap. 10. Sect 11. 54. And this cap. Sect. 1. Sect. 9. Sect. 11. These indeed are all Promises of eternall life unto those that believe but that the condition of Perseverance rules though invisibly in them all but is it self absolutely Promised in none cleerly appeares by what hath been already argued from the Scriptures and might easily be made to appeare yet further by the consideration of all those Scripture Texts wherein salvation is suspended upon Perseverance and Perseverance upon
a Temptation from it Another place insisted upon upon the last mentioned account presenteth §. 20. it self in these words And the very God of Peace sanctifie you wholly and I pray God that your whole Spirit and Soule and Body be preserved blamelesse unto the comming of our Lord Jesus Christ * 1 Thess 5. 23 I answer 1. These words suppose no Promise much lesse any absolute Promise made by God to preserve their Spirit Soule or Body blamelesse but only containe a Prayer or holy desire conceived by the Apostle for such a gracious vouchsafement from God unto them Which rather proveth that such a preservation might possibly have been withheld or denyed by God unto them then the contrary For those things are more likely to be sought by Prayer which may possibly not be granted or obtained otherwise then such which might with the greatest confidence be expected upon another account and without such Prayer And besides what Efficacy or Prevalency with God can be ascribed unto such a Prayer which seeketh such things at His hand to the exhibition whereof He stands absolutely ingaged by Promise Purpose or the like and which should have been exhibited and given by Him whether such Prayer had been made unto Him or no 2. The same thing in effect which the Apostle here prayeth that God would do for the Thessalonians in other places he exhorteth men themselves to do which plainly sheweth that the intent and purport of the Apostles Prayer in this place was not that he would by a peremptory and irresistible hand preserve them blameless c. which is His manner of acting in the Performance of all His absolute Promises but that he would afford unto them such gracious excitements quickenings and enlargements of Heart and spirit by His Spirit whereby they might be effectually provoked and engaged to put forth themselves to do what was requisite on their parts for and towards such an actual preserving of themselves which notwithstanding he clearly supposeth in the Passages immediately subjoyned that they very possibly might not do even under such excitements and enlargements I give thee charge saith this Apostle to Timothy in the sight of God who quickeneth all things and before Jesus Christ That thou keep this Commandment without spot unrebukeable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ b 1 Tim 6. 13 14 So also Peter to his Proselytes Wherefore beloved seeing that ye look for such things BE DILIGENT that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless c 2 Pet. 3. 14 wherein that very possibly they might miscarry appears yet further from these words not long after Ye therefore Beloved seeing ye know these things before beware lest ye also being led away with the error of the wicked fall from your own steâ—fastness a 2 Pet. 3. 17 3. If it shall be supposed that the Apostle in the Passage in hand any ways supposeth a certainty or necessity in respect of any absolute Promise or Decree that God would actually â—nd with success preserve them blameless c. he should clearly destroy or at least much shake and weaken what he had built up in all his preceding Exhortations and Admonitions the joynt tendency of them all being this to preserve them blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ For to inform or insinuate unto such men whom we have most seriously admonished and exhorted to be studious and careful of doing such and such things that so they may be blameless unto the coming of Christ that they shall certainly and without any possibility of miscarrying be preserved by God blameless hereunto is nothing else being truly interpreted but to tempt them to neglect all our Admonitions and Exhortations in that behalf 4. Nor do the words following Faithful is he that calleth you who also §. 22. will do it b 1 Thes 5. 24 imply any such thing but onely this that God was and would be careful and tender over them in preserving them blameless c. so far as His Interest lieth or is any ways meet for Him to interpose act or assist in or towards such their preservation This sence we have formerly asserted unto like passages and expressions in this Chapter c Sect. 17 18 19 c. See also Cap. 10 Sect. 20. To heal the offence of such explications or limitations as these as far as His Interest lieth as far as is proper or appertaineth unto him to do with the like when the doing or performance of such things is attributed unto God wherein men also are to joyn and act with Him I shall here add 1. That such explications or limitations as these in the said cases and others of like consideration are frequently used both by the Ancient Fathers and by our late Divines also even such as are supposed our greatest Adversaries in the present Controversies Therefore saith Austin speaking of Christs coming to save the world AS MVCH AS LIETH IN THE PHYSICIAN he came to save or heal the sick He slayeth himself who will not observe the Precepts of the Physician d Ergo quantum in Medico est sanare venit aegrotum Ipsese interimit qui praecepta Medici observare non vult Aug. in Johan Tract 12. So Chrysostom For what saith he if all men do not beleeve yet HE HATH DONE HIS PART or fully performed that which was proper for him to do a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Heb. Serm. 4. And elsewhere For although Christ was not like to win or gain all men yet did he dye for all men So FVLFILLING THAT WHICH WAS PROPER FOR HIM or which appertained to Him b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost in Rom. Serm. 26. Yea AS MVCH AS IN THEM LIETH saith Calvin speaking of wicked Apostates they profane and abrogate the inviolable Covenant of God ratified by the blood of Christ c Imò quantum in se est inviolabile Dei foedus ac sancitum Christi sanguine profanant abrogant Calv. in 2 Pet. 2. 20. Piscator also in a like case useth the same explication Thy weak Brother shall perish viz. saith he AS TO THEE or as much as in thee lieth d Peribit nempe per te quidem seu quantum per te stat Piscat in 1 Cor. 8. 11. Our English Divines make use of the same explicatory expression in their Annotations upon the same place 2. Upon the same account I add this further that there is very good reason §. 23. for such Attributions as we now speak of whether unto God or men or any other efficient cause I mean why such effects should be ascribed unto them towards the production whereof they contribute any considerable degree of efficiency whether the said effects be ever actually produced or no viz. because they do as much and altogether the same in such a case of a non-production of the effect as they should do in a case of
assumption whereof we shall give notice presently Yet 2. We answer that the conclusion it self That all true Believers shall never miscarry or fall away rightly understood opposeth not our sence in the present controversie We firmly hold and believe that no true Believer shall fall away from the grace of God or miscarry in point of Salvation and that all who either doe thus fall away or miscarry are no true Believers but wicked Apostates at the time of their falling away or miscarrying But this we presume satisfies not the Argumentators Therefore 3. If these words shall certainly and faithfully be preserved and kept by Christ unto the end import no other preservation or keeping by him but what is meant in and can be proved from the Texts specified for proof of the Minor proposition the Major is denied They who are preserved and kept by Christ in such a sence as the Scriptures affirme Men to be preserved and kept by Him may possibly miscarry or fall away both totally and finally from their Faith viz. in case themselves shall not comport with Christ in His act of preserving or keeping them with their diligence and care to preserve themselves Nor doe any of the Scriptures cited prove the contrary no nor yet that those that are preserved by Christ must by any compulsory or necessitating power joyn with him their care and diligence in preserving themselves Let us take a brief survey of such of the particulars which have not been taken off already from the ingagement The first place Ioh. 6. 37. affirmeth that Christ will in no wise cast out §. 37. him that commeth unto him or that is comming unto Him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But this proveth not but that he that is on his way towards Christ may go back before he comes fully to Him nor that he that is fully come to Him is under no possibility of departing from him It only proveth that there is not the least disposition or inclination in Christ to discourage any Man whatsoever from coming to him nor to deny entertainment or acceptance to whosoever shall come to him and whilest he shall be willing to stay or abide with Him And elsewhere he perswades and exhorts those that are come to Him to abide in him or with him as Ioh. 15. 4. and threatens those who shall not abide with him Ioh. 15. 4. 6. Heb. 10. 38. both which evidently suppose a possibility of their departure from Him who at present are with him Whereas Ver. 39. he expresseth himself thus And this is the Fathers will that hath sent Me that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing but should raise it up againe at the last day it is evident that He speaketh not of losing Believers by defection from Faith but by Death And to assure all Believers of this He declares that it is His Fathers Will and Pleasure that He should raise them all up all that should die Believers unto a blessed estate and condition of life at the last Day Besides if the place should be meant of losing by defection from Faith the losing of such who should be lost this way could not be imputed to Christ who fulfils His Fathers Will and Pleasure to the uttermost for their preservation but to themselves who withdraw themselves from His custody Concerning the third place Ioh. 10. 27. 28. we spake largely in the next preceding Chapter Sect. 37. c. where we shewed in what sence Christ speaking of His Sheep saith that no Man should pluck them out of His Hand The next place Ioh. 17. 12. presenteth us with these words from Christ in His Prayer to the Father Those that thou gavest Me I have kept and none of them is lost But neither can it be inferred from hence either that Christ so keepeth all true Believers that none of them at any time perisheth or is lost much lesse that He so keepeth them that there is no possibility that any of them should ever be lost no nor yet that He had kept His Apostles themselves of whom it is a plaine case that He speaks particularly in the place so or upon any such terms of keeping that there was no possibility that any of them should be lost or perish but only that He had so kept them that none of them was lost excepting only the Son of perdition as it immediatly follows who was not lost neither for lack of good and sufficient keeping wherein doubtlesse He did partake with his fellowes but through the great malignity or wretchednesse of his own will his good keeping notwithstanding So that neither can hence any thing be gathered to prove any such preservation of the Saints by Christ but that they may neverthelesse decline both totally and finally The two next places viz. Ioh. 13. 1. 1 Cor. 1. 8. upon former examinations §. 38. have been found strangers to that cause which they are here brought to plead The former cap. 10. Sect. 38. The latter in the same Chap. Sect. 20. Sect. 16. of this present Chapter The Scripture next to these is Eph. 5. 23. where Christ according to the more generall sence of Interpreters for some understand it not of Christ but of the Husband is termed the Saviour of His Body But neither doth this expression import any such preservation of the body or Church of Christ by Him which supposeth an impossibility of the defection of any one member from it For to follow the ducture of the Parable or Similitude here used by the Apostle the Husband is the conservator or keeper of his wife yet notwithstanding the wife may possibly miscarry and break the Marriage Covenant yea though the Husband acts his part upon the best and most commendable terms for the preserving of her from that folly that may be The reason is because the wife being a reasonable Creature is to be dealt with in order to her preservation or keeping in that kinde accordingly as viz. by rationall arguments or motives only as by an exemplary loving and prudent carriage in the Husband towards her by Seasonable instructions gentle admonitions upon occasion c. not by keeping her under Lock and Key as in a Prison where no Man may come neer her nor by any compulsory or violent means in one kinde or other All such wayes of securing her from solly as these would ill become the Husband and be very unacceptable to the Wife whether vertuously or viciously disposed In like manner Christ is the Saviour of His Spouse the Church and not only of the Church in generall but of every member thereof but He executes and performes the interest or office of a Saviour by wayes and means meet to be exercised towards and about such a Body and such Members for their preservation if we speak of their preservation from sin as viz. by inward motions and excitements of His Spirit unto well doing and to a continuance therein by vouchsafing the Ministry
like maner though the light of Gods countenance may shine in the face of the Soul to such a degree as to make a day of Grace and favorable acceptance with him notwithstanding the interposition of a dark cloud of many Errors yet most certain it is that according to the compass and proportion of such a cloud and during the interposition of it the Soul will be apt to suffer now and then many grudgings and sad impressions of a fear of being rejected by him There is no ray or beam which naturally shineth from the face of God but the interception deprivation and want of it must needs prove both poena damni yea and poena sensus too upon occasion unto the Soul Yea the Scripture it self supposeth men that are ignorant in any thing relating to their spiritual affairs and much more such as are confidently i. e. erroneously 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epiphan ignorant to be in a deplorable and sad condition and the proper Objects of pity and compassion in case their Ignorance or Error be not affectate and such from the intanglement and pollution whereof they had competent means to have delivered themselves The Apostle maketh it a worthy character of an High Priest taken from amongst men to be able to have COMPASSION ON THE IGNORANT and such as are out of the way h Hebr. 5. 2 There are but two things that can make the condition of a Creature miserable Sin and Sufferings and both these are the unquestionable fruits or productions of Error Lusts and sinful distempers can be no where ingendred but onely in the dark regions of the Soul the shining of the light of the Truth is as the shadow of Death unto them Nor can fear that hath torment nor any afflicting or sad impression upon the spirits of men climb up into the bed of the Soul to disturb the rest and sweet peace of it but onely in the night of Ignorance and by the opportunity of Error lodging there The light of the knowledg of the Truth as it is in Jesus is unto fears agonies and all perplexity of spirit like unto Solomons King sitting upon his Throne of Judgment in reference to wicked men whom he scattereth or chaseth away with his eyes i Prov. 20. 8 The Truth saith Christ unto the Jews meaning when known by them shall make you free k Iohn 8. 32 All bondage and servility whether under sin or under sorrow is dissolved by the clear shining of the light of the knowledg of God into the Heart and Soul Whereas the darkness of Error strengtheneth the hand of the Oppressors and bindes fast the iron yoke of servitude upon the necks of those that are in bondage The time would fail me to speak at large of all the sad retinue of Evils and Mischiefs that attend upon Error Take in brief the sum as well of what I have said as what I would willingly say yet further upon this account First It hath been said that Error defileth and embaseth the person who coupleth his Judgment with it Secondly That it obstructeth communion with God as far as the malignity of the influence of it extendeth Thirdly That the proper and direct tendency of it is unto death to bring everlasting destruction upon the Soul Fourthly It hath been shâ—wed that Error is the proper Element for Jim and Ojim and doleful creatures I mean for fears sad apprehensions disconsolate thoughts on the one hand and so for wilde Satyrs lusts sensual and sinful distempers on the other hand to be ingendred and bred as also to live and subsist to move and act and take their pastime in the knowledg of the Truth being mortal unto both I now add Fifthly That Error disposeth the Soul to Apostasie from the Gospel and to a recidivation or falling back into the devouring sin of Vnbelief This it doth not only by giving opportunity and encouragement unto lusts and inordinate affections in the Soul the motions and actings of which are to the life of Faith that which poyson is to the natural life of a man but also by representing the Gospel unto the mind and conscience of a man at least in some of the ways and passages of it as weak unworthy dark unpleasant uncouth or whatsoever Error when the Soul by long acquaintance and converse with it shall discover the true nature or genius of it and so grow into a dislike and contempt of it shall now appear unto them For this is much to be considered that a man or woman who have for many years professed the Gospel may in process of time come to discover vanity in some erroneous Principle or Tenent wherewith their Judgments had been leavened for some considerable space formerly and so grow into a disapprobation or contempt of it and yet may very possibly think and suppose that the Gospel favours or countenanceth it and that otherwise they should never have owned or approved it Now when a person shall be brought into the snare of such a conceit or imagination as this that the Gospel in some of the veins or carriages of it teacheth or asserteth things that are vain or of no good consistency with Reason or Truth he is in a ready posture to throw off from his Soul all credence of the Divine Authority of the Gospel and to esteem it no better then a Fable devised by men Nor will all that which he Iudgeth serious and sound and good in the Doctrine of the Gospel otherwise relieve him in such a case He that imagines that he smells but so much as one dead Fly in the oyntment of thâ— Gospel will as he should have sufficient cause to do were his imagination in this case sufficiently grounded conclude that certainly it came not from God but from men No mans heart or conscience will serve him to reverence that as coming from God wherein he savours the least weakness error or untruth Sixthly Though an Error seems to be meerly speculative and in respect of the frame and constitution of it to have no affinity or intermedling at all with the moral principles or practises of men as that of Ana-Baptism amongst some others yeâ— doth it secretly and in a collateral way through the weakness and vanity of the heart infuse malignity even into these occasioning persons otherwise grave sober peaceable meek loving c. to break out many times in strains of pride self conceitedness contention contempt of others cavilling against pregnant and clear Truths with the like for the maintenance and defence of it For as he which hath a child though it be never so hard-favored or deformed never so ill behaviored or conditioned yet â—udgeth himself bound to provide maintenance and support for it So He that embraceth an Opinion about the things of God and of the Gospel be it never so erroneous uncouth irrational and weak yet supposeth himself bound in conscience to plead the cause of it and protect it upon all occasions Now
lightly can be For if only the Spirit of God within me apprehends the things of God and I my self apprehend them not and apprehend them I cannot but by my Reason or Vnderstanding having no other faculty wherewith to apprehend or conceive such an apprehension of them relateth not at all unto me Nor can I any whit more be said to apprehend them because the Spirit of God apprehends them in me then I may or might in case the same Spirit should apprehend them in another man That which another man meditates or indites in my house without imparting it unto me no whit more concerns me then in case he should have meditated or indited the same things in the house of another man Besides the Spirit of God being but one and the same infinite indivisible Spirit in all men he cannot with any tolerable propriety of speech nor with truth be said to apprehend discern or conceive that in one man which he doth not after the same manner apprehend discern and conceive in another yea in every man Therefore if there be any thing more apprehended or discerned of the things of God in one man then in another the difference ariseth not from the different apprehensions of the Spirit in these men but from the different apprehensions of these men themselves and this by their own reasons and understandings they having as hath been said no other faculties principles or abilities wherewith to apprehend but these If it be demanded But is any man able without the presence and assistance of the Spirit of God to discern the things of God or to judg aright in matters of Religion I answer 1. Plainly and directly to the Heart I suppose of those who make this demand No The Spirit of God hath such a great Interest in and glorious Superintendency over the Minds and Spirits Reasons and Vnderstandings of Men that they cannot act or move regularly or perform any of those operations or functions that are most natural and proper to them upon any worthy or comely terms especially in matters of a spiritual concernment but by the gracious and loving interposure and help of this Spirit For questionless the intellectual frame of the Heart and Soul of man was by the sin and fall of Adam wholly dissolved shattered brought to an absolute Chaos and Confusion of Ignorance and Darkness to a condition of as great an impotency to do him the least service in order to his comfort or peace in any kind as can be imagined So that if the Reasons and Vnderstandings of men quit themselves in their actings or workings with honour or in any due proportion to their benefit comfort or peace it must needs be by means of that Gracious Conjunction of the Spirit of God with them which is a vouchsafement unto the children of men procured by him who raised up the Tabernacle of Adam when it was fallen Jesus Christ Blessed for ever In respect of which vouchsafement purchased by him and given unto men for his sake He is said to enlighten every man coming into the world a Iohn 1. 9. So that what light soever of Truth what clear and sound principle or impression of Reason or Vnderstanding soever is since the Fall to be found in any man is an express fruit of the Grace that is given unto the World upon the account of Jesus Christ and is re-invested in the Soul by the appropriate interposure of the Spirit of God the gift whereof upon this account is so frequently and highly magnified in the Scriptures Yea not only the habitual residency of all principles of Light and Truth in the Soul is to be attributed unto the Spirit of God as supporting and preserving them from defacement but also all the actings and movings of the rational powers of the Soul according to the true exigency ducture and import of them as in all right apprehensions of things in all legitimate and sound reasonings and debates whether for the confirmation of any Truth or the confutation of any Error or the like But 2. Though the Spirit of God contributes by his assistane after that high manner which hath been declared towards the right apprehending understanding discerning the things of God by men yet this no ways proveth but that they are the Reasons and Vnderstandings of men themselves that must apprehend discern and understand these things and consequently must be provoked raised ingaged imployed and improved by men that they may thus apprehend and discern notwithstanding all that assistance which is administred by the Spirit otherwise nothing will be apprehended or discerned by them Nor will the assistance of the Spirit we speak of turn to any account of benefit or comfort but of loss and condemnation unto men in case their Reasons and Vnderstandings shall not advance and quit themselves according to their interest thereupon 3. In case the Spirit of God shall at any time reveal I mean offer and propose any of the things of God or any spiritual Truth unto men these must be apprehended discerned judged of yea and concluded to be the things of God by the Reasons and Vnderstandings of men before they can or ought to receive or believe them to be the things of God yea before such a Revelation can any ways accommodate benefit and bless their Soul When our Saviour speaking of the Spirit to His Disciples saith And he will shew you things to come and again He shall receive of mine and shall shew them unto you Joh. 16. 13 14. He supposeth that they viz. with their own Reasons and Vnderstandings were to apprehend and judg of the things that should be thus shewed unto them to have been shewed unto them by the Spirit of God and not to have proceeded from any other Author Yea in case men shall receive the things of God themselves FOR the things of God or of the Spirit of God before their Reason and Vnderstanding have upon rational Grounds and Principles judged them to be the things of God yet can they not receive them upon these terms As the things of God I mean as the things of God ought in Duty and by Command from Himself to be received by Men or so as to benefit or inrich the Soul by their being received For as God requires of men to be praised with Understanding a Psalm 47 7 i. e. out of a rational apprehension and due consideration of his infinite worth and Excellency so doth He require to be believed also And they that believe him otherwise believe they know not what nor whom and so are Brethren in vanity with those that worship they know not what b John 4. 22 and build Altars to an unknown God c Acts 17. 23 To trust or believe in God upon such terms as these is being interpreted but as the Devotion of a man to an Idol Yea the Apostle Himself arraigns the Athenians of that high crime and misdemeanor of Idolatry upon the account of
and Vnderstandings as unlawful or dangerous in these affairs how prudently soever they may consult their own carnal ease honor or worldly accommodations by such a Doctrine yet herein they say unto men in effect Be not excellent let it never be said that the God of Heaven hath made you rich or Great Good Reader I have no Apology for my Prolixity in the Argument in hand but only the high and soveraign importance of it together with mine own abounding in the sense of that most sad Calamity under which the world groaneth by means of the importune tyrannical Regency of that Notion or Doctrine unto the deposal whereof I have lift up my Heart and Hand in all that I have said herein I shall only add this one word more upon this account at the present Whereas thou I fear art ready to complain of a long Harvest already the truth is that all I have said in the business hitherto is but a first-fruit of that abundance which yet remaineth in my spirit and Soul ready to utter it self upon any other like occasion for the eradication and utter extirpation if it be possible of that most pestilential and pernicious notion and conceit out of the minds of men In the mean time I shall make thee some part of amends for thy patient bearing of my burthen in this Point by as much brevity as thou canst reasonably desire in the third and last particular yet remaining The tenour hereof was to remove some stumbling stones which it is like have been thrown in thy way to alienate thy mind from the perusal of the Discourse ensuing Objections against the reading of the present Discourse with others of like Argument answered For Satan and men have together devised and hammered out variety of Arguments or Pretences to alienate the minds of weak and inconsiderate persons not only from the Dâ—â—trines themselves here asserted but even from acquainting themselves with Books or Discourses of like Argument and Plea with the Discourse before thee One Vizor very hideous and affrighting which they put upon the face of such Discourses as this to scare children in Vnderstanding from them is that they teach the uncomfortable sad and dismal Doctrine of the possibility of Saints and true Beleevers falling away and this both totally and finally But how far this Doctrine is from being either uncomfortable sad or dismal I shall not here stand to demonstrate but refer thee to the nineth Chapter of the Discourse it self with several other passages afterwards where I evidently prove the two opposite Doctrines being duly and unpartially compared together that that which denyeth this possibility is every whit as great yea a far greater Enemy to the peace and comfort of the Saints then that which affirmeth it Secondly Some labor to work a distaste of such Discourses as we speak of in the minds of men by possessing them with a conceit that they are derogatory and injurious to the Grace or freeness of the Grace of God in the Salvation of Men and that they exalt Nature and the abilities hereof as Free-will and the like to the dishonor and prejudice of this Grace To this I answer 1. That I am no ways responsible for all that may possibly sibly be taught or said in every Treatise or Discourse that buildeth up one or more of the Doctrines here asserted but only for such things wherein their sence and mine greet eâ—ch other 2. I answer to the Charge in reference to my self and my Doctrine and Judgment touching the Grace of God that it is of a like consideration and relation between my Accusers and me as the accusation of an unchaste deportment brought against Joseph by his Mistress was between them For as the Accuser here and not the Accused was guilty of the crime objected in the Accusation so the truth is that the Sence and Opinion of those who sentence my Doctrine as injurious to the Grace or freeness of the Grace of God are themselves deep in the condemnation my Doctrine being as innocent as the manifest Truth it self is from such a crime Nor doth it exalt Nature any whit more if not much less then they For 1. Concerning the Grace of God and the freeness hereof I hold and teach nothing but what fairly and fully accords with these Positions 1. That the Original or first-spring of the Salvation of the World and so of every particular person that comes to be saved was in and from the Grace the free Grace and good Pleasure of God 2. That the whole method or systeme of Counsels by which and according unto which God effecteth and bringeth to pass the Salvation of all that are saved did proceed wholly and entirely from the same Grace and good pleasure 3. And more particularly That the gift of Jesus Christ for a Mediator and Saviour unto the World and so the Grant or Promise of Justification and Salvation unto men by or upon beleeving issued solely and wholly from the same Grace 4. That men by Nature and of themselves i. e. considered in and under such a condition as they were brought unto by Adam and wherein they should have subsisted in case they had ever been born and lived in the world had not the free Grace of God in Christ interposed to relieve them and better their condition have no strength or power not the least inclination or propension of Will to do any thing little or much acceptable unto God or of a saving import 5. That notwithstanding this restaâ—ration or healing of the natural condition of man by the free Grace of God yet there is not one of a thousand possibly not one throughout the whole World but so far corrupts himself with the lusts of the flesh and ways of the World that without a second relief from the free Grace of God as viz. in his patience and long-suffering towards him ever comes to repent or believe or to persevere beleeving and so to be saved 6. That it is from the free and undeserved Grace of God that any person of Mankind is so much as put into a capacity of beleeving or hath power and means vouchsafed unto him sufficient to enable him to beleeve 7. That a man is put into this capacity of beleeving by an irresistible acting or working of the free Grace of God 8. That when any man by vertue of the power and means vouchsafed unto him by the free Grace of God comes actually to beleeve the exercise and acting of this power proceeds also from the free Grace and good pleasure of God so that no man ever believeth without a present and actual assistance from the free Grace of God in order to this his beleeving over and above his ability or power to beleeve 9. And lastly That the act of beleeving whensoever it is performed by any man is so inconsiderably and at so low a rate of efficiency from a mans self that to help apprehension a lttle in the case
which is prepared or any wayes made fit for us and withall so disposed of or set in our way that we may readily and lawfully serve our selves with it is said to be GIVEN unto us by Him or them who thus prepare and dispose of it He that shall prepare wholesome and savoury Meat such as a man loveth and shall set it before Him and give Him free leave to take it or eat of it may in sufficient propriety of speech be said to GIVE this Meate unto him yea whether he takes or eats of it upon such terms or no. So God the Father having wrought and fitted the men whom Christ chose for Apostles to serve and honor Him in this capacity and withall disposed of them in their Times Residences and Conditions in the World so that Christ might both readily and lawfully call them to His Service He may very well in these respects be said to have given them unto Him Thus by a diligent and narrow inquiry into Mr. Rutherfords Scripture it evidently appears that there is nec vola nec vestigium not the least mutter or peepe of any such Notion in it as he imagineth viz. that if Christ should Offer eternall life unto any more then only unto the Elect so called by Him He must needs doe it besides His own and His Fathers Intention Here is not the least word syllable letter apex or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concerning either the Fathers or the Sons intentions about the offer of Salvation unto Men. By the briefe Discussions of this Chapter it fully appears that all those §. 11. Texts of Scripture which offer either forgivenesse of Sins or Salvation unto all men without exception and which promise either or both these unto all men upon or upon condition of their believing which are very frequent and numerous doe with the clearest light and evidence of Truth hold forth the universality of Redemption by Christ From whence it followes in regular and due processe of reason and discourse that all they make God a lyar in such Scriptures who restrain the Salvation or Redemption purchased by Christ to any lesser number of men then All. CHAP. VIII Wherein the Scriptures of the fourth and last Association Propounded Cap. 5. Sect. 6. as pregnant also with that Great Truth hitherto Maintained are impartially Weighed and Considered VVE shall God assisting examine every of these Scriptures particularly §. 1. and so shall have occasion to exhibit the purport and tenor of them respectively as they shall be produced to act their severall parts in Order In which respect we shall not here transcribe them especially considering the Reader may with a very little paines see them in their Muster Cap. 5. Sect. 6. but shall only point at their severall Dwellings or Scituations in the Booke of God which are these Rom. 14. 15. 1 Cor. 8. 11. 2 Pet. 2. 1. 2 Pet. 2. 20. Heb. 10. 29. Mat. 18. 32 33. c. We make these Scriptures of one and the same Combination and Associate them by themselves because their import is in effect one and the same they all supposing that Christ hath Died for those who may perish notwithstanding yea for those who will perish And certainly if He Died for those who notwithstanding His Dying for them may perish yea and for those who will actually perish as well as for those who shall be saved He Died for all Men without exception For as for that opinion of the Valentine Councell in France mentioned by Estius a In 2 Pet. 2. 1. vi Jo. Ball. Covenant of Grace p. 238. and adopted by him as it seems for his own which supposeth some Reprobates as he calleth them to have been redeemed by Christ but not all this opinion I say is not like as far as I conceive to make many Proselytes nor to attract the judgements of considering Men. For if the Dying of Christ for Men be to be esteemed matter of Love to them as without all controversie and question it ought what reason can there be imagined why he should die for Apostate Reprobates who yet are that kinde of Reprobate for which only Christ Died according to that opinion rather then for those who though living and dying in unbeliefe yet never contracted the guilt of so desperate and provoking a sin But this by the way The tenor of the Scripture first in view amongst those lately appearing is §. 2. this destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ Died b Rom. 14. 15. First that the destruction here spoken of whereunto the strong Christian is so earnestly admonished and dehorted by the Apostle from exposing the weake is not any temporall destruction but that which is of body and soule for ever is more cleare then to require Proof It is not easily imaginable how or that a strong Christian or any other Man by eating meate sacrificed unto Idols should expose a weake Christian unto the danger of any other destruction but of that only which is Decreed by God against those who shall depart from the Faith or finally apostatize from the Profession of Christ Besides it is every mans Notion that this is that Destruction that first borne of things formidable and dreadfull unto the precious soules of men with which this great Apostle had so much to doe and from which the great Prize that he runs for with all his might in all his Epistles was to deliver them 2. Whereas he chargeth Men not to destroy those for whom Christ Died §. 3. though he doth not indeed suppose that all those shall be actually destroyed or perish whom another may be said to destroy i. e. to doe things tending to their destruction which is the sence of the word in this place yet this he cleerly supposeth that such men for whom Christ Died are obnoxious to destruction may be destroyed and perish everlastingly Otherwise we shall quench the spirit of his zealous tendernesse over the Precious soules of weake Christians expressed in this serious Item or charge unto others not to destroy them yea and make him speake very weakly and indeed ridiculously To admonish men in a serious and solemne manner to take heed of destroying those who are out of all possibility of being destroyed especially this being known to the Men that are thus admonished is as if a Man should seriously and affectionately intreat an Archer with his Bow and Arrowes about him to take heed of shooting too high for feare of hurting the Sun and cause him to fall down out of the firmament of Heaven If it be said yea but though it be supposed that the Persons admonished §. 4. in this case do know in in the generall that they for whom Christ Died are not under a possibility of Perishing yet they may be ignorant in Particular whether those Men whose destruction they are like to Procure or Promote by the abuse of their Christian liberty be of the number of those Men
terms whatsoever even of the greatest sin and wickedness would be an effectuall motive upon the Heart and Conscience of a regeneate Man to cleave in Love unto God yet would it not be a motive in this kinde of any such strength or efficacy as such an assurance as this that he shall continue in the Love and Favour of God for ever in a way of Righteousness and well doing but with all shall be in danger of loosing this love in case he shall decline unto wickedness The reason why this latter compounded motive must needs be of more efficacy to the purpose mentioned then the former is because the latter supposeth a necessity of this cleaving in Love to God for the obtaining of this great good the continuance for ever of the Love of God towards him which the former doth not Now this is a generall rule that that motive is still of greater force to perswade to an action which renders the action perswaded unto as of absolute necessity for the obtaining of some desirable end especially when the said end is insured withall upon the performance of the action then that which renders this end attaineable without the Performance of this action He that shall perswade me to love such or such a man by telling me that whether I love him or no yet he will deale lovingly and friendly by me should not perswade me to love him by an argument or motive of so much strength as he that should move me to the same Point thus if you love him he will deale very lovely and friendly with you but if you shall neglect or voluntarily injure him you will finde him a sore enemy There is no action how lovely or desirable soever in it self but becomes so much the more desirable by how much the greater good shall appear to depend upon it and must needs be produced by it especially if it shall yet further appear that this good cannot be produced or obtained by any other meanes whatsoever without it Now then as he who deprives a man of a greater benefit to interess him in a lesser doth him as real an injury or wrong as he that should take away a part of his substance from him without any consideration at all in like manner that Doctrine which shall bereave the spirituall part of a man or a Believer of a greater and more effectuall motive to the performance of a duty only to present him with a weaker and of less Power must in reason be judged an enemy unto the one and the other yea as great an enemy as such a Doctrine would be which deny them a lesser motive in that kinde without any recompence at all 3. If such a knowledge or assurance as the Objection speakes of were §. 19. an effectuall motive to perswade the heart of a man to cleave in love unto God what reason can be given why God should not administer it in order to such a Purpose as well to his enemies and carnall men as unto his Saints or Friends For 1. certaine it is that all men whatsoever are commanded by God to love Him or to cleave in this affection unto Him 2. As certaine it is that God is not defective in the subministration of motives unto them on this behalf no not of those that are most Proper and efficacious to perswade them thereunto 3. As certaine it is as either of the former that an assurance of the love of God towards them against all sin and wickednesse whatsoever that they are capable of committing is a motive every whit as taking with as suteable and pleasing to Naturall and Carnall Men if yet a motive it be as to spirituall and holy Men to perswade them to the love of God Therefore if God hath not thought meet to afford such a motive as this is unto Naturall or Carnall Men it is no wayes likely that he hath afforded it unto Saints with whose hearts as such I meane as they are Saints it hath no agreement or takingnesse at all as was shewed formerly a Sect. 16 17. of this Chapter 4. And lastly the very truth is all things duly considered that the consideration §. 20. we now speake of and which is specified in the Objection hath nothing at all in it of the true Nature or Property of a motive to perswade any Man to cleave in love unto God For whatsoever representeth God to the Heart Soule or Conscience of a Man as a God in whose sight he is good that doth evill b Mal. 2 17 and consequently as no God of judgement as a God Promising His Love Favour and Acceptance as well unto Dogs returning unto their vomits and to Swine wallowing after their washing in the mire as well as unto Lambs and Sheep is no consideration which commendeth him unto his Creature Man or consequently which hath any thing in it to ingage him to cleave in love to him Suppose a man were thus Principled that having once had a good opinion of any man he would never alter his opinion of him how desperately soever the Man should degenerate from himself as though he should become the first borne amongst all the Sons of Belial turne the most bloody murtherer the most cruell oppressor the most brutish incestuary under Heaven but under the guilt and daily Practise of these and such like abominations should love this Man with as much truth reality and sincereness of affection only upon the account of his sometime goodnesse as he doth the most vertuous and worthy Person under Heaven would such a Temper or Principle as this commend him as a Person so much the more worthy love and respects in the eyes of any considering Man or would they not rather draw disparagement and contempt upon him yea and this from those very Persons whom he shall affect and love upon such terms Therefore in case it were possible for me certainly to know that how loosely how Prophanely how debauchedly soever I should behave my self yet God will love me as intirely as fervently as he doth the holiest and most righteous man under Heaven it would be a very slender motive unto me to cleave i◠love unto him So then it doth not yet appear by any thing that hath been mentioned or argued to the Point that the Doctrine of Perseverance as it passeth up and down amongst us is any contributor to the Peace or Comfort of that which is of God but only to that which is of Satan in men and which deserveth mortification and Crucifying instead of Comfort and Peace If it be yet further Objected But is not the Doctrine of falling away a §. 21. very uncomfortable Doctrine apt to beget a servile spirit in the Saints a a spirit of bondage and feare Or must not they who apprehend themselves to be in continuall danger of falling away and Perishing needs eate their bread in darkness dwell with Sorrowes and Perplexities of soule all their dayes To these
Thus it is said of the Egyptian Magitians that they COVLD NOT STAND before Moses viz. at present because of the Boyles g Exod. 9. 11 but these notwithstanding they were in a capacity of standing before him another time as viz. when they should be healed of their Boyles Thus it is said that the Children of Israel COVLD NOT stand before their enemies a 1 Judg 7. 12 viz. whilest Achans sin was unpunished amongst them yet were they remotely capable not only of standing before their enemies but of vanquishing yea and making their enemies flie before them Fifthly and lastly the Phrase cannot frequently importeth an absolute impotency or incapacity in Persons in reference to the doing of such or such a thing Thus our Saviour speaking of His sheep No Man or none CAN take thâ—m out of my hand b Ioh. 10. 29 i. e. either hath or ever shall have any such Power whereby to take them out of my hand And so Gamaliel to his fellowes But if this Counsell or Work be of God yee CANNOT overthrow it c Acts 5. 39 c. i. e. you are in no capacity at all either present or remore to overthrow it It were easie to multiply instances of this Signification Now if the clause cannot sin in the Argument propounded be understood §. 29. according to any of the foure first signification mentioned of the word cannot both the Propositions are false if according to the fifth and last the major is true but the minor false The major Proposition was this He that sinneth not NEITHER CAN SIN cannot fall away from his Faith 1. If by the deniall of a Power to sin in this Proposition which that clause neither can sin importeth be meant nothing else but an unmeetnesse or uncomlinesse for a Man to Sin it is a cleer case that He that cannot sin may notwithstanding such a want of Power to sin very possibly fall away from his Faith For thousands may doe yea and doe things very unmeet and uncomely to be done by them 2. If by a deniall of the said Power in the Proposition be meant a present indisposition or incapacity in a Man to Sin by reason of the contrary disposition of holinesse prevailing in Him in this sence also He that cannot Sin may very possibly fall away from His Faith For He in whom a disposition of holinesse is predominant at present may very possibly by degrees and through a frequency and custome of contrary actions if not by an impetuous and suddaine turne also of Heart within Him devest Himself of that honourable habit and put on the vile garments of Loosenesse and Prophanesse in the stead 3. If by cannot Sin the Argument meaneth can hardly Sin or cannot Sin without difficulty which was the third signification of the word cannot neither will this sence give any colour of truth to the said Proposition For He that can hardly Sin or not Sin without difficulty may yet possibly Sin and consequently such an inability to Sin notwithstanding fall away from his Faith 4. If by cannot Sin the Argument imports only a present incapacity of sinning in the Person not excluding a remote capacity in Him hereunto and such as may in time by means suteable be reduced into act evident it is that the Person this inability to Sin notwithstanding may possibly fall away from his Faith Againe 2. according to all these Significations and Importances of the §. 30. clause cannot Sin in the said Syllogisme the other Proposition also is false which saith that whosoever is borne of God sinneth not neither CAN SIN For 1. He that is borne of God may very possibly doe that which is uncomely and unmeet for Him to doe 2. May be able to doe that by the superveening or contracting of another habit upon Him which by reason of a contrary habit prevailing upon Him for a time He cannot doe 3. He may possibly doe that which only is hard or difficult for Him to doe 4. And lastly He may have a remote capacity in Him of doing that in the future and in time and consequently may doe it which at present He is under an inability to doe Therefore it is a cleare case that there are four severall Significations of the Word cannot and these frequent in Scripture wherein both the Propositions in the argument now under canvass is false If the said argument understands the Phrase cannot Sin according to the §. 31. fifth and last import mentioned of the Word cannot wherein it sounds an utter and absolute incapacity or impossibility though in this sence the major Proposition be granted viz. that he that doth not Sin nor can Sin cannot fall away from his Faith yet the minor is tardy which saith as we lately heard whosoever is borne of God Sinneth not neither can Sin For He that is borne of God is in no such incapacity of Sinning of Sinning I mean in the sence formerly asserted to the Scripture in hand which amounts to an absolute impossibility for Him so to Sin But because this seems to be the sence intended in the argument and the minor Proposition in this sence to be built upon the Scripture in hand let us consider whether the reason which this Scripture assignes for the said assertion Whosoever is borne of God cannot sin doth necessarily inforce such a sence thereof The tenor of the whole Verse is this Whosoever is borne of God doth not commit sin for his seed remaineth in him and he cannâ—â— sin because he is borne of God Here are two Propositions or Assertions laid down and a reason given of either of them respectively The former Proposition is this Whosoever is borne of God doth not commit sin The reason hereof is for his seed remaineth in him The latter Proposition this Whosoever is borne of God cannot sin The reason hereof is because he is borne of God The sence and difference of the two Propositions according to what we have argued about the place hitherto and what we judge is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. every one that hath been borne of God stnneth not i. e. whosoever hath by the Word and Spirit of God been made partaker of the Divine Nature so as to resemble God in the frame and constitution of his Heart and Soule doth not under such a frame or change of Heart as this make a Trade or Practise of sinning or walke in any course of inordinatenesse in the World yea saith He in the latter Proposition every such Person doth not only or simply refraine sinning in such a sence but He cannot sin i. e. He hath a strong and potent disposition in him which carrieth Him another way or He hath a strong antipathy or aversenesse of Heart and Soule against all sin especially against all such kinde of sinning Now the reason saith the Apostle why such a Person committeth not Sin in the sence explained is because his seed the seed of God by or of
an actual production and the reason of the non-attainment or non-production of the effect resteth not at all in them but in some other cause one or more which should have contributed their efficiency or strength likewise towards the same production but did not As for example Suppose four or five Horses yoked in a Team and that one or two of these should pull or draw lustily yet because the rest are jadish and lazy and will not put their shoulders to it the wain being heavy laden sticks fast in the slow is not drawn out in this case because the Horses supposed to pull stoutly do as much for their parts as was requisite for them to do towards the drawing of it out and that which would actually have drawn it out in case their fellows had joyned as they ought and might in the same act of drawing with them there is no reason why they should lose the credit or commendation of their activity through the jadishness of their fellows nor consequently why they should not be said to have drawn the Wain out of the mire In like manner when God contributes his efficiency towards the keeping of men blameless and that such an efficiency which being seconded and complied with by them according to their duties and abilities for the action would actually produce the effect and keep them blameless indeed there is no reason why he should be deprived of the honor of his action because men are slothful and will not act with him and consequently why he should not be said to keep them blameless how blame-worthy in the mean time soever they be through their own default For of the two it is a more honorable expression to say that a man did such or such a worthy action then that he did somewhat towards it And for as much as 1. God doth no more towards the keeping of those Saints of his blameless who are actually and indeed kept blameless then he either doth or is ready to do in a regular way towards the keeping of others of them blameless who yet miscarry And 2. considering that when any of the Saints are actually kept blamelesse through that gracious supply of his Spirit and other means vouchsafed by him in order thereunto though not without their own care and concurrence with him herein the honor of this action or keeping blamelesse is most properly due unto him there is no reason why it should not be ascribed unto him in the former case as well as in the latter or that he should not be as well said to keep those blamelesse who only through their own unworthinesse prove blame-worthy as those who through his grace attended with their own endeavours are kept blameless It is a saying approved I suppose on all hands careat successibus opto Quisquis ab eventu facta notanda putet i. e. Successe in his attempts I wish him none Who by th' event will judg an action Therefore when God acteth uniformly in a way of grace he is uniformly to be honoured what difformity soever there be found in the event issue or consequent of his action 5. And lastly the words in hand cannot be judged Promissory or to suppose a Promise because then it would follow that God should stand ingaged by Promise to preserve Believers not only from totall and finall Apostacy but from all partiall and temporary declinings also For they that are sanctified wholly or throughout and whose whole Spirit and Soule and Body are preserved blamelesse c. are in the same sence preserved from all and all manner of declining The last piece of Scripture frequently called upon for support of this second §. 24. Argument answereth in these words Being confident of this very thing that He which hath begun a good worke in you will performe it untill the day of Jesus Christ a Philip. 1. 6 This Text is of the same interpretation with the former only it hath not so much of the letter or face as some of them have for an absolute Promise from God unto the Saints that He will cause them to Persevere For 1. That confidence or perswasion rather 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Apostle here professeth is not said nor insinuated to be built upon any Promise much lesse upon any absolute Promise of God to interpose after any such manner for their Perseverance that it should not be possible for them to decline or not to persevere but upon a charitable or equitable apprehension he had of the ingenuous integrity and simplicity of their hearts towards Christ His Saints and Gospell which kinde of temper or frame of spirit in Men is of all others most promising of perseverance in well doing through the Grace of God and consequently of the continuation of this grace unto Men in as much as according to the common saying of Divines Deus non deserit nisi deserentem God forsakes no Man but those who forsake Him first That such an apprehension of the holy ingenuity and uprightnesse of their Hearts as we speak of in conjunction with that gracious Principle or Disposition in God now hinted was the ground of that good perswasion which he here expresseth most evidently appeareth from the words immediately following Even as it is meet for me to thinke this of you all viz. that He who hath begun a good work in you will performe it c. because I have you in my Heart in as much as both in my bonds and in the defence and confirmation of the Gospell yee all are partakers of my Grace b Philip. 1. 7. Therefore it was the present goodnesse or honestnesse of their Hearts expressed by their willingness to partake of the afflictions of the Gospell and of the Saints not any Promise of God which was the ground of that perswasion in him which he here mentioneth 2. Had he had any absolute Promise of God for the ground of that his perswasion doubtlesse he would not have expressed himself with so much tendernesse and warinesse as to say even as it is meet for me to think c. The Promises of God would have taught Paul to speak at another manner of rate of confidence then so 3. And lastly had he here given unto these Philippians any absolute assureance of Gods performing the good worke begun in them untill the day c. or such which might have satisfied or made them confident that the good worke He speaks of should have been continued and perfected by God without all interposall or means to be used on their part he had layed a very slippery foundation to build all those Exhortations upon which with much earnestness he presseth upon them in the sequell of his Epistle and more particularly these Only let your conversation be as it becommeth the Gospell of Christ that yee stand fast in one spirit with one minde striving together for the Faith of the Gospell c Philip. 1. 27. c. And againe Wherefore my
said to doe that not which they alwayes doe but which they are apt and likely to doe and which very frequently or customarily they doe indeed and sometimes that which is their duty to doe In this Dialect our Saviour speaketh when He saith If any Man walke in the day He stumbleth not i. e. He is not apt to stumble or He doth not ordinarily stumble because He seeth the light of the Sun But if a Man walke in the night He stumbleth i. e. He is apt to stumble or He often stumbleth because there is no light in Him a Joh. 11. 9 10 So likewise the Apostle Paul He that is unmarried careth for the things of the Lord how He may please the Lord i. e. frequently He doth so or He hath an opportunity which the married hath not to do it for otherwise we know that many unmarried Persons are far from caring for the things of the Lord. But He that is married careth for the things of the World how He may please His Wife b 1 Cor. 7. 32. 33. His meaning is not that the married alwayes and without exception of any one in that condition thus miscarrieth there are some Married Persons that tread lighter on the Earth I meane that are lesse addicted to the World then many that are unmarried But only that Persons so ingaged and related have a temptation upon them more then the unmarried and so are apt to turne aside on that hand yea and frequently doe so That which followeth is of the same character There is a difference also between a Wife and a Virgin the unmarried Woman careth for the things of the Lord that she may be holy both in body and in spirit but shee that is married careth for the things of the World how she may please her husband The Booke of the Proverbs aboundeth with such veynes of expression as these viz. where Men of such or such a qualification or relation are simply said to doe so or so according to the nature and genius of either not because they doe alwayes and universally so but because they are disposed apt and likly by reason of such a qualification or relation to doe it and accordingly often doe it Thus it is â—aid A Man void of understanding striketh hands and becometh surety for His Neighbour c Pro. 17. 18. i. e. He is apt to doe it Men weak in understanding and lesse considerate oft bring themselves into this snare not that they alwayes doe it or that every Man thus weak doth it So againe The poore useth intreaties i. e. Poverty ministreth occasion unto Men thus to doe and poore Men ordinarily do it yet some poore there are who are so far from using intreaties that they are more surly and rough in their answers then many that are rich though it followes But the rich answereth roughly d Pro. 18. 23. Meaning only that they are apt to doe it and do it frequently Other instances of like interpretation are obvious in this Book See Cap. 18. 11. 15. 18. 16 17 28 c. Therefore when John saith whosoever is borne of God sinneth not and that he that is begotten of God keepeth himself c. nothing can be concluded from such sayings but only that Men Regenerate have a Principle within them disposing and inclineing them unto wayes of righteousnesse and to vigilancy over themselves or that Regenerate Men doe frequently abstaine from the customary wayes of sinning in the World and watch over themselves not that every Regenerate Man without exception doth these things 2. Some understand the words whosoever is borne of God sinneth not but §. 55. keepeth Himself c. in a declarative sence thus Whosoever desireth to approve himself whether to himself or others upon any sufficient ground for a Man Regenerate or borne of God he must abstaine from wayes of sin and watch narrowly and carefully over himself that the Devill may not do him the least hurt as our English Annotators interpret the Phrase toucheth him not This interpretation reduceth the place to a like sence and notion with that in the same Epistle formerly opened Little children let no Man deceive you He that doth righteousnesse is righteous a 1 Joh. 3. 7. meaning that no Man hath any sufficient ground either to judge Himself a righteous Person or to expect to be so judged by others unlesse he doth righteousnesse i. e. lives holily and in a conscientious observance of the Commandements of God b See Cap. 9. Sect. 11. There are many assertions and sayings in Scripture of like consideration with this Now this Interpretation doth not finde in the words any impossibility for the Regenearte Man to sin or any absolute necessity that he must so keepe himself that the evill one shall not touch him but only a necessity for him to refraine the one and to practise the other if he desires upon good and sufficient grounds either the comfort within or the honour without of being born of God As for that Argument which some build upon the metaphor or similitude §. 56. of the naturall Birth or generation viz. that as Men are capable only of being once borne and cannot lose the substance of that nature wherein they were borne or change their species afterwards so neither are men capable of being borne of God more then once or of losing the substance or nature of this birth being once made partakers of it this Argument I say is built upon one of the lame feete of the similitude on which it neither runs nor stands For it cannot be proved from the Scriptures that the similitude of the naturall generation or birth is borrowed or used by the Holy Ghost to signifie teach or import any such thing as this but only to shew either 1. That Men have no being no compleat perfect or desireable being till they be spiritually born of God in which respect they are said to be nothing who are not regenerate or born of him c Gal. 6. 3. or else 2. To shew that as no Man comes to partake of the nature or naturall properties or endowments of Men but by a suteable generation i. e. by a generation or propagation from Man so neither do or can men partake of the Divine Nature or true holiness but by a proportionable descent from God or 3. To shew that as Men in and by means of their naturall generation and birth come to partake of the same Properties Principles and Propensions which are naturall to their Parents who beget them and act according to the genius of such Properties Principles and Propensions so doe they who are spiritually Propagated by God in and by means of this Propagation receive such Principles and Impressions which are in God Himselfe and withall act and move in the World according to the Heavenly genius ducture bent and tendency of these or else perhaps 4. And lastly to shew that as the effect of naturall generation
i. e. the conception of the Person generated in the Womb is secret and unseen and for the manner of it in a great measure unknown unto Men as thou knowest not what is the way of the Spirit nor how the bones doe grow in the Wombe of her that is with Child d Eccles 11. 5 So is the manner of Gods dealing with the Heart Soul and Conscience of a Man in and about the act of Regeneration of a very abstruse consideration and remote from the apprehensions and understandings of Men according to that of our Saviour The winde bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it commeth and whither it goeth so is every one that is borne of the Spirit e Joh. 3. 8. That these Particulars are or may be imported in the Metaphor or Resemblance of the naturall generation may be proved from the Scriptures But that by the impossibility for a Man to passe from that species wherein he was borne into another which attendeth the birth naturall was intended to signifie a correspondent impossibility in the birth spirituall can no more be proved then that this generation or birth consists in a change of essentialls and not of qualities only or that it is a generation of a corporeall substance because both these are found in the naturall generation And who knows not that by straining and stretching similitudes beyond their staple I mean beyond what is intended to be signified by them an endlesse generation of absurd in-coherent and monstrous conceits may be produced But 2. The Scriptures doe not only no where countenance any such deduction §. 57. from the said simile but plainly enough assert the contrary viz. that Men may passe from one spirituall species into another and repasse into the former againe My little children saith Paul to the Galathians of whom I travell in birth againe untill Christ be formed in you a Gal. 4. 19. And againe yee did run well who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth b Gal. 5. 7. yet again Christ is become of none effect unto you whosoever of you are justified by the Law yee are fallen from Grace c Verse 4. So when the Apostle affirms it to be impossible to renew those by Repentance who have once been inlightened c. in case they fall away d Heb. 6. 4. 6. He cleerly supposeth 1. That some Men may fall away who may be renewed by Repentance i. e. restored to their former species in Faith and Holinesse from which they had been transformed by sin 2. That others may fall away and be trans-speciated upon such terms that they are uncapable of such restauration But of these passages more hereafter Nor doth that of Paul to the Corinthians Though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ yet have yee not many Fathers for in Christ Iesus I have begotten you through the Gospell e 1 Cor. 4. 15. import the contrary For 1. He doth not say that it was not possible for them to have many Fathers but only that de praesenti they had not many This implies that Paul was the instrument of God for and in their conversion to the Faith at the beginning and withall that they at present persisted in that Faith or species of Believers whereunto or wherein He had begotten them But it no wayes supposeth or implies either that they were unchangeable in that Divine Nature wherein He had begotten them or uncapable of being begotten the second time in case they had been actually changed 2. Our English Divines in their Annotations upon the place by Fathers understand such as were tender over them and free in their Teachings as by Instructors 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Schoolmasters who are imperious in their Teachings and teach for hire 3. And lastly in saying that they had not many Fathers He doth not necessarily imply that they had no more but one Father but possibly that they had but very few For many is not alwayes nay seldom opposed to one but sometimes and more frequently unto few The next Scripture attempted in favour of the said Argument is that §. 58. wherein the Saints are exhorted to contend earnestly for the Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints f Jude v. 3. But neither doth this place so much as in face look like Pillar or Prop of the Doctrine we oppose For 1. By Faith is not here meant the Grace of Faith or justifying Faith but by a metonymie either of the efficient for the effect or of the object for the faculty as in twenty places besides the Doctrine or word of Faith Faith say our English Annotators upon the place is not here taken for faithfulnesse nor for credulity nor for confidence nor for Faith of miracles but for the Doctrine of the Gospell which is to be believed So hope is taken for the thing hoped for Rom. 8. 24. Colos 1. 5. This exposition of the word Faith is confirmed by the Apostle Himself affirming it to have been 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 once delivered not once given to the Saints or rather to holy Men. It it very unproper to say of the grace or habit of Faith that this was delivered but most proper of the Doctrine of Faith This Doctrine is said to have been once delivered to holy Men to imply either that it hath been delivered by God so that He intends never to make any change or alteration of it or addition to it which implies the Perfection of it or else that He intends to reveale or deliver it no more in case the Saints who are and ought to be the guardians and keepers of it should suffer it to be cashiered or wholy extinguished in the World See the aforesaid Aâ—notations upon this clause In saying that it was delivered to holy Men or Saints He intends to lay so much the greater and more effectuall Obligation upon this Generation to contend earnestly for it i. e. for the maintenance and preservâ—tion of it in its purity of being 2. If the place should be understood of the Grace of justifying Faith nothing could be inferenced from it but only that they who are once possessed of such a Faith shall keepe and mâ—ke good this their Possession if they quit themselves like Men and shall strive in good earnest to effect it This is nothing but what is fully consonant with the Doctrine asserted by us Neither hath the last Scripture mentioned any right hand of fellowship to §. 59. give unto the Doctrine now gainsaid For the Holy Ghost pronouncing Blessed and holy is He that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second death hath no Power a Revel 20. 6. doth not by the first Resurrection necessarily meane Regeneration or Renovation by Faith or if this should be granted doth He necessarily suppose that the second death shall have no power on those who have part in Regeneration unlesse
lusteth but in vaine which is contrary to that of the Apostle John greater is he that is in you speaking as it is clear of the Spirit of God unto true Believers then he that is in the World a 1 Joh. 4. 4. meaning Satan and all his auxiliaries Sin Flesh Corruption c. If it be demanded but if the Spirit of God in true Believers be greater §. 25. and stronger in his lustings then the flesh in his how commeth it to passe that in the spirituall duel the flesh so frequently prevaileth I answer the reason is because the spirit acts not at least to the just efficacy of his vigor and strength but onely when his preventing or first motions are entertained or seconded with a suâ—eable concurrence by the hearts and the wills of Men through a deficiency or neglect whereof he is said to be grieved or quenched i. e. to cease from other actings or movings in Men. This truth is the ground of these and such like sayings in the writings of Paul If ye through the spirit doe mortifie the deeds of the body yee shall live For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God b Rom. 8. 13 14. Believers doe then mortifie the deeds of the Body by the Spirit when they joyne their wills unto his in his preventing motions of grace and so draw or obtaine further strength and assistance from him in order to the great and difficult work of mortification In respect of which concurrence also with the Spirit in his first and more gentle applications of himself unto them they are said to be led by the Spirit as by their comportments with him in his higher and further applications they become filled with the Spirit according to that exhortation of the same Apostle to the Ephesians but be yee filled with the Spirit c Eph. 5. 18. i. e. follow the Spirit close in his present motions and suggestions within you and you shall he filled with him i. e. you shall find him moving and assisting you upon all occasions at an higher and more excellent and glorious rate But this by the way However by that which hath been now said it clearly appears that the reason why Believers are so frequently overcome by the lustings of the flesh notwithstanding the contrary lustings of the spirit within them before their foile is not because the flesh hath more strength to lust then the spirit but because they the Men Believers have more will to hearken unto and to goe along with the flesh in her lustings then with the Spirit in his it being the Law or Property of the Spirit not to advance or goe forward in his exertions of Himself when he is deserted and forsaken in his way by the wills of Men. It is true after such desertions of him in his motions by the wills of Men He doth not alwayes wholly and for ever desert them but most frequently returns againe in his motions and excitements unto them Onely in His first applications unto Men after He hath been so deserted by them as hath been said He doth not I conceive begin where He left but where He began first of all my meaning is that He doth not move or act in them at any such high or filling rate as at which He wrought or was ready to worke when He was forsaken but according to the line or proportion of His preventing motions which generally are of a cooler and softer inspiration then His subsequent But thus we see it an apparant error to say that true Believers never sin with their whole wills or fulnesse of consent which yet might be made more apparant by the consideration of Davids case in and upon His committing of those two great Sins Homicide and Adultery For doubtlesse had there been any reluctancy of will or renitency of Conscience or of the spirit within Him when He committed the former of the two Adultery He would not have added the second Murther so soon after to it Again had there been any such Reluctancy or Renitency in Him as we speak of when He perpetrated either the one abomination or the other doubtlesse He could not have digested both the one and the other without any remorse or self-condemnation for so long a time together as passed between the acting of His said sins and the time when the Prophet Nathan was sent from God unto Him to awaken Him unto Repentance Which space of time by the best calculation of Divines was ten Moneths at the least a Per decem minimùm menses distulit Deus correctionem Quod ad eos Sanctos attinet perpetuò agerent in sordibus nisi Deus potenti Verbo eos educeret Quòd ex tanto spacio intelligi potest quo David ad Deum non est conversus isto peccato irretitus non emerserit P. Martyr in 2. Reg. c. 12. ver 1. From the consideration of which distance of time between Davids Sin and His Repentance P. Martyr makes this observation that the Saints themselves being once fallen into sin would alwayes remaine in the pollution of it did not God by his mighty Word bring them out of it Which saying of his clearly also implies that the Saints many times Sin with their whole wills and full consents because were there any part of their wils bent against the committing of the Sin at the time when it is committed they would questionlesse return to themselves and repent immediately after the heat and violence of the lust being over by reason of the satisfaction that hath been given to it Therefore 2. To that which was alledged from Rom. 7. 19. to prove the contrary §. 26. viz. that the Saints never sin with their whole wills or full consent I answer 1. That when the Apostle saith the evill which I would not that I doe His meaning is not that He did that which at the same time when He did it He was not willing either in whole or in part to doe but that He sometimes did that upon a surprizall by temptation or through incogitancy which He was not habitually willing or disposed in the inner Man to doe But this no wayes implies but that at the time when He did the evill He speaks of He did it with the full and intire consent of His will Or if we shall affirme that the contrary bent or motions of His will at other times is a sufficient proof that when he did it the evill we speake of he did it not with his whole will or fulnesse of consent and so make this doing of evill or committing of Sin without fulnesse of consent in such a sence a distinguishing Character between Men regenerate and unregenerate we shall bring Herod and Pilate yea and probably Judas himself into the List or Roll of Men Regenerate with a thousand more whom the Scriptures know not under any such Name or relation as viz. all those whose Judgements
is from what hath been said and from the carriage of the Context both before and after and indeed from the scope and purport of the whole Book that Solomon in the place in hand doth not speak of his latter times wherein he turned aside after Idols and said to the stock or graven image Deliver me for thou art my God a Isai 44. 17 wherein he heaped up strange women Wives and Concubines as before he had done Wisdom like the sand upon the sea shâ—re innumerable as if his meaning were that all the while he dishonored himself by serving the Devil in these gross bruitish and unmanlike courses his Religious Wisdom his sound and saving Knowledg of the true God remained with him but of his middle most prosperous and flourishing times when he was to be seen in all his glory when as himself said the Lord had given him rest or peace on every side so that he had neither Adversary nor evil occurrent b 1 Kings 5. 4 And his meaning as hath been said clearly is that the great hear of all this outward Prosperity did not dissolve the spirit or strength of that Wisdom which made his face to shine in eyes of all the Nations and Princes of the World round about him which Wisdom did not so much if at all stand in the devoutness of his Heart or Soul towardâ— God as in the knowledg of natural and civil things as it is described 1 King 4. from Vers 29. to the end of the Chapter Concerning Idols and Idolaters the Father had said before They that make them are like unto them i. e. as Mr J. Deodat himself who is the man that pretended to finde Solomons Faith alive in the words in hand whilest Solomon himself was dead in Baal or in some of Baals Companions interprets it stupid and blinde as the Idols themselves are and so is every one that trusteth in them a Psal 115 8 Therefore questionless the Son after his return from that folly would not have pleaded the standing of his wisdom by him whilest He was an Idolater and Patron of Idols But the truth is that the words insisted upon are every ways so inconsiderable in point of Proof for the continuance of Solomons Faith during his continuance in his Idolatries that the recourse made to them for proof hereof is an Argument to me very considerable that the Patrons of that Opinion are extreamly straitened and put to it through want of so much as any tolerable Argument or Proof for the maintaining of it It is a sign that the Soul is hungry indeed when every bitter thing becomes sweet unto it Thus then we clearly finde that there is no special or particular ground or Argument at all of any value to prove that either David the Father during his impenitency after the horrid crimes of Murther and Adultery perpetrated by him or that Solomon the Son during the like impenitency in him upon his Idolatrous backslidings did retain any saving Principle of grace or Faith in them but that during their respective impenitencies they were children of wrath liable to the same sentence of Condemnation with the promiscuous multitude or generality of Murtherers and Idolaters for the Proof whereof several pregnant Arguments have been levyed from the Scriptures As for such Arguments and grounds by which the certain Perseverance of the Saints in general in the truth and soundness of their Faith is commonly pleaded and maintained they have been formerly weighed in the balance of the Sanctuary and found too light So that we may very safely conclude that both David and Solomon were not onely under a possibility of a total falling away from that grace of God wherein they sometimes stood which is common to all the Saints but that they taught the World the truth and certainty of such a Possibility by reducing it into act I mean by falling away totally from it Neither are Examples of the like sad Miscarriages wanting in the New-Testament §. 9. The Apostle speaks of some in his days who having put away a good Conscience concerning Faith made shipwrack b 1 Tim. 1 19 thereby and in another place speaking of the dangerous Doctrine of Hymeneus and Philetus who taught that the Resurrection was already past he saith that they overthrew or destroyed the Faith of some c 2 Tim. 2 17 Elsewhere he speaks of some who were then turned aside after Satan d 1 Tim. 5 15 They who by putting away a good Conscience make shipwrack of Faith must needs be supposed 1. To have had true Faith 2. To suffer an absolute or total loss of it For the first If we shall suppose that they who put away a good Conscience from them had it or were possessed of it before such their putting it away we must suppose withall that they had true saving Faith because goodness of Conscience cannot take place but onely where such a Faith gives Being unto it which in that respect is said to purifie the heart e Acts 15 9 as on the contrary the very mindes and consciences of Unbeleevers are said to be defiled f Tit. 1 15 Nor doth the Scripture any where to my best remembrance speak of a good or pure Conscience but where the goodness of it is supposed to slow from a sound knowledg of the Will of God in conjunction with an upright desire of doing all things according to the Tenor of the Truth known The end of the Commandment saith the Apostle in this very Chapter is Charity out of a pure heart and of a good Conscience and of Faith unfeigned a 1 Tim. 1 5 So again Pray for us for we trust we have a GOOD CONSCIENCE in all things willing to live honestly b Heb. 13 18 Another Apostle exhorteth Christians to sanctifie the Lord in their hearts and â—o be ready always to give an answer unto every man that asketh them a reason of the hope that â—is in them with meekness and fear Having a GOOD CONSCIENCE c 1 Pet. 3. 15 16 c. A little after be placeth the sum and substance of true Christianity in a good Conscience The like figure whereunto even Baptism doth also now save â—s not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the Answer or demand of a GOOD CONSCIENCE towards God by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ d Verse 21 meaning to add this by the way that Baptism typified or presignified by the Ark wherein Noah and his Family were prâ—served from perishing with the rest of the world by water doth contribute towards our Salvation from the condemnation of the world round about us for sin not so much by the letter or material effect of it but by typifying holding forth and assuring us that a good Conscience raised or built upon the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and the sound knowledg hereof doth require or demand this Salvation of God and that according
necessary Rule viz. That those Promises of God are to be understood with reference to the present state and condition of things b Promissiones itaque illae Dei pro statu praesenti rerum intelligendae sunt with those to whom they were made And Lorinus writing upon Acts 1. 16. reports it as the probable opinion of Cyrill Jerom Tertullian Ambrose Chrysostom Basil Ammonius Leontius Olympiodorus Anastasius Leo Euthymius c. that Judas when he was chosen by Christ to be an Apostle was a good man and so continued for some time afterwards and withall mentioneth the grounds upon which some of the said Authors so conceived of him We shall not need to argue the case of Demas Alexander Hymeneus and several others whose revoltings from the Faith are recorded in Scriptures Concerning the two latter of the three now mentioned Hymeneus and Alexander it is expresly said that they were delivered up unto Satan by the Apostle Paul c 1 Tim. 1. 20 Which plainly sheweth 1. That they were judged meet by the Saints to be received as Church-members by them For otherwise the Apostle demands What have I to do to judg them that are without d 1 Cor. 5. 12 meaning to inflict any Ecclesiastical or Church-censure upon those who were not Members of some Christian Church or other And if they were judged meet by the Saints of that Church who admitted them into Christian communion with them they were judged true Beleevers by them and their judgment of them as being true Beleevers is a far better ground for us to judg them to have been such also then their Apostacy is to judg them to have been Hypocrites at that time when they judged them true Beleevers 2. Their delivering up unto Satan by the Apostle sheweth that he judged them totally fallen from their faith and so dismembered from Christ for otherwise he shouâ—â— have delivered up unto Satan such persons whom he judged true Members of Christ There is the like consideration of the Incestuous Person in the Church of Corinth His receiving into this Church is more then a probable argument that he was at this time a true Beleever Nor is there the least intimation given of any difference between him and the rest of the Members of this Church whom the Apostle termeth Saints by calling and sanctified by Christ Jesus And if he were not a true Member of Christ before the committing of the sin for which he was delivered up unto Satan by the Apostle He sustained no great loss in his spiritual condition either by committing the said sin or by being so delivered up for it For upon this supposition he was no better then an Hypocrite before and worse he could not lightly be afterwards And besides the tenor and import of the sentence of Excommunication is not declarative that the person sentenced never was a sound Beleever or true Member of Christ but that now by his sinful misdemeanor whereby he incurreth that sentence he hath dismembered himself from Him Nor can the said sentence be duly stiled a delivering up unto Satan if it must be still supposed that the persons justly sentenced herewith had been always before the said sentence as much under his power as they are or can be afterwards So that all circumstances considered it cannot reasonably be judged but that the person now in instance had sometimes been a true Member of Christ and Beleever But that he sinned away this his blessed Relation by that sin for which he was delivered up unto Satan needs no other proof but the Apostles express order for this sentence to pass upon him 1 Cor. 5. 3 4 5. For I verily as absent in body but present in spirit have determined already as though I were present that he that hath done this thing when ye are gathered together and my spirit in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that such an one I say by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ be delivered unto Satan c. Doubtless this Apostle who professeth that he could do nothing against the truth but for the truth never consented much less commanded that any true Member of Christ should be delivered unto Satan But as hath been said the cause in hand standeth in no need of confirmation from these examples the serviceableness whereof for such a purpose may possibly be evaded with more plausibleness of pretence then the former Any one instance of a total declining in him who hath at any time been a true Beleever is sufficient to prove the truth of the Doctrine under maintenance yea as was said in the beginning of this Chapter though no such instance could be produced yet may the said Doctrine receive demonstrative evidence and this in abundance otherwise and I trust hath received it from the Premisses in this Discourse Yet give me leave to add one instance more Concerning the Galatians unto whom the Apostle Paul writeth any man §. 16. that shall diligently peruse the Epistle written unto them cannot lightly but conclude that certainly these men I mean the generality of them and more particularly those for whose sake especially the Epistle was written were sometimes viz. when Paul left them after he had preached the Gospel for a while unto them true Beleevers and persons justified in the sight of God and afterwards viz. when he wrote the Epistle unto them had suffered a total loss of their Faith and of Justification by it That they were sometimes true Beleevers these passages compared and layd together are sufficiently pregnant I conceive to give satisfaction unto any duly considering man I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the Grace of Christ unto another Gospel a Gal. 1. 6. Their removal from him that called them c. plainly supposeth that sometimes they had cleaved unto him viz. in the cordial imbracement of that Gospel which he had sent amongst them and by which he had called them So again Received ye the Spirit by the works of the Law or by the hearing of Faith b Chap. 3. 2 5 The receiving of the Spirit is still appropriated unto true Beleevers This he spake of the Spirit which they that BELEEVED in Him should receive c John 7. 39. And elsewhere And God which knoweth the Heart gave them witness viz. that they beleeved as appears from the former verse in giving unto them the Holy Ghost even as he did unto us to omit other places Again And my tryal which was in my flesh ye despised not neither abhorred but ye received me as an Angel of God yea as Christ Jesus What was then your felicity For I bear you record that if it had been possible ye would have plucked ouâ— your own eyes and have given them unto me d Gal. 4. 14 15 If our Saviours words be true He that receiveth a Prophet in the Name of a Prophet shall receive a Prophets reward and He that receiveth a
Pardon of His Sins Therefore Justification or Pardon of Sin may according to the Doctrine of this Father be lost yea so lost as never to be found again The same Author elsewhere saith That Solomon and Saul and many others had power were able to retain the Grace that had been given them whilest they walked in the ways of the Lord but when the Instruction or Discipline of God departed from them His Grace departed also Therefore it stands us in hand to hold out in the strait and narrow way of praise and glory c Solomon denique Saul caeteri multi quamdtù viis Domini ambulaverunt datam sibi gratiam tenere potuerunt recedente ab ipsis disciplinâ divinâ recessit gratia Perseverandum nobis est in arcto in angusto itinere laudis gloriae Idem Ep. 7. ad Rogat caeteros confess c. c. Yet again The very same spiritual Grace which in Baptism is equally received by those that believe is afterwards in our conversation and acting either diminished or increased as in the Gospel the seed whereof our Saviour speaketh is equally sown but according to the diversity of the ground part of it is consumed or comes to nothing another part of it bringeth forth fruit in abundance yet in a different proportion some thirty some sixty some an hundred fold c Planè eadem gratia spiritalis quae aequaliter à credentibus in Baptismo sumitur in conversatione atque actu nostro postmodùm vel minuitur vel augetur ut in Evangelio dominicum semen equaliter seminatur sed pro varietate terrae aliud absumitur aliud in multiformem copiam vel tricesimi vel sexagesimi vel centesimi numeri fructu exuberante cumulatur Idem Epist 76. ad Magnum A little after Oft-times it comes to pass that some of those who are spiritually sound when baptized if afterwards they fall to sin are shaken with the unclean spirit returning unto them so that manifest it is that the Devil is by the Faith of the Believer excluded in Baptism and that in case this Faith of his afterwards fails that he returneth d Et contrà saepé nonnulli de illiâ— qui sani baptizantur si postmodùm peccare coeperint spiritu immundo redeunte quatiuntur ut manifestum sit Diabolum in Baptismo Fide credentis excludi si Fides postmodùm defecerit regredi Ibid. Chromatius who according to some Writers had his time of mortality §. 12. allotted unto him about the year 350. though others bring it down much lower having upon those words Mat. 6. 12. And forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors affirmed That unless we forgive our debtors we make our selves guilty of eternal death before God with our own words subjoyneth a little after thus This the Lord Himself elsewhere doth most plainly make manifest producing the example of the Servant who had been a Debtor to whom though he ought much yet upon his intreaty his Lord forgave him the whole This servant after his debt had been freely remitted unto him denying the like favour in a smaller matter to his fellow-servant was cast into prison and condemâ—ed to punishment e Hoc autem alio in loco ipse dominus apertissimé manifestat proferens servi illius debitoris exemplum cui plurimum debenti rogatus Dominus debitum omne concesserat qui cum post indultum debitum conservo suo debenti sibi nollet ipse dimittere in carcerâ—m traditus damnatus in poenâ est Chromatius in Mat. 5. 6. Macarius who lived about the year 370. is a diligent and frequent Assertor of the Doctrine maintained in our present Digression in his Writings After the same manner saith he the Spirit admonisheth the Soul which by grace knoweth God and is purified from her former sins and is endowed with the ornaments of the Holy Ghost and hath tasted the divine and heavenly meat or nourishment yet because she doth not walk in this knowledg with that diligence which is meeâ— nor preserveth that good affection and love which she oweth to her heavenly Husband Christ as becometh her she IS CAST OFF AND DRIVEN AVVAY FROM THAT LIFE OF WHICH SHE DID PARTAKE Not long after Wherefore we must strive and take heed with the greatest wisdom that we work out our Salvation with fear as it is written Whosoever therefore of you are made partakers of the Spirit of Christ see that in nothing neither small nor great you behave your selves carelesly nor reproach the Spirit of Grace LEST YOV BE BANISHED FROM THAT LIFE WHICH YOV HAVE NOVV OBTAINED f Eodem modo etiam Spiritus admâ—net animam quae per gratiam cognoscit DeuÌ„ purificata est à pristinis peccatis ac ornamentis spiritús sancti dotata et prâ—gustavit divinuÌ„ ac coelosteÌ„ cibuÌ„ ob id tamen quòd non sicuti decebat deligenter in eâ noticiâ versata est nec decenter bene volentiaÌ„ ac dilectioneÌ„ Christo Sponso coelesti debitaÌ„ conservavit projicitur expellitur à vitâ cujus erat facta particeps Macar Hom. 15. Et paulò post Quapropter certanduÌ„ est suÌ„ma prudentiâ nobiâ— cavenduÌ„ ut cuÌ„ timore saluteÌ„ nostraÌ„ operemini operemur sicut scriptuÌ„ est Quicunque ergo participeâ— facti estis Spiritus Christi in nullo pusillo vel magno contemptim vos geratis neque gratiam spiritus contumeliâ assiciatis ne exuletis à vitâ quam jam adepti estis c. Yet again a little after But when the Soul hath obtained Grace now is there need of much understanding and perspicacity in discerning which things themselves God also gives unto the Soul asking them of Him that so this Soul may serve Him in that Spirit which she hath received with all acceptation and in nothing be overcome of evil or deceived through ignorance turning aside through rashness and sloth and falling to do all things besides or contrary unto the comely Order of the Divine Will For PVNISHMENT DEATH AND MOVRNING ABIDE SVCH A SOVL which in effect the divine Apostle Himself also saith lest when I have preached unto others I my self should be a castaway You see after what manner or at how great a rate He feared notwithstanding He was an Apostle of God The same Father in the same place speaketh words to this effect For man is of that nature or frame that though He be fallen into a deep gulf of vice and is become the Servant of Sin yet He may be converted or turned to that which is good and on the contrary being the bond-man of the Holy Ghost and overcome with the drunkenness of spiritual and Heavenly things He may be turned back to that which is evil g Et paulò post Caeterum ubi anima gratiam est adepta tuÌ„ intellectu multo atque perspicatiâ opus est quae etiaÌ„ ipsa largitur Deus animae ab eo
my Fathers Commandments and abide in his love 336 17. 2. As thou last given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him 116 117 c. 17. 3. And this is life eternal that they know thee the onely true God and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ 40 41 17. 12. those that thou gavest me I have kept and none of them is lost but the Son of perdition 252 17. 15. I pray not that but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil 246 17. 21 22. That they All may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us 245 246 20. 31. But these things are written that ye might beleeve that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that beleeving ye might have have life c. 397 398 Acts 4. 27 28. For of a truth against thy Holy Childe Jesus both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and people of Israel were gathered together For to do whatsoever thy hand and counsel determined before to be done c. 14 15 c. 5. 4. Whilest it remained was it not thine own and after it was sold was it not in thine own power 13 7. 60. lay not this sin to their charge 245 13. 46. but seeing ye put it from you and judg your selves unworthy of everlasting life lo c. 491 15. 8. And God which knoweth the heart bare them witness giving them the Holy Ghost c. 362 17. 28. For in him we live and move and have our Being 2 3 c. 23. 1. Men and Brethren I have lived in all good Conscience before God until this day 355 23. 4. Revilest thou Gods High Priest 443 27. 24. and lo God hath given thee all them that sail with thee 307 27. 31. except thesE abide in the ship ye cannot be safe 9 307 184 225 Rom. 1. 19. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God c. 507 1. 20. to the intent they should be without excuse 502 1. 21. Because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God c. 507 2. 4 5. not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee unto Repentance But after thy hardness and impenitent heart thou treasurest up c. 188 410 2. 6. Who will render to every man according to his work 244 3. 3. For what if some did not beleeve shall their unbelief make the Faith of God of none effect 359 3. 19. that every mouth may be stopped 502 5. 7. Yet peradventure for a good man some will even dare to dye 287 5. 15. But not as the offence so also is the free gift For if through the offence of one many be dead much more the Grace of God and the gift by Grace which is by one man Jesus Christ hath abounded unto many 110 111 515 516 5. 16. And not as it was by one that sinned so is the gift For the judgment was by one to condemnation but the free gift is of many offences unto justification 493 494 c. 5. 18. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life 108 109 c. 516 517 c. Rom. 5. 19. For as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous 516 517 c. 6. 2. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein 261 6. 9 10 11. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dyeth no more Likewise also reckon your selves to be dead indeed unto sin c. 262 263 7. 12. Wherefore the Law is holy and the Commandment holy and just and good 287 444 7. 19. but the evil which I would not that I do 61 326 327 8. 13 14. but if ye through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God 325 8. 24. but Hope that is seen is not hope 317 8. 28 29 30. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are called according to his purpose For whom he did foreknow he did also predestinate c. Moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called and whom he called c. 207 208 c. 50 8. 31. If God be for us who can be against us 340 8. 34. Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that dyed yea rather that is risen again who also c. 248 249 c. 9. 11. that the purpose of God according to Election might stand not of Works but of him that calleth 462 9. 15. for I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy 68 9. 21. Hath not the Potter power over the clay 68 11. 26. And so all Israel shall be saved as it is written There shall come out of Sion a Deliverer that shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. 227 228 11. 29. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance 152 153 c. 11. 33. O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledg of God! How unsearchable are his Judgments and his ways past finding out 427 43 14. 15. Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ dyed 121 122 14. 23. For whatsoever is not of Faith is sin 496 1 Cor. 1. 8 9. Who shall also confirm you unto the end that c. God is faithful by whom ye were called c. 187 235 4. 15. For though ye have ten thousand Instructors in Christ yet have ye not many Fathers for c. 266 331 5. 5. to deliver such an one unto Satan 361 362 6. 15. shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot 328 c. 7. 32 33. He that is unmarried careth for the things of the Lord But he that is married careth for the things of the world how c. 264 8. 11. And through thy knowledg shall the weak Brother perish for whom Christ dyed 124 9. 27. lest by any means when I have preached unto others I my self should be a cast-away 62 279 280 315 316 377 10. 12. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall 310 10. 13. But God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able but c. 238 310 12. 12. so also is Christ 458 2 Cor. 1. 22. Who hath also sealed us and given us the earnest of his Spirit in our hearts 256 257 2. 15. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish 216 428 506 5. 14 15. For the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judg that if one dyed for all then were all dead And that he
dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose again 98 99 100 c. 5. 19. To wit that God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them Pag. 87 88 c. 7. 1. Having therefore these Promises let us cleanse our selves c. 334 8. 12. For if there be first a willing minde it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not 17 548 10. 15 16. Not boasting of things without our measure and not to boast in another mans line 331 12. 14. but Parents for the children 70 13. 14. and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all 286 Gal. 1. 6. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that calleth you unto another Gospel c. 362 363 2. 21. For if righteousness come by the Law then Christ is dead in vain 459 3. 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were the Promises made He saith not And to seeds as of many but as of one And to thy seed which is Christ 458 4. 11. I am afraid of you lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain 363 6. 1. Brethren if any man be overtaken in a fault c. 323 Ephes 1. 4. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundations of the world that we should be holy c. 62 63 461 1. 6. To the praise of the glory of his Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved 462 1. 10. That in the Dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in Heaven c. 436 1. 11. who worketh all things after the counsel of his owâ— will 67 429 430 482 1. 13 14. In whom also after ye beleeved ye were sealed with the spirir of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance c. 255 256 1. 22. And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the Head over all things to the Church 436 438 c. 2. 3. and were by nature children of wrath 518 4. 30. whereby ye are sealed to the day of Redemption 256 5. 5. For this ye know that no whoremonger nor covetous man who is an Idolater hath any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ c. 272 5. 18. but be ye filled with the Spirit 325 5. 23. and he is the Saviour of the body 252 253 Philip. 1. 6. Being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ 241 242 1. 7. Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all because I have you in my heart c. Ibid. 2. 12 13. work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling For it is God that worketh in you both to will c. 176 Colos 1. 20. And having made peace through the blood of his Cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him I say whether they be things in Earth or things in Heaven 436 437 c. 1. 21. And you that were sometimes alienated c. 439 1. 23. If ye continue in the Faith grounded and setled c. 237 2. 8 20. the rudiments of the world 522 523 1 Thess 5. 23. And the very God of peace sanctifie you wholly and I pray God that your whole spirit and Soul and Body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 238 239 2 Thess 3. 3. But the Lord is faithful who shall stablish you and keep you from evil 235 1 Tim. 1. 18. This charge I commit unto thee son Timothy according to the Prophecies which went before on thee that thou by them mightest war a good warfare c. 357 1. 19. which some having put away concerning Faith have made shipwrack 353 354 c. 2. 4. Who will have all men to be saved and c. 103 104 284 2. 6. Who gave himself a ransom for all men 97 98 5. 15. For some are turned back already after Satan 365 6. 3. and to the Doctrine which is according to godliness 333 6. 13 14. I give thee charge in the sight of God that tho ukeep this Commandment without spot unrebukable unâ—il the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ 239 2. Tim. 1. 3. whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience 355 356 1. 12. I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day 254 2. 13. If we beleeve not yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself 359 2. 18. and overthrow the faith of some 358 2. 19. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure and hath t is seal The Lord knoweth who are his c. 359 360 c. 4. 2. preach the Word be instant in season out of season 440 Tit. 1. 1. according to the Faith of Gods Elect and the acknowledging of the Truth which is after godliness 243 244 269 283 c. 1. 4. To Titus mine own Son after the common Faith 489 2. 11. For the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all men 406 407 2. 14. Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity c. 250 3. 4. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man appeared c. 408 409 c. Hebr. 1. 3. upholding all things by the Word of his power 3 2. 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a Salvation 480 492 499 2. 9. that he by the Grace of God should taste Death for every man 102 103 2. 16. For verily he took not on him the nature of Angels 484 3. 6. whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoycing of the hope firm unto the end 260 261 6. 4 5 6. For it is unpossible for those who were once enlightened if they fall away to be renewed again c. 282 283 c. 329 7. 25. seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them 248 9. 24. now to appear in the presence of God for us 248 249 c. 9. 27. As it is appointed unto men once to dye 9 10. 26. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledg of the Truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin 416 417 c. 10. 29. Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing c. 148 149 c. 282 283 c. 10. 38. Now the just shall live by Faith but if any man draw back my Soul shall have no pleasure in him 290 11. 6. for he that cometh unto God must beleeve that he is and that he is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek him 507 11. 7. By Faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as
their sacrificing to an unknown God d Acts 17. 29 4. And lastly The Interposure and actings of Reason and Vnderstanding in men are of that soveraign and most transcendent use yea necessity in and about matters of Religion that all the Agency of the Spirit notwithstanding a man can perform nothing no manner of service unto God with acceptation nothing in a way of true Edification to himself without their engagement and service First I stand charged by God not to beleeve every spirit but to try the spirits whether they be of God e 1 Iohn 4. 1 I demand by what Rule or Touchstone shall I try any spirit When or upon what account shall I reject one as a spirit of Error Falshood and Delusion and do Homage with my Iudgment and Conscience to another as the Spirit of God If it be said I ought to try the spirits by the Scriptures or Word of God I demand again but how shall I try my Touchstone or be sure that that principle notion or ground which I call the Word of God and by which I go about to try the spirits is indeed the Word of God There is scarce any spirit of Error that is abroad in the Christian World but freely offers it self to be tryed by the Word of God as well as the true Spirit of God Himself i. e. by such meanings sences or conclusions as it self confidently asserts to be the Word of God i. e. the Mind of God in the Scriptures So that I am in no capacity to try such a spirit which upon such an account as this pretends his coming forth from God unless I be able to prove that those sences meanings and conclusions by which he offers to be tryed are not indeed the Word of God Now it is unpossible that I should prove this meerly and only by the Scriptures themselves because unto what place or places soever I shall have recourse for my proof or tryal in this case this spirit will reject my sence and interpretation in case it maketh against him and will substitute another that shall not oppose him Nor can I reasonably or regularly reject his sence in this case at least as an untruth unless I apprehend some relish or taste therein which is irrational or some notion which jarreth with or grateth upon some clear principle or other of reason within me For as on the one hand what Doctrine or notion soever clearly accordeth and is commensurable with any solid and undoubted principle or ground of Reason within me is hereby demonstrably evinced to be a Truth and from God so on the other hand what Doctrine or saying soever bears hard or falls foul upon any such principle must of necessity be an Error and somewhat that proceeds from Satan or from men and not from God The Reason hereof is clearly asserted by the Apostle in these words For God is not the Author of Confusion but of peace a 1 Cor. 14. 33. From whence it appears that God is not divided in himself or contradictions to himself so as to write or assert that in one book as in that of the Scriptures which he denyeth or opposeth in another as viz. in that of Nature or of the fleshly tables of the heart of man but whatsoever he writeth or speaketh in the one he writeth or speaketh nothing Inclinavit Deus Scripturas ad infantium lactentium capacitatem Aug. in Psal 8. * Tertul. De testimonio Animae adversus Gentes c. 1. Mirum si a Deo data homini novit divinare Sic mirum si a Deo data cadem canit quae Deus suis dedit nosse Ibidem c. 5. Si de tuis literis dubitas neque Deus neque natura mentitur ut Deo naturae credas crede animae c. Ib. cap. 6. Cur verba habet Christianonorum quos ne auditos visâ—s que vult Ibid. O testimonium Animae naturaliter Christianae Tertul. Apologet Ne â—ui praeclusus esset ad felicitatem aditus non solum hominum mentibus indidit illud quod diximus Religionis semen c. Calvin instit l. 1. c. 5. Sect. 1. in the other but what is fairly and fully consistent with it Vpon this account it is a grave and worthy advertisement of Mr Perkins in his Epistle before his Treatise of Predestination It is saith he also requisite that this Doctrine he speaks of Predestination Election and Reprobation agree with the grounds of common Reason and of that knowledg of God which may be obtained by the light of nature In this saying of his he clearly supposeth that whatsoever should be taught by any man in the mysterious and high points of Predestination otherwise then according to the Scriptures and the Truth may be clearly disproved by this viz. the disagreement of it with the grounds of common Reason and of that knowledg of God which the light of Nature shineth into the hearts of men If himself had kept close to this principle of his own in drawing up his Judgment in the point of Predestination the World had received a far differing and better account from his pen of this subject then now it hath But if his sence were that the heights and depths of Religion for so we may well call the Doctrines of Election and Reprobation c have nothing in them but what agreeth with the grounds and principles of common reason and with the Dictates of Nature in men and consequently may be measured discerned and judged of by these he did not conceive that matters of a more facile and ordinary consideration were above the capacity and apprehension of Reason It was the saying of Augustin that God hath bowed down the Scriptures to the capacity even of Babes and Sucklings Tertullian hath much upon this account to excellent purpose In one place speaking of the Soul being yet simple rude and unfurnished with any acquired knowledge either from the Scripture or other institution he demands why it should be strange that being given by God it should speak out or sing the same things the knowledg whereof God giveth unto his children Not long after he admonisheth the Gentiles that neither God nor Nature lye and thereupon that they may beleeve both God and nature willeth them to beleeve their own Souls A little after he saith that the Soul he speaks of hath the words and therefore the inwards senses and impressions of Christians whom notwithstanding it wisheth that it might never hear or see Elsewhere having mentioned some expressions of affinity with the Scriptures as oft coming out of the mouths of Heathen he triumphs as it were over them with this acclamation O the Testimony of a Soul naturally Christian Nor doth Calvin himself say any whit less then all this when he saith that God hath implanted or inwardly put the seed of Religion in the mind of men Doubtless the seed sympathizeth richly with that body which springs and grows from it But these
things by the way All impressions all principles of light and truth which are found written in the hearts and consciences of men are here written by the finger of God himself Therefore what spirit or Doctrine soever symbolizeth in notion and import with these or any of them must of necessity be of the same parentage and descent with them there being no original Parent or Father of light and truth but God only And on the contrary what Doctrine or spirit soever putteth any of these Principles to sorrow or shame and doth not lovingly comport with them hereby declare themselves to be of a spurious and ignoble race as Christ reasoned with the Iews If God were your Father ye would love me for I proceeded forth and came from God g John 8 42. But because they hated him he concluded them to be the children of the Devil Concerning the mystery of the Trinity the Incarnation of God or the Son of God the conception of a Virgin with some other points of like consideration commonly pretended to be against or at least above and out of the reach and apprehension of Reason I clearly answer 1. That they are every whit as much yea upon the same terms out of the reach of Faith as of Reason For how can I beleeve at least upon good grounds and as it becometh a Christian to beleeve whatsoever he beleeveth that which I have no Reason nor am capable of apprehending any Reason nay for which there is no Reason why I should beleeve it If it be said I am bound to beleeve the Doctrines specified because they are revealed by God I answer that this is a rational ground whereof my Reason and Vnderstanding are throughly capable why I should beleeve them The light of Nature clearly informeth me that what God revealeth or speaketh must needs be true and consequently worthy and meet to be beleeved If it be further said but Reason is not able to apprehend or conceive how three should be really and essentially one and the same how a Virgin should conceive and bring forth a Son c. I answer that no Faith or Belief in such things as these is required of me nor would be accepted with God in case it were in me above what I am able by my Reason to apprehend and understand As I am not able to apprehend by my Reason the particular and distinct manner how the three Persons subsist in one and the same Divine Nature and Essence so neither am I bound to beleeve it That which I am bound to beleeve in this Point is onely this that there are three who do thus subsist I mean in the same Divine Essence and for this my Reason is apprehensive enough why I should beleeve it viz. because God himself hath revealed it as hath been said If I should confidently beleeve any thing more or further concerning the Trinity of Persons commonly so called and there is the same Reason of the other Points mentioned then what I know upon the clear account of my Reason and Vnderstanding it would be presumption in me and not Faith and I should contract the guilt of those whom the Apostle chargeth with intruding or advancing themselves into the things which they have not seen a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Col. 2. 18 Vid. Sam. Petit Var. Lect. l. 1. c. 9 i. e. rationally apprehended and understood But 2. If it be yet demanded but is it not contrary to the grounds of Nature and so to Principles of Reason that a Virgin should conceive a Child And if so how can such a Doctrine according to what you have asserted be received as from God or as a Truth I answer it is no ways contrary to Reason nor to any Principle thereof that God should be able to make a Virgin to conceive but very consonant hereunto as the Apostle Paul supposed it credible enough as we lately heard even in the eye of Reason that God should make the Earth bring forth her dead alive b Acts 26 8 Indeed that a Virgin should conceive in a natural way or according to the course of ordinary Providence is contrary unto Reason but this Religion requireth not of any man to beleeve Nor doth it bear hard at all upon any Principle of Reason that God should be willing to do every whit as great and strange a thing as that I mean as to cause a Virgin to conceive for the accomplishment of so great and glorious a design as the saving of a lost World Nor is it contrary to Reason or any Principle thereof that God or the first Being being infinite should have a manner of subsisting or Being far different from the manner of subsistence which is appropriate to all created and finite Beings or that this manner of subsisting which is proper unto him should be unto men incomprehensible But most consonant it is to Principles of Reason when God himself hath pleased so far to reveal that appropriate and incomprehensible manner of his subsisting as to declare and say that he subsisteth in three that men should accordingly beleeve it so to be So that most certain it is that there is nothing in Christian Religion which so far as it concerneth men to know and beleeve but what fairly and friendly comports with that Reason and Vnderstanding which God hath given unto Man and what by a diligent and conscientious use of these noble faculties he may come to know and believe at least so far as to salve his great Interest of Salvation 2. Look with how many Precepts Exhortations Admonitions I stand charged by God to submit unto and practise I am under so many charges and engagements from him likewise to exercise my Reason and Vnderstanding 1. To apprend aright the Mind of God in every of these respectively lest when he injoyneth me one thing I through mistake should do another 2. To consider how when and in what cases I am commanded by him to do this or that 3. and lastly to pass by other particulars To gather together and call up upon my Soul all such Motives and Considerations which I am able whereby to provoke stir up and strengthen my self to the execution and performance of all things accordingly When God commandeth me to strive to enter in at the strait gate to seek his Kingdom and the righteousness thereof in the first place to labor for the meat which endureth to everlasting life to be a man in understanding to omit other Precepts of like nature without number be commandeth me consequentially and with a direct clear and necessary implication to rise up in the might of my reason and understanding in order to the performaance of these things nor am I capable of performing the least of these great and most important commands in any due manner but by interessing my reason judgment understanding and this throughly and effectually in and about the performance The truth is I stand bound in duty and conscience