House of God Dedicated to his holy Worship and therefore ought to mind us both of the Greatness and Goodness of his Divine Majesty certain it is that the acknowledgment thereof not only inwardly in our Hearts but also outwardly with our Bodies must needs be Pious in it self profitable unto us and edifying unto others We therefore think it very meet and behoveful and heartily commend it to all good and well affected People Members of this Church that they be ready to tender unto the Lord the said acknowledgment by doing Reverence and Obeisance both at their coming in and going out of the said Churches Chancels or Chappels according to the most antient Custom of the primitive Churches in the purest times and of this Church also for many years of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth The receiving therefore of this ancient and laudable Custom we heartily commend to the serious Consideration of all good People not with any intention to exhibit any Religious Worship to the Communion-Table the East or Church or any thing therein contained in so doing or to perform the said Gesture in the Celebration of the holy Eucharist upon any opinion of a corporal Presence of the Body of Jesus Christ on the Holy Table or in the mystical Elements but only for the Advancement of Gods Majesty and to give him alone that Honour and Glory that is due unto him and no otherwise And in the practise or omission of this Rite we desire that the Rule of Charity prescribed by the Apostle may be observed which is that they which use this Rite despise not them which use it not and that they who use it not condemn not those that use it If this be the Canon that the man means as I believe it is I do appeal to all men that are able to discern between Truth and Error what jost exceptions can be taken against these words is it not evident that they carry in them a sound of much Piety towards God much tenderness of Spirit towards the People of God in perswading them with meekness of Wisdom to consent unto that pious Course there propounded for the advancement of Gods Majesty And what can be more Christian like spoken than that which is there added in the close desiring that the Rule of Charity prescribed by the Apostle may be obseryed which is that they who use this Rite viz. of reverential Gesture in the publick Service of God despise not them who use it not and that they who use it not condemn not those that use it What imposing then is here upon People a cringing to the East It is not expresly disavowed where is that unlawful Canon which is said to be obtruded upon the Church Yea where is that Popish Superstition which hath been and still is mouthed out in these times against Convocations of the Clergy the Clergy Where It will certainly be sound one day to be in the Pens in the Tongues in the Hearts of those that make these causeless uncharitable invectives It is not in the Clergy it is not in their Assemblies nor in their Administrations Oh but to the Bowing at the Name of Jesus he hath some what more to object he will not he saith let that go so He will smite it first with his Tongue rather than confess with his Knee or his Tongue that Jesus is The Lord. And what can he or what doth he say but the same nauseous Crambe which his old Acquaintance of the Separation have said before him Quae omnia protrita prostigata sunt as it hath been said by a Learned man in another case like unto this The Convocation in Amo 1603 doth indeed order that when in time of Divine Service the Lord Jesus shall be mentioned due and lowly Reverence shall be done by all Persons present as it hath been accustomed Testifying by these outward Ceremonies and Gestures their inward Humility Christian Resolution and due acknowledgment that the Lord Jesus Christ the True and Eternal Son of God is the Only Saviour of the World in whom alone all the Mercies Graces and Promises of God to mankind for this life and the life to come are fully and wholly comprised And is this now to be accounted any so great a Crime in that Synod to make such a Canon that they must be condemned as if they were unworthy to be called Gods Clergy Had they done any thing to the Dishonour of our Lord could they have had a heavier Sentence past upon them It is he saith a Dishonour to the Father and the Holy Ghost to Prefer the second Person before them being co-equal in Glory And therefore may the Lord Jesus Christ account himself dishonoured by this Bowing to him seeing the Father and the Holy Ghost have not the same Honour done unto them These are his chief Objections as for the rest they are so Ridiculous and Prophane that they deserve not a Refutation but to these I return briefly 1. If we did believe that our Lord Jesus took upon him the person of a Man when he was made of a Woman and that we do thereupon ascribe unto him this Honour we should in so doing Dishonour him For first we should deprive him of his highest Honour which is of being God equal with the Father 2. We should thereby derogate from the Father and the Holy Ghost of which he will never approve it being of dangerous consequence to all the three Persons it being also written that we should honour the Son even as we honour the Father Yea then we should believe a Quaternity of Persons contrary to that which is Revealed and Believed ever since the Gospel hath been Preached and Written wherein I consess we should sin sadly But this we do not That therefore cannot be imparted to us in this case nor in any other 2. We do not ascribe this Honour to Christ as he is the second Person in the Trinity the Son of the Father For then indeed we should be partial in the Worshipping of our God presenting one person before another and consequently should be guilty of Idolatry in framing an Imagination of our God in our Hearts otherwise than it is written But thirdly this Honour we do ascribe to Christ as he is Mediator between God and us and no otherwise not exalting him thereby above the first and third Persons but because we would exalt him above every Name that is named among all the Creatures of God either in Heaven or in Earth and we believe in so doing we do not offend It will be said we do give more Honour unto the Name of Jesus than we do to the Name of the Father and of the Holy Ghost It must be answered Jesus we know is a proper Name given to our Saviour at his Birth as all we of the same nature have but there are no such Names given to the Father and the Holy Ghost Neither are the three Persons to be distinguished by Names and Titles but only Relatively For then we should make such a distinction as is inconsistent with the Catholick Faith and therefore it is gross Ignorance in this Objector and all his Complices to dream of such a matter But because there seems to be a necessity that this Mystery be explained I shall therefore endeavour upon this occasion so far as I can be able to reach the Sence of the Spirit of God in it revealed in holy Scripture to
whom you have fancied to be culled out of your Thousands and Millions when it is clear the good Spirit of God speaks it expressy of Adam and his Ofspring as they generally Issue from him in their several Generations Are you then and your Complices sit to meddle with the Holy Scripture when you understand it no better Better surely were it for you if it were as a sealed Book unto you rather than be permitted to wrest it so perniciously to your own destruction There is a Truth I confess in what you here say But seeing you cannot but know that these words of the Apostle from whence you gather this your abundant Favor for one probably of your own gang are of so large an extent as hath been said and that to take them in his sense were utterly to overthrow your damnable Doctrine which rather than you would do you would pervert them to your own private shallow Interpretation since it is so may it not well be said without any offence either before God or Man you are fitter to be a Hewer of wood c. as the Gibeonites were than to divide the Word of Truth to Gods People Had the Apostle here written where Sin abounded Wrath did much more abound this it seems would have gone down easily with you as according to your Palate But blessed be the good Spirit of God whose word it is and blessed be the Hand that first wrote it it is a word of Mercy a word of strong Consolation to the whole Church of God The Magnitude and Redundancy of Divine Grace being infallibly by the abundance of sin made the more conspicuous as the more desperate a bodily Disease is the more is the Virtue and Excellency of the Medicine that Cures it made the more famous and to be extolled Let therefore that word stand firm and stedfast against you which you in your eleventh Paragraph of objections have made light account of viz. that the Grace of God is exalted far above his Judgments and Severities that there where sin has abounded Grace has much more abounded for the solution hereof is not so easie as of many more though you have pretended so of it to your Reader Reflector As to the Salvation of the Children of Heathen Parents or others that is a sealed Book which God doth not permit us to open Answer It is well that you have that Charity for Children yea for the Children of Heathen Parents as well as of others so as not to reckon them among your Thousands and Millions whom you have marked to Destruction for your only Design you say Pag. 27. in this whole Discourse is to speak of men deceased above an Age ago still you shuffle and after they had the exercise and use of Reason It is well I say But you here add the Salvation of such Children is a sealed Book which God doth not permit us to open I will not much argue with you about this though I might nor inquire by what Authority you call the Salvation of Children more than of others who have had the exercise and use of Reason a sealed Book which God doth not permit you to open Possibly you may dream of the Limbus Infantum where Children are kept from the Pains of Hell not having the Pain of Sense but only the Pain of Loss Which Limbus no man could ever open no not the Pope himself for though it is said he hath the Key of Purgatory yet the Key of this place appointed for Children is not it seems committed to his Custody But is the Salvation of Children as you say a sealed Book and is not the Book of Gods Universal Judgment and the Lambs Book of Life sealed Books likewise Yet you dare it seems without Gods Permission yea contrary to Gods express command in Scripture to open these Books and give your Judgment forsooth of them as you please And what is this but to anticipate the Judgment of the great Day The Apostle Reasoned with Faelix of Judgment to come Act. 24.25 and adviseth yea warneth us 1 Cor. 4.5 To judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who is to be the Judge of Quick and Dead Much less should we judge so rashly as to determine of the Number of Gods Elect and that with so peremptory a Sentence as to exclude the major part of Mankind from all hope of Salvation which is the deadly Venome that runs through your whole Discourse It had been good indeed if this your Book had been so sealed that it might have been bound up in everlasting silence never to come forth rather than to do that mischief which it is like to do among poor and weak Christians who have always been apt to despond and not only them but among such as are Prophane to strengthen some in their Atheism which groweth over-Rampant in this Generation and others in their Epicurism and Debaucheries who will be ready to say Seeing there is little or no hope of Mercy for us when we die let us take our Pleasure while we may Eat Drink and be Merry Reflector It is sufficient for us Mortals to know that none is or can be saved but by Jesus Christ But we must not go about to determine whether none are saved but who have known Jesus Christ Answer For us Mortals a word that you use once and again here in your Discourse because you would like your good friends the Quakers take up a form of speech differing from that which is common Otherwise you might have said it is sufficient for us poor Creatures which would have pass'd for current better than your word Mortals For the time will come when this Mortal shall put on Immortality wherein the same Truth shall be known by us then which we now know And do not they that are now Immortal know this that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour of the World as well and better than we But I must tell you it is not sufficient for us Mortals as you call us to know this for God hath been graciously pleased to Illighten us poor Mortals and those that are Immortal too to know that none can be saved by Jesus Christ but those that are in Covenant with God Why then do you by affirming so gross an Untruth lessen that knowledge which the Spirit of God in Scripture hath given us saying It is sufficient c. Why indeed but because you was loth to extend the work of Salvation so far as to reach to those Thousands and Millions which you will have to be damned for they also may for ought you know be in Covenant with God as well as your self Men may guess at your meaning Don Doctor though you speak it not out as you ought to speak it You say further we must not go about to determine whether none be saved but who have known Jesus Christ Was there ever such a Don known before that will take upon him so imperiously to judge the
World and yet be guilty of so shameful Ignorance in the Fundamentals of our Christian Faith Doth not our Lord himself tell us it is eternal Life to know him And must we not then determine that none can be saved but those that know him know him I say either by an acquired knowledge in the use of holy Means or by an inspired knowledge without them as many Millions in the World I doubt not have attained through Grace and may also for the time to come more and more one of these must be absolutely necessary to Salvation seeing our Saviour hath spoken the word it is eternal Life to know him Go then and learn better to know Jesus Christ if thou thy self wilt look for Salvation by him Reflector All other passages seem to carry with them some kind of probability and likelihood but they are not convincing and their Solution is very easie in a word they are nothing so forcive as those which are alledged for the contrary Opinion viz. that for one that shall be saved many hundred Thousands shall be damned Answer Passages you call them A pretty word for a mystical Man at Maudlin Hill Fair where he comes with his Hocas Pocas and Heipass to turn substantial Arguments into Shadows or by a nimble sleight of hand to close them up in a narrow Pinfold of Passages to delude the People But seeing you will have them called Passages it is fit you should be paid for your Passages with a Demonstration of your cunning or of your folly Your cunning in hiding that which would have laid you open to the Eyes of all your Spectators or your folly in your vain glorious Boastings and Triumph that you make by insulting over the poor Truth your Captive telling the World those Passages for it are not convincing and their Solution is very easie and nothing so forcive as those which are alledged for your great Diana the contrary opinion Nevertheless you say they seem to carry with them some kind of probability and likelihood which is more than any that are wise will say of your Opinion as for Zuinglius and his followers whom you reckon among the rest I shall leave them to be swinged by you as I hear you have threatned me and do so pay them soundly for they well deserve it But what will you say to that where it is objected that that man to whom God hath given the Grace to pardon all those that have offended him hath a tacite Promise that God will forgive him all his sins That it is extreamly to lessen the ends for which Jesus Christ came into the World to admit that he only came into the World to Redeem one man of a Hundred of a Thousand or of ten Thousand or indeed of a hundred Thousand c. that it is not to be believed that Jesus Christ at the Right hand of his Father does intercede for one of a hundred Thousand of all Mankind c. Are not these Passages as you call them convincing Or is there no force in these that follow viz. that God is slow to Anger ready to Pardon and shew Mercy yea plenteous in Mercy as the Scripture often speaks of him that the work of God and his natural Inclination is to do good to his Creatures and to pardon them their sins that he never punishes but with Regret and Unwillingness and that to Destroy and to Chastise rigorously it is his work but it is his strange Work and his Act but his strange Act. That if Jesus Christ would have us to pardon seven times yea seventy times seven our offending Brother there is no likelihood but that God should be much more merciful since he commands us Mortals to be so and if God promises to give a new Heart to all those whose sins he pardons who will believe that God should pardon an infinite number of Persons but that he should only give a new Heart to a few c. What is there nothing now forcive in all this Surely it may well be said of you Bishop Hall as it hath been heretofore applied with too much derision to an Eminent Holy and Learned Prelate of our Church viz. that you are an irrefragable Doctor But above all I am amazed to see those two Important Considerations to be thus sleighted by such a man as you are who pretend to rejoyce in hope of the Glory of God by Jesus Christ Both which you intersert among other Objections against you in this manner First that it is extreamly to lessen the ends for which Jesus Christ came into the World to admit that he came to Redeem only one Man of a Hundred of a Thousand or of ten Thousand or indeed of an hundred Thousand c. 2. That it is not to be believed that our great Redeemer and Advocate at the Right Hand of his Father does Intercede but for one of a hundred Thousand of all Mankind These are such things as would make any Mans Ears to tingle that should hear them But for you you make nothing of them and their Solution with you is as the rest are very easie Certainly were it not that you were too much doting upon your general Damnation a word peculiar to your own fancy for I believe it was never used by any in the World before you neither was it an unhappy Eslip of your Pen or Spirit which came from you unawares for you repeat it again and again in your pernicious Pamphlet as if you would that the world should take special notice of it were it not I say that you had been too precipitant in running on upon that foot of Account you would with earnest Prayer have besought God to guide you with his good Spirit that you might not err in this weighty Point which Prayer it is much to be doubted you have neglected because you have erred in the matter most grosly Yea and now when you may if you will perceive that your Foundation on the Holy Scripture is mislaid and that all the Batteries which you make from thence will Recoil upon your self with shame and sorrow you should do your utmost Endeavour to Retract your uncharitable Aspersions and to find out some other sense of those places of sacred Writ which hitherto have been by you and others but ill understood and worse Interpreted as your own words are in another Case Saint Austin I am sure gave this Advise Lib. 2. Cap. 3. De Cons Evang. where treating of some difficulties in the Evang. Genealogies hath these words Hoc facile posset occurrere Homini Religioso qui quodlibet aliud quaerendum potius judicaret quà m Evangelistam crederet esse mentitum i. e. to a man truly Religious this Consideration would easily offer it self that it would become him to judge that some other sense then yet appears should be inquired out rather than to doubt that a Quill of the Holy Dove should drop the least spot of Error in the written Oracles of
the Woman nor by the Report that she made of him to the men of Sychar that she was such a Convert as you imagine And if it were so she was not the only Convert in that City for it is said v. 4.1 that many believed because of his own words and the confession that they made of him was much more signal than any thing we read of the Woman how then did he come thither to convert that one Woman But let all be granted that you say of this matter what is it to your purpose eve just nothing it will signifie rather against you that he went thither to open the Treasures of Mercy and Grace to the poor despised Samaritans Is this your Reflection then of any value 4. Presupposing that the Children of Israel were as great in number as the Sand on the Sea-shore yet but a Remnant of them shall be saved 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 9.27 Presupposing and why so Was not the same Promise made to Abraham Gen. 22.17 Totidem verbis and repeated again by the Apostle Heb. 11.12 Why then should any man speak doubtfully in this Point I confess it is a proverbial form of Speech used commonly to signifie an innumerable Multitude Judg. 7.12 Is 48.19 but is it not clear hereby that when any thing is mentioned in Scripture that may tend to the enlarging of Gods Mercy towards the World it is by you but lightly regarded as it hath been noted before whereas any thing that may but seemingly advance your general Damnation that must be stretched to the uttermost So here an innumerable multitude that may signifie the Elect of God in some sense is ushered in with a doubtful presupposing as if the thing were uncertain Well but this being so what will follow thereupon Nothing at all to serve the present Turn for can any man infer from hence directly that not above one in a Million shall be saved eternally Admit that the Remnant of the Israelites who were delivered from the Sword of the Assyrian which is the proper meaning of the Prophet in that place were a Type of Gods Elect among that People to be saved by Christ as some imagine what 's this to all the Elect of God all the World over Yea and when the whole Nation of the Jewes is restored again to their former Glory as there is no doubt but they shall be it may as well be concluded to be a Type of universal Redemption which the Arminians will be ready to catch at so that then there shall be no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as your word is or rather no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no Reliquiae but all the whole Race of Mankind shall be saved which is an opinion not to be warranted by the word of God 5. Christ had but very few names in Sardis Rev. 3.4 Ergo. A most Incongruous Ergo must this be accounted by all men but it is of the same kind as the rest are and therefore there need no more be said unto it but only to fix a non sequitur upon it unless we may say you wrest the Scripture from the right understanding to a Reprobate Sense 6 Of the ten Lepers that were healed there was but one that returned to give Glory to God From hence if any thing may be gathered in reference to Eternal Salvation it may be said which nevertheless must not be said that there shall be a Decimation of all Mankind at the last day one amongst then to be saved or rather it may be you would have it there shall be then a Centuriation of Millions of men that shall then be culled out for Salvation which will amount to your reckoning but that you reckon as we say without-Book i.e. without the Records which are laid up in Archivis far out of your reach 7. There is incomparably a far greater number of common Stones and Pebbles than there is of Diamonds Saphirs and Pearls And yet Jesus Christ makes use only of such as these in the Building and Structure of his house Grant all that you here say viz. that Jesus Christ makes use only of Precious Stones for the Building of his House yet what stone is there layd which is not of his own squaring framing polishing yea of his Creation And surely since he will have his house of a large Extent we may believe he will create materials answerable thereto for Number as well as for Quality Yea and rather than fail he will take them immediately out of the Quarry of corrupt Nature into his own hands to fit and smooth them for his purpose of Pebbles and common stones he can make them Agates Saphirs Carbuncles and what not 8. Few Persons find the way that leadeth to the Kingdom of Heaven and Life Everlasting strait is the Gate and narrow is the Way that leads thereto and few there be that find it This we may believe you make the main Pillar of your Building But this Pillar is already removed and set in its right place The removal whereof hath made your whole Building to shake for when your Scripture-Evidence so you call it in your Title-Page hath proved to be invalid as to your purpose your cetera that there follows is but as a Spectrum to fright inconsiderate people or as a single simple Cypher signifying nothing Behold here good Readers what strong and nervous Arguments the Reflector hath used to maintain the Doctrine of his general Damnation and how easily as he would make us believe they do enervate and weaken all that may be said against it Who will not now rather think that the man hath been given up to a spiritual Blindness not being able to discern that Truth and Reason which are so clear against him contraria juxta se posita magis Illucescunt The Triarii being thus routed and the Commander having advanc'd yet farther with a Party of the same Spirit forcing the holy Scripture to wait upon him in his Salleys against the Gospel of our Saviour We are now to see whether the other Weapons of his surreptitiously taken out of that Sacred and Celestial Armarium be well managed by him and what Edge they carry in them to do him Service or rather disservice to Christ and his Church These are they that are produced in the 10th and 11th Pages of his Book where he thus fluttereth Reflector Of ten Thousand to whom that Holy God-Man Jesus Preached hardly will you be able to prove or substantially find any thing to ground your Belief that a hundred of them were Converted whereof the greatest part thought that Jesus Christ was come into the World not to establish a spiritual Kingdom in it made up of Saints and faithful Souls but to erect an earthly Empire and to set up Tabernacles in it Answer First for the reckoning that is here made of the ten Thousand to whom Christ preached concerning whom I will not contend only it may be demanded why such a scant number
should be set of them Was not Christ as he is called Rom. 15.8 The Minister of the Circumcision that is of the whole Jewish Nation And did he not Preach to others that were no Jewes For he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Messenger of the great Counsel as the Septuagint Render that written of him Es 9.6 and doth it not hereby appear that the Reflector writes at Random as his fancy only leads him without any warrant for there is not the least tittle in Scripture of the ten Thousand that Christ came to Preach unto Neither will I much contend about the term that the Reflector here puts upon our Lord calling him God-Man Our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed God and Man but is this term God-Man according to the form of sound Words 'T is true Christ is often called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Human Writers but never so in holy Scripture And though the Greek bears it well enough yet the Idiom of our Language will not whereupon we are forced in that case to use a Periphrasis and to say God and Man Why then should this Reflector make use of such an uncouth Word when he speaks of our most Holy and Righteous Lord which neither the Scripture nor our Language will allow him only because as he differs from men that are Rational in his opinion so he doth I say again take up a form of Speech like the Quakers differing from all other men But though this holy Man of God or rather this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God and Man did Preach and Speak so as never man spake yet we are told here that hardly shall we be able to prove or substantially find any thing to ground our Belief that a hundred of them were converted c. What then was there any failing in the Doctrine which he Preached or in the Spirit wherewith he spake Far be from us any such Blasphemy The work which the Father had sent him to do he perfectly fulfilled it But it was not all to be finished during the time of his Ministration some things were to be done by him while he was in the state of his Humiliation and some things after he came into the state of his Exaltation The perfect Conversion of sinners from Ignorance to the true Knowledge of the Gospel and from Unbelief to a full Considence or Assurance of Faith was not as it is the work of Gods free Grace to be consummated by Christ until he was Ascended into Heaven and set at the right Hand of his Father for then and not before was the Holy Ghost to be sent for that very end and purpose amongst many other Which powerful Act of the Spirit was first Wrought upon the Apostles that they might be instructed more fully to the Kingdom of God For even they during the time that they were with Christ and were Witnesses of what he did and taught were very defective both in Faith and Life In faith about the Death and Resurrection of Christ and about a temporal Kingdom which was their Error as it was of the rest of the Jews In Life when they were too full of Revenge in drawing the Sword as Peter or for calling down fire from Heaven upon the Samaritans as James and John Luk 9.54 It was the Spirit after the Resurrection and Glorification of Christ that was to bring all things to their Remembrance whatsoever he had said unto them It was the Spirit which should then lead them into all Truth It was the Spirit which after Christ was Glorified made them clearly to understand the Prophecies which went before of him Thus it is said Joh. 12.16 These things understood not his Disciples at the first but when Christ was Glorified c. It was the Spirit which should adapt and fit them for the great Work of Converting the World which otherwise they could never have been able to bring to pass And as it began thus with the Apostles so did this Grace extend unto others in the same manner secundum modum Recipientium thus testified the Evangelist Joh. 7.39 This spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should Recieve for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not yet Glorified These things considered we may see some cause why there were not many Converted by the Preaching of Jesus Christ Yet cannot a Conclusion be gathered from thence that there were but few then of Gods Elect among that People unless we will exclude the Apostles or at least other the Disciples of Christ from eternal Salvation who had also their failings both in Faith and Obedience because the Holy Ghost was not then given Reflector Jesus Christ saith that his Flock is small that there are but few Persons that enter into the Kingdom of Heaven that when he shall come again upon the Earth be shall not find Faith in it that all the world shall run after the Beast That the number of the Elect is very little in comparison of those that are called and consequently that the number of the called is infinitely less than that of those who are not called and that know not what the Christian Religion is Answer We had best beware what we say of our Lord Jesus Christ at any time so as to tell the World Jesus Christ saith when he hath not spoken it for fear lest that Rebuke fall upon us which fell upon the Prophets of old behold I am against you that smooth your Tongues and say he saith Let these Scriptures be searched which are heaped together and it will evidently appear they say no such thing as you say of them First when Christ calls his Flock little slock he speaks not of the Elect of God all the World over as you imagine that would be contrary to the Holy Scripture which in several places speaks of them as of a great multitude But it is certain he speaks it only of his Apostles who were his peculiar care above all others as is plainly to be seen in my Antidote 2. Christ never said that there are but sew Persons that enter into the Kingdom of Heaven But speaking of the narrow Way that leadeth to Life he saith sew there be that find it meaning probably sew there be of the Jewish Nation at that time that were so wise as they should be to find it Metapha canibus investigantibus For so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies sagaciter depichendo as it is written at large in the aforesaid Antidote 3. Christ saith not as you say when he shall come again upon the Earth he shall not find faith in it The words that you harp upon in this particular though jarringly are those in Luk. 18.8 When the Son of man cometh shall he find Faith on the Earth And now consider how great a difference there is between your words and the words of our Saviour First he saith not when he shall come again upon the Earth For the
which I fear without a serious Reflection upon himself and his Works such as may through Grace lead him to Repentance for it he will find to be his Portion in the end to his smart and sorrow Non obstante as I have said already I dislike not his Zeal in awakening the World out of that sluggish Lethargy to which all as he saith are more or less inclined Let the Thunder and Lightning of Sinai be ratled in the Ears and darted into the Eyes of secure impenitent sinners let the Terrors of the Law be as Magor-missabib formido circumquaque dreadful to them round about let the Judgment to come be displayed before them with all the terrifying Appearances of it This indeed being according to the form of found words which the Spirit of God in Scripture hath set us in our Preaching may do some good as it hath done to many desperate sinners in opening their Eyes and turning them from Darkness to Light and from the Power of Satan to God But it is a false Allarm that this man soundeth to that purpose when he tells the World that not above one in a hundred thousand nay probably not above one in a Million shall be saved This is not to be as a Schoolmaster to drive us to Christ but rather as a Devil to scare us from him This is the Eccho rather of the Bottomless Pit the Reverberation that ariseth from the deep Caverns of Hell enough to make men run headlong into Desparation or into Athiesm or at least into Epicurism and greater Dissoluteness in their Lives Neither indeed can any other be expected when the mercies of God which have always been proclaimed to be infinite are so straitned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Pet. 1.19 and the precious honourable Blood of the Lamb sufficient to save all the World is made of so little reckoning A good Doctrine would this be where that Antichristian Tenet is received as an Evangelical Truth viz. that men shall be justified by their own Righteousness and saved by their own Works for then well may it be said not one in a Million nay not one in all the World from Adam down to the last man that shall spring from that sinful Root shall ever be saved well may the Church of Rome now sing their Jo Paean and well may the Quakers that frantick Sect joyn in it For this man hath done all their work for them But to go on with his Dedication He is it seems by his words at the end of his Stage even as I am I confess at the end of mine and it will concern us both therefore to be very wary how we get off from it No necessity though was there for him before his Exit to gaze about for a Plaudite by proclaiming publickly that it is the common Entertainment he allows himself to meditate upon his Leaving the Stage Let him on Gods name employ his Wisdom if he have any in considering his latter end and his Appearance before the great God and God Almighty grant that I also may do the like Nevertheless when I look upon his Boldness in reflecting upon Gods Arcana Imperii I am afraid he is not so wise as he should be in that matter of his Departure but that either the thought of his latter end was then the latter end of his thought or if his thoughts did run to the end of his Stage his precipitant Phansie did so out-run them that he could hardly reach with Comfort to the end of his Race And as for others better surely were it for us who are ready to be unclothed as the Apostle's word is to reflect upon our selves by a serious Examination of our Hearts Lives and Opinions then to be Astonished with the Stupidity and profound Security of others which I confess is much to be lamented too wheresoever it is But for him to boast thus of himself and at the same time to condemn the gross of Mankind as he impudently calls it for their Negligence in that matter wherein he would have us believe he himself excelleth what is this but Pharisaism in a high degree All their thoughts and bustle he saith amount only to this to pursue the Lusts of the Flesh the Lusts of the Eye and the Pride of Life and to advance their carnal Interests in the World as if there were nothing more to hope for or to fear c. which he applies not only to Heathens but to those that are born in a Christian World that are Educated and Bred up in the Truths of the Gospel in whom he saith this Insensibleness is inexcuseable See I beseech good Readers what a Censor morum this doughty Doctor is and how Arrogant in that he will dare to usurp a divine Power thus by entring into the Hearts of men and to know all their Thoughts What knoweth he but that a great multitude of those whom he accounts insensible may have as great a sense of sin at some time or other in their Souls and sorrow for it as he himself hath Yea and though they make not so great a bustle in the World about it as he doth yet may their sorrow be more after a godly sort For him when I hear what carefulness there is in him to amend his Errors what Apology he can make for himself about them what Indignation he hath against his own Heart for conceiving them when I hear of these and the other effects of godly sorrow to be in him I will rejoyce and praise God for the Grace that is given him but till then I must say he hath exceedingly sinned against God and let him be sure his sin will find him out In the mean while when he saith all their thoughts and bustle amount only to this to pursue the Lusts of the Flesh c. and to advance their carnal Interests in this World as if there were nothing more to hope for or to fear On the other side the Gulph which all must shoot I would know of him what he means thereby would he have men to neglect their Callings whereto God hath called them and wherein by the Apostles Rule they are to abide with God otherwise not to eat Men that are wise would say the more Noise and Bustle men make in the World by their Diligence and Industry in their Callings the more are they to be commended provided that they keep themselves within due Bounds especially that they neglect not the Vnum necessarium the one thing needful For whereas God commands us to serve him he alloweth us also to serve our selves nay more by serving our selves in a holy conscientious Use of Gods Blessings and by following our Callings in Obedience to his Commands God accounts himself to be served too Col. 3.24 Servants saith St. Pauly in serving their Masters diligently serve the Lord Christ they wrought for me saith the Lord Ezek. 29.20 when it was their own Interests and Advantages they aimed at in
Lord c. But little or nothing is written of their Repentance before they died yet will no man be so rash as to doubt of their Salvation Why should you then or your Complices be so peremptory as to cast a scruple about the Salvation of Solomon Cannot you be contented with that which is written of him Favoris Gratiâ but you must have a damnable sling at him as if he were hovering between Heaven and Hell But how else could you maintain your absurd Paradox of your hundred Thousands and Millions of Men that shall perish in their sins in comparison of one that shall be saved We read Joh. 13.1 whom the Lord loveth he loveth to the end and do we not read also again and again that the Lord loved Solomon 2 Sam. 12.24 Neh. 13.26 yea that this Love was confirmed unto him by the best Assurance that could be given him viz. propter Jehovam the Lord loved him for the Lords sake that is for Christ the Messiah's sake in whom all Gods Elect from the beginning of the World to the end are beloved with an everlasting love Did God chuse him out to be one of his Actuaries of his publick Records to his Church viz. the Book of the Proverbs the Book of Ecclesiastes or the Preacher the Book of the Canticles that pure Caelestial Epithalamum or Marriage Song and of two of the Psalms as the Title of them signifies viz. Ps 72. and Ps 127. And can it be probably thought that he should be dignified in this high Degree if he had been no better than a wretched Castaway in Gods eternal Purpose What were there not Heirs enough of everlasting Salvation to be inspired by the Holy Ghost for the office of a publick Notary of Heaven but one must be taken from among the Bondslaves of Hell to make up the number Was he a Preacher sent of God and was not one of his Books called Ecclesiastes his Recantation Sermon which he writ in his old age when he took a more serious view of his by-past Life wherein among other his Follies he sheweth his Abhorrency of his being misled by Women I find saith he more bitter than Death the Woman whose Heart is Snares and Nets Eccles 7.26 and her Hands as Bands Implying that though Death be bitter yet he had rather die than be entangled again in the Snares of a whorish Woman Which option may well be justified if we consider the Aggravations of this sin as they are rendred by a good Interpreter Bishop R. one of a Thousand and a right Reverend Preacher among us in our Church whose words are these viz. They that is wicked Harlots are more bitter than Death more pernicious and bring more heavy Miseries with them We read of the Bitterness of Death 1 Sam. 15.32 And of a worse Bitterness the end of a strange Woman is bitter c. and her steps take hold of Hell Pro. 5.4.5 Death may be sweetued and sanctified made a welcome and desirable thing to a Believer 1 Cor. 15. But the Bitterness of Hell is incurable Death may be honourable to die in a good Cause as our King Charles the Martyr comforted himself in his Death to die in a good old Age to go to the Grave in Peace lamented desired with the sweet savour of a holy Life and many good Works to follow one But to consume and putrifie alive under a Tabes of Impure Lusts to shipwrack a mans Honour ruine his Estate shorten his years consume his Flesh rot his Bones put a Hell into his Conscience to bury his Name his Substance his Soul his Carkass in the Bosom of a Harlot This is a Bitterness beyond that of Death This now is that which Solomon here means and complaineth of And whether this be a sound of Repentance or no judge you And if your judgment be of any value how dare you doubt of his Salvation Being so true a Penitent as you see neither can you but acknowledge him to be so Reflector Nothing can be concluded of the Salvation or damnation of those that were the Types of things to come Answer Can nothing then be concluded of the Salvation of Samson who was an Eminent Type of Jesus Christ So doth our Learned Whitaker demonstrate him to be viz. 1. In sanctitate nativâ 2. In servatoris Munere 3. In juvicto Robore 4. In morte calamitosa cum Hostibus If all this will not satisfie you the Apostles numbring him among the Saints Heb. 11. should convince you that you may conclude of his Salvation I could instance in sundry others as Gideon Jephthah c. But this may suffice to shew you your Errour herein Reflector For it happ'ned sometimes that one Person as Esau who was the Figure and Type of the Reprobate was also that of the most excellent thing in the World viz. The Righteousness of Jesus Christ under which a Jacob a Sinner obtained the Blessing of God Answer Your Reason here is defective both in Sense and Truth worthy therefore of no regard But that you may not flatter your self in your Folly What a confused shuffling words is here like the Quakers jumbling several things together without sense As for Esau it seems you have so much Charity for him as not to conclude him to be a Reprobate though the Spirit of God in Scripture hath noted him to be a prophane Person and one whom God hated But how it came to pass that he hath escap'd your censure of a Reprobate when you make him a Type of the Reprobate I know not it being a Rule in Logick if ever you learnt it de proportionalibus est idem judicium Et quod de uno secundum proportionem affirmatur id etiam de altero If Esau then be a Type of the Reprobate that is hath the Impression of a Reprobate upon him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the word Type signifies He must needs be a Reprobate But let me demand of you is it for you or I to cast a Figure thus or create a Type of Gods eternal Decree concerning Mankind We should certainly usurp upon Gods Power if what is written in Scripture we may wrest it to our meaning without an express warrant from the Spirit of God And Polanus an Author whom I suppose you approve of saith Typi fuerant Figurae a Deo destinatae ad Res Divinas praefigurandas In Syntag. Let us not then be too bold to thrust our selves into Gods Pavillion by giving our Judgment of things which God hath kept in his own Power For my part I cannot say that Esau was a Type of the Reprobate much less that he himself was a Reprobate This I can say with good probability he was in that Generation admitted into the Church of God by the Sacrament of Circumsion as well as his Brother Jacob who though he took him by the Heel at the Birth signifying his future supplantation of him yet could he not supplant him in
Heaven that you shall be the Man In the mean while talk no more so proudly of the summ Total of the Elect so as to compare it with those whom you in your hasty pre-judging Spirit will not forsooth allow to be elected which will certainly be accounted an Affront put upon the righteous Judge yea and a charge upon him with want both of Faithfulness and wisdom if he should not give sentence according to that total Summ which you have taken pains to cast up You consider not poor Worm from whom it is that you refer your self or make your appeal You must therefore know is is from Almighty God who hath determined this Case before the World was and hath kept it as a secret in his Power far out of your reach and it is from our Lord Jesus Christ as if you Question'd the value of that Satisfaction which he hath given for the sin of the World if so how can you look to be interessed in it You say next that you believe this proportion upon such inquiry would be of one Person saved to a Million that is not that is to say there is a Million of Reprobates to one that shall be chosen so as to be saved Upon what Foundation I pray do you build your Faith It is not upon the Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets c. But meerly upon the Quicksands of your Imagination and upon your shallow Observations that you make of the World in the several Ages of it What you imagine in this case is not material and as for your surveying the World to spend your Censure upon men as you do who was it that did put you into that Office though you look upon the face of the whole World during some thousands of years as your words are yea and shound visit all the Families as you say and all private Persons but cannot find the truth of Religion nor the Power of Godliness in them may you therefore take upon you so precisely to determine of their final Estate That is without doubt to be reserved to the judgment of the great day For what think you can this grent Mystery of Mans Salvation be perfectly known by Observation and their eternal Election pointed out to the view of the World so that we may say as a great many Phantasticks do say Loe here is a Saint and loe there is a Saint Hath not our Lord himself told us Luk. 17.20 The Kingdom of God cometh not with Observation that is neither at his Appearance in the last day nor at his Appearance in the Hearts of Men by his good Spirit in this day of Grace and Salvation so as to be outwardly discerned Or can this Mystery be comprehended by the discourse of Reason when the Scripture as I have proved is silent in it viz. with a reference to particular numbers wherein nevertheless you take upon you to be very positive affirming that there is a Million of Reprobates to one chosen to Salvation A dreadful thing it is you say to think upon and I say again it is a horrid Blasphemy to speak it which you are not afraid to write viz. that the Lord Jesus Christ came only into the World to save one Man among a hundred Thousand or rather a Million And though you say it is an Abysse that neither can nor ought to be sounded yet will you dare to be diving into it though you venture your Salvation upon it The Lord give you Grace to Repent of this your Boldness betimes before it be too late Reflector If one durst to proceed upon this Subject father than I have done and well weigh the words of St. Paul Act. 14.16 That God in times past suffered all Nations to walk in their own ways that is to say he left them to perish in them one might find that the proportion of the number of the Reprobate to that of the Elect before the Advent of Jesus Christ and before the Preaching of St. Peter had convented three thousand men Is not the number neither of a thousand nor of a Million but of Millions of Millions to one Person that is saved Answer Whereas you say if one durst to proceed upon this Subject farther than you have done It seems thereby you doubt no man durst do so and well you might For I believe no man who hath had any knowledge in the Mystery of Salvation would if not out of fear of Gods Displeasure yet for Humanities sake proceed so far in it as you have done The words of St. Paul which you quote out of Acts 14.16 will not infer such a damnable Conclusion as you have brought from them if they be well weighed as you should have done them For first albeit the Nations of old were sufferd to walk in their own ways i. e. without that clear Light to guide them which now shineth in the time of the Gospel yet doth it not follow that God so left them that they all might perish therein that 's a stretch of your own and a false gloss that you put upon Gods Providence in his Government of the World 2. What were those ways which they walked in There is no necessity to Interpret them the ways of sin unless it be of their Idolatry For there is no Question but in many of those Nations if not in all of them there were allways some leading men who were just temperate meek innocent in their Lives who did infuse Principles of Virtue into the minds of the common sort without which they could not well live comfortably together And I could name you some Divines of our Church in former times Eminent for Holiness and Learning who have to this purpose written of those Nations Thus saith one Precepts of moral Conversation have been among Heathens as soundly delivered and some as strictly observed as if Moses had taught and lived amongst them Reprehensions likewise of all sorts of Vices and Commendations of their contrary Virtues they have both wisely conceived faithfully proved and earnestly perswaded and although they were ignorant of the Joys of Heaven and the Torments of Hell yet in their Gentile Learning they saw Reason sufficient that the Embracers of these contrary Qualities should be contrary-wise Recompensed Certainly saith another the Civil Virtuous Courses and Commendable Actions of many Famous Renowned Pagans such as Fabritius Aristides and the like were not mala in se nor Sins Depravations or evil Acts in themselves but good as the Pearl is bred in the Sea in a Shell-Fish materially Water but of Heavenly or Aereal Dew and in Value and Accompt for the Clearness Smoothness or whatsoever condition it hath rather resembleth and referreth unto Heaven than to the Sea So some Men Naturalists in the Sea of this World have bred nourished fomented in them by sweet Influx of Gods general Grace and Providence those commendable Qualities and correspondent Actions which in themselves simply are accepted of by God do not displease him are