words how by some men God doth execute judgment upon others Thus also a Prophet said to Amaziah when he refused to hear and repulsed him I know that God hath determined to destroy thee Neither would he hear what Joash sent to him For it came of God who would as I quoted before deliver him into the hands of his enemies Furthermore Shishak (a) 2 Chron. 12.2 3 4. King of Egypt came up against Jerusalem because they had transgressed against the Lord. Then the Lord brought him up to punish them and took their fenced cities in execution of Gods Judgments and again the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the King of Assyria Chap. 33.11 which took Manassch amongst the thorns and bound him with fetters and carried him to Babylon Why should we any longer insist upon a thing so clear by God's Order and appointment (b) 1 Kings 15.29 Baasha destroyed Jeroboam's Family And (c) Chap. 16.12 Zimri that of Baasha And (d) 2 Kings 10.17 Jehu that of Ahab And all along in the Old Testament God takes upon him self to be the Author of all punishments inflicted upon his people by cruel Princes and upon all other Nations Assyrians Syrians Chaldeans Moab Ammon Egypt Tyre Sidon Philistines c. in so many Chapters of the Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah Not only whole Nations but also individual though publick persons were made sensible of God's working in and against them as in the Case of Saul (e) 1 Sam. 16.14 The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord trouble him The most excellent and glorious work that ever was managed by the worst men in the world namely the death of our Blessed Saviour yet Judas Herod Pilate and the Jews and Gentiles concurred in 't did nothing but what the Hand and the Counsel of God had determined before to be done and fullfilled all that was written of him So that we see this truth contained in the †Acts 4.27.28 and chap. 13.27 29. New Testament as in the Old God gave some to (f) Rom. 1.24 26 28. vile affections and to a reprobate mind and to uncleanness and to Idolatry (g) Acts 7.42 So as to worship the host of heaven And God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lye Thus we see how God as a just Judge doth inflict not only bodily but also spiritual punishments upon men (h) 2 Thes 2.11 And if all these places were heaped one upon another and many others we could bring do not fully and clearly express the effectual concourse of God in and upon Men then all actings of God mentioned in Scripture must be explained of a bare permission and I dare say that those who amidst so great a light will not see must be in that darkness which comprehendeth not the light and there is cause to suspect (f) Psal 81.12 God hath given them up to their own hearts lust and to walk in their own counsels And sometimes God (g) Deut. 28.23 smiteth with madness blindness and astonishment of heart St. Paul speaks to the purpose of this universal and special actual Providence of God when he saith (h) Rom. 4 3◠For of him and through him and to him are all things none excepted good and evil not evil of sin which God abhorreth and 't is Blasphemy to say it but evil of punishment upon the wicked and of chastisements and afflictions to try the Faith and Patience of his Elect God threatneth to punish them that deny it (i) Zeph. 1.12 And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with Candles and punish the men that are set on their Lees that say in their heart the Lord will not do good neither will he do evil Though they speak it not with their Mouth but say it only in their Heart and he will so strictly search into it that they shall be found out These Effects and Workings of Providence come from him and do serve his Ends (k) Job 37.13 For saith Job He causeth it to come whether for correction or for his land or for mercy And in another place he saith (l) Chap. 5.6 Affliction cometh not forth of the dust neither doth trouble spring out of the ground That signal Plague of Egypt that is the Lice came out of the Dust which became Lice Yet the wicked Magicians of (m) Exod. 8.17 18. Pharaoh perceived God in it for they said This is the finger of God And the holy Man Job though the Sabeans or Arabs and Chaldeans had plundered and robbed him of his Oxen and Camels and killed his Servants yet he said (n) Job 1.21 22. The Lord gave and the Lord not the Sabeans or Chaldeans hath taken away Here some will be apt to say Why doth he attribute unto God those Actings of Men Job is to blame for fathering upon God the Actings of wicked Men. But as the Spirit of God knew there would be those so pragmatical as to cavil thereat so in the following Verse he doth clear him from such Imputations when it is said in all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly in saying that God had taken away So God speaking of himself in relation to his dealings with Men declareth how because of the Sins of Israel he had given them Laws as a Punishment So he saith (o) Zech. 20.24 25. Wherefore I gave them also Statutes that were not good and Judgments whereby they should not live We know all God's Laws are good but the meaning is they shall do them no good nor be profitable to them Thus the best things can do no good without God's special Blessing nor the evil harm with-it his sanctifying grace makes a difference yet both (p) Job 2.10 good and evil we receive at his hand This Doctrine as we see is strongly grounded upon the Word of God yet by some it is aspersed with the abominable slander that it makes God the Author of sin which we call Blasphemy and in our Minds and Hearts we abhor detest and pronounce a Curse against and appeal to the Judge of the World to vindicate our Innocency against so notorious false and impudent Aspersions They make God the Author of Sin who call Sin a positive Being as doth one of their great Men Dr. Pierce in several places For God is the maker of every positive Being but sin is a negative Being which God never was the Author of In the New Testament the name of Sin is with an Alpha privative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 'T is a non-conformity to God's Law Wherefore he that calleth Sin a positive Being makes God the Author of it We sufficiently declared how tho' God doth concurr with the natural and Physical part of the Act he hath nothing to do as Author of the Moral or of the Deviation no more than the Sun when it
proceed farther I have an occasion to say something on the behalf of that faithful Servant of Christ in whose Written Life the world hath such a Character of him as becomes a Pious Laborious and learned Man and though I am not sworn to his or any Man's words yet for truths sake I shall speak some few words relating to us here in Queen Elizabeth's days a Convocation at Oxford approved the Book of Calvins Institution and appointed it by Tutors to be read to their Pupils an infallible sign of a perfect agreement of our Church with the Doctrines therein contained which was to joyn it with our Articles That Book indeed is a Master-piece and deserves well the Commendation following given it by a learned Pen. Praeter Apostolicas post Christi tempora chartas Huic peperere libro secula nulla parem Whereof the sence is Since the birth of Christ no Age hath after the writings of the Apostles produced so excellent a Book as is Calvin's Institution Johannis Stormius an Eminent Divine of Strasbourgh who with his Brother through their singular Prudence and Eminent Piety did by the grace of God prevail without any Tumult to have the true Religion at the beginning of Reformation received in that City gives the following Character of Calvin John Calvin Joannes Calvinus homo acuâ—issimo judicio sum maque doctrina Egregia Memoria praeditus est c. a man endowed with most acute judgement of very great learning and of an excellent memory in his Writtings are variety plenty and purity witness whereof is his Institution of the Christian Religion which having first began then enlarged and inriched and at last finished he hath published this year Neither do I know in this kind any thing better or more perfect to teach Religion to Reform Manners and remove Errors And let any man think himself to be therein very well settled and grounded who hath attained to the things contained in that Book Beza saith he read it one and twenty times and at every time out of it he learned something Our first Reformers had a great respect and value for him amongst the several opinions about the Lord's Supper they received his as the true and they sent over for three Men that had been influenced by him Martyr Bucer and Fagius to help them in the Work of Reformation Archbishop Cranmer did kindly write to him and desired his assistance in things tending to a farther settlement of the Church and acquainted him he could do nothing more profitable than to write often to the King Bucer at Cambridge where he was Professor in Divinity hearing his Letters prevailed upon the Protector Duke of Somerset desired him to write to that Noble Lord concerning some matters And Bishop Hooper valued him so much as from his Prison to write to him calling him vir praestantissime and subscribing himself pietatis tuae studiosissimus Jo. Hooperus When Calvin did write to the Duke of Somerset it was very kindly taken Mr. Thomas Rogers in his Analysis of the 39 Articles doth speak honorably of him in the 2d page of his Preface and the first Letter he did write to the King was very well received and the whole Council whom the King shewed it to was well pleased with it This sheweth at that time he was not such a monster in the eyes of great and good men as Arminians have since traduced him he was a Man of great and good fame for all the malice of his enemies and of the truths who from first to last thought they might write or say any thing against him I shall instance only one who called him a pragmatical Fellow c. who died Bishop of (a) Parket Oxford but such a Man's standers strike no blow for after he had by Mr. Malvile been reduced to a nonplus and to have nothing more to the purpose to say for himself in our strugling here against Popery made himself sufficiently known to the world before his death Such virulent Pens and Serpentine Tongues must spue out their venom against the Works and Memory of Pious Learned and Extraordinary Men whose Books they never were worthy to carry But we must not wonder that sort of people doth speak so ill of the Eminent instruments of Reformation which they were and are enemies to and to friends of Reformation (b) Heylin Histay of Reformation Preface page 4. Doth not one of their chief Men abominably say whose death Edward 6th I cannot reckon for an infelicity to the Church of England for being ill principled in himself c. None but Papists can account it an infelicity that so good a Protestant Prince should die so soon if so then it was no infelicity to England that he was so soon succeeded by such a Bloody Persecutor of Religion as Queen Mary was After that they are licensed to speak ill of any Man The most pious hopefull and knowing Prince for his Age that ever sat upon an English Throne comparable to Josiah in his Zeal for the glory of God his loss the more to be pityed that he did not go off the Stage without suspition of being poysoned which very reason should have stoped such foul-mouths for fear of being thought to approve of such abominable courses which were not only suspected at home but also reported and credited abroad as mentioned by an (a) Sleidâ—â— Author of very good reputation who gives a worthy and deserved Character of that young King which an English Man will not afford him The Court intrigues in his Reign are well known how at first through the Division then the ruin of the two Brothers his Unkles he was laid open to the attempts of his Enemies As a violent Arminian attempted to tread upon the memory of that Excellent King (b) Iohn Goodwin another stiff that way hath in print justified the death of King Charles they spare no body Hear how the same Heylin in his quin-quarticular History speaks of that worthy Primate Vsher the Irish Articles saith he were drawn up by Doctor Vsher a professed Calvinian who not only thrust in the Lambeth Articles but also made others of his own c. But let us return to our immediate Subject about Arminians Pelagius was their Grand-father whose Errors Austin overthrew with Scripture and Reason God at that time having raised him up to be Champion for Grace who in this matter handled the word of God so powerfully and like a wise Master-builder and in so successful a way that the unsound Tenets were beaten down and the upholders thereof highly discountenanced But after Pelagius his death his Sectators appeared but under another shape not altogether so hideous for they did not positively deny Original Sin but so had however that the same Doctor took up the Cudgels against those Semipelagians Arminius in his days renewed the dispute on the behalf of the Semipelagians in a time when all the Reformed Churches both here and abroad quietly
A PLEA FOR FREE-GRACE AGAINST FREE-WILL WHEREIN Matters about Grace and Providence are plainly and fully cleared and contrary Opinions demonstrated to be against Scripture the Judgment of the Primitive Church and the Doctrine of the Church of England By J. GAILHARD Gent. For I know this that after my departing shall grievous Wolves enter in amongst you not sparing the flock Also of your own Selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them Acts 20.29 30. By the grace of God I am what I am ... Yet not I but the grace of God which was with me 1 Cor. 15.10 LONDON Printed for George Grafton in Middle-Temple-lane in Fleet-street MDCXCVI THE PREFACE THE Church of God is in Scripture under the name of his Love compared to (a) Cant. 2.2 the Lilie among Thorns which not only make her uneasie but also do often strike deep wounds into her sides The two head Thorns which from the beginning prickt her sometimes to the very bowels and will do so to the worlds end are Tiranny whence ariseth Persecutions and Heresie the cause of great Disorders and Confusion this is the worst of the two for tho' the other destroyeth several of the members yet it purges the dross and makes the blood of Martyrs the Seed of the Church But this reacheth the very vitals lays her in a languishing and fainting condition (b) Gal. 5 20. Tiranny is a foraign Enemy for tho sometimes persecutions were raised by some that had been members yet they were fallen off and had declared open war against it But Heresie rockoned among the works of the flesh is a Domestick Enemy living within her pales yet so unnatural a child to the Mother as to divide rent and tear her The Holy Ghost forewarned us that such things should happen to the end we should not be surprized when they do Our Blessed Saviour fore-told his Disciples that there shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and to make the Prophecy the more to be taken notice of he addeth in the next verse (c) Matth. 24.24 25. behold I have told you before After him St. Paul shews a necessity for it and gives the reason for (d) 1 Cor. 11.19 there must be also heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you And elsewhere he saith not of himself but (e) 1 Tim. 4.1 the spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter days some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils St. John gives the like warning how (f) 1 Joh. 4.1 many false prophets are gone out into the world There be false Prophets that are to come in among the flock in Sheeps cloathing (g) Matth 7.15 to do the more mischief but inwardly they are ravening Wolves Wherefore 't is a truth beyond all dispute that Men teaching false Doctrines are to arise out of the bosom of the Church for as Christ's love is compared to the Lilly so are the Daughters compared to Thorns It would be tedious and superfluous to name those Plants which our heavenly Father having not planted have been or ought to be rooted out and those Tares which the enemy the Devil hath sowed in the Field only out of the vast number of those that have been notorious we shall mention two Heresiarcks Authors of abominable Doctrines one against the Person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the other against his Grace The first Arrius who afterwards was followed by Photinus and others and of late years by Socinus denied and opposed the Deity of Christ and in number prevailed to astonishment for though that pestilent Heresie had in the days of Constantine the Great been condemned at the first Nicene Council yet afterwards being maintained and upheld by some Emperors in some other Councils as Sirmiense and Seleucense especially in that numerous meeting of Bishops at Rimini that abominable Heresie was approved of and confirmed The other infamous and notorious Heresiarch which opposed the Grace of Christ to set up Nature and Free-will was Pelagius who afterwards was followed by the Semipelagians Papists and of late by Arminians and now unhappily at this time the Church is troubled and pester'd with both Arminianism and Socinianism and to explode this last the true way is to begin with the first which also once was here and is still a Shooing-horn to draw on Popery Yet herein we ought to admire at and adore the most wise Providence of God who thereby not only tryed his Church but also out of those Heresies brought forth this great Good that several truths which before were not so well nor so publickly known and in the dark have been brought to a greater and a more universal light for ever God raised some eminent Instruments to maintain the Truth Thus Athanasius was raised against Arianism and endued with such courage and other necessary qualifications that tho' Error seemed to triumph in number of Men yet he stood fast for the Truth hence it was said of him Athanasius against the whole World and the whole World against Athanasius If there had never been a Pelagius or some such a Man very likely we would never have had those excellent Writings of Austin which so well enlarged upon and cleared Matters of Grace so that after St. Paul the great Apostle for free Grace no Man hath upon those points written better than Austin Thus those Rocks which once others made Shipwrack upon are to us become Buoys and Warnings It hath been and still is God's Method from time to time to exerciâ—â— the Faith of his Church upon several and different Matters by means of heterodox and unsound Men so that though Truth in it self be always Truth yet some may well be called Truths of the Times because sometimes they were not at all spoken for or against and at one time they were opposed more than at another especially at that very time when old Errors were revived or new ones invented for afterwards new things being brought upon the Stage old questions did wear off and People minded new ones yet with this good effect That after all oppositions Truth appeared the more glorious like the Sun after it hath dispersed the Clouds that stood between it and our aspect Thus after the Roman blast had for a long time almost withered the face of the Church and the Frosts and Snows of the Alpes almost starved it in appearance yet when once more the light of the Gospel began to shine the World was made sensible how all fires of Persecution could not consume the Truths of God nor all the Waters of Affliction drown them that Church which seemed to have been buried under the violence and cruelties of Antichrist and wholly overlaid with all his Errors in Doctrine with Superstition and Idolatry in Worship yet when God's time for (a) Heb. 9.10 Reformation was come though that light of the Truth appear'd but dim
Psal 110.3 for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure And how so (i) Phil. 2.13 2 Pet. 1.3 His divine power gives unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge here he works upon the Intellect of him that hath called us to glory and vertue If he gives all things then nothing is wanting if so how can it fail of a success Doth not St. Paul as plainly as can be assert this (a) Rom. 9.19 who hath resisted his will Surely this concludeth negatively and ab impossibili As if he had said t is not possible for any Man to resist his Will What then his Power no for 't is (b) Ephes 1.19 17 18. a might power a power of exceeding greatness And he saith in the two foregoing verses that God gives the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him and as we said before enlightneth the eyes of our understanding c. Now that power of God working in us is no less effectual and mighty than it was Verse 20 when it raised Christ from the dead Which is confirmed when the Apostle saith in another place As we were buried with Christ in baptism so also we are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God Doth not our Saviour himself say that (c) John 6 3â— all the father giveth him by the decree of Election for in him they are elected shall come to him Vers 45 And that every man that hath heard and learned of the father cometh to him And shall Men attempt to break that link of Salvation (d) Rom. 8.30 Whom he did predestinate them he also called Whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified If God be willing the thing is done Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean the answer and effect is I will be thou clean The will of Man not only doth ever obey effectual calling but it must do so for the effectualness of God's calling consists in the removing of all stubbornness and perverseness that is in the will and giving a new heart soft and pliable to the call (e) Luk. 5.12 13. A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take away the stony heart and give you a heart of flesh And ye shall be clean c. And who shall hinder him (f) Ezech. 36.26.1.25 (g) Prov. 21.1 Are not the hearts of men in the hand of God be turneth them whithersoever he will But how doth the Lord make that great change in the heart In the same chapter of Ezechiel and the next verse it is thus exprest I will it is my pleasure and it shall be so put my spirit within you Ezech. 36.27 and cause you to walk in mystatutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them If God speaks truth we shall do all these when he will have it to be so and nothing shall hinder it The Creature cannot hinder its own Creation nor the Dead his own Resurrection nor the Child his own Generation nor Darkness its own Illumination nor White-paper writing on it self Most of these Comparisons are taken out of Scripture to represent the act of the spirit converting a Soul Moreover if the evil Man could overcome the effectual working of the spirit of God then could the decree of our Election be made altogether uncertain and often void and null so God could be disappointed of his ends which how injurious it is to God's Wisdom and Power let every one judge But (a) Isai 14.24 surely as God hath thought so shall it come to pass and as he purposed so shall it stand So many other Texts we have to this purpose some of which I already made use of in the very beginning If I would make use of Man's authority in this matter how many places out of Austin and others could I quote to this purpose This only I shall be content with (b) Depredest sanct cap. 8. Essicacious grace cannot be rejected by any hard heart because God softneth the heart and no will of any man resists God's when he hath a mind to save The rest I omit for the matter is very clear However let us hear what they can say for themselves Arminians as well as papists are of a contrary opinion they assert Conversion to depend so much upon Man's free-will that there shall be no efficacy of Grace no effect of God's Mind to Convert all things used towards it shall be in vain if Man doth not answer God's end and therein he hath his Free will so far as not to answer if he hath not a mind and wholly disappoint God's design to convert him thus converting grace may be resisted and in vain God will attempt if Man be not willing to it which is to make God depend upon Man and not Man upon God In effect they own no other converting grace but a moral persuasion whereby out of God's words unregenerate Men are preprevailed upon to believe to repent hope just as one Man bringeth arguments to persuade another thus Conversion is not wrought in Man but by Man which is meer Pelagianism This they endeavour to prove out of Scripture and bring examples of some whom God would have Converted towards whose Conversion he made use of means yet to no purpose because those people would not be Converted The first Is from the Gospel (a) Matth. 23 37. Jerusalem c. How often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye would not The Second is this (b) Acts 7.51 Ye do always resist the holy ghost And another is (c) Isai 65.2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people which walketh in a way that was not good To this I answer there always hath been some who obeyed not the outward Call and Precept of God but God never intended the Conversion of such because he did not bestow upon them true Converting Grace which consisteth in the working of the Holy Ghost upon their hearts As to the place about Jerusalem Christ would have gathered them with the will of precept that is he commanded them to come and be gathered to him to shew them their Duty But Christ would never gather them with the will of the Decree whereby he is willing to Convert the Elect who are the only Men actually to be coverted As to the Second Text those Men are said to resist the Holy Ghost who refuse to obey what he doth command and these Precepts are directed either to Reprobates or to the Elect to the former Converting Grace is never given so they are never Converted but ever continue disobedient As for the Elect though sometimes they reject the outward vocation yet at last by the inward calling they are all converted
the world And (g) John 3.16.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should have everlasting life And this (*) 1 John 2.2 He is a propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world Again God sent his son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved And some others to the same purpose whereof these are the chief whence they would conclude that the Lord Jesus died to take away the sins of every man in the world In answer to this we are first of all to observe that the word world and whole world have several significations in Scripture which I reduce chiefly to four First it is taken for the whole work of Creation (a) Heb 1.2 By his Son also God made the worlds in the plural so (b) John 1.10 the world was made by him Jesus Christ Heavens Earth and the Sea are meant by this Secondly It signifieth all men whether good or bad in this sence 't is taken by David (c) Psal 33.8 Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him of God in the beginning of the verse 't is called the earth as it is also in another place (d) Psal 96.13 The Lord cometh to judge the earth he shall judge the world with righteousness and in the Gospel 't is so taken (e) Matth. 13. the field is the world the good seed are the Children of the Kingdom but the Tares are the Children of the Wicked one So in several other places but these two significations are not very much to our purpose Thirdly 'T is taken restrictively and only for the reprobates and wicked of the world As thus (f) Luke 16.8 The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light where you see the opposition between bad and good so in that place (g) John 1.10 and the world knew him not Jesus Christ we are to take notice that commonly when the word world signifieth the wicked the particle this is joyned to it as in the fore quoted Text and in the following (h) Rom. 12.2 be not conformed to this world (i) 1 Cor. 1.20 Chap. 2.6 Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world and in the next Chapter We speak not the wisdom of this world nor of the Princes of this world And therefore the world is opposed to God (k) â—am 4.4 Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God c. And the Apostle saith the spirit (l) 1 John 4.3 4 5. Chap. 5.19 of Antichrist is in the world And again They are of the world therefore speak they of the world and the world heareth them And in the next Chapter he addeth the whole world lieth in wickedness Take notice it is called the whole world yet only of reprobates for to lie in wickedness is not by Scripture attributed to the Elect so when the word whole is used to represent the world of Believers it is to be restrained to them as here it is to the wicked But fourthly The word world in Scripture signieth only Believers and is more strictly taken either for the whole universal number of the Elect and Believers in all Ages dispersed all the world over divided into Jews and Gentiles Or for a particular company of them in some particular Ages or Places of the world and in this sence only it is used in all the objected Texts of Scriptures Thus the word world is sometimes used in the same sence as 't is taken in that place quoted before (a) 2. Cor. 7.19 God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not imputing their trespasses unto them Surely none but Elect and Believers are reconciled to God and to them alone their sins are not imputed In the same sence 't is also taken when Abraham is called (b) â—om 4.13 the heir of the world And the following too in St. John's Gospel Christ faith he is (c) cha 9.5 Chap. 14.31 the light of the world not the world of wicked which lay in darkness But of the Elect and the world may know that I love the father they only they (d) John 17.7 8 23. have known that whatsoever the father had given Christ was of the father and they have known surely that the son came out from the father 'T is that same world that knows that thou hast sent me in that same sence also 't is taken by St. Paul (e) Rom. 11.12 15. The fall of them Jews is the riches of the world and the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world And in his Epistle to the Colossians 'tis very full (f) Colo. 1.5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven is come unto you as it is in all the world The word all is in too Neither can the same expression be understood in any other way than this in that other place (g) 1 Tim. 3.16 Great is the mystery of godliness God was manifested in the flesh c. believed on in the world It must be then the world of Believers for it cannot be believed in the world of Unbelievers So then in Scripture the word world is taken for the whole world the greatest part the worst part or the best part of the world Now after this it is easie to answer their Objections out of the fore-quoted Texts of Scripture for in them by all are not understood all and every singular man whether Elect or Reprobate but only the Elect dispersed all the world over who at last receive the gift of Faith and through the application of Christ's satisfaction are saved And I hope this is made clear enough to any who impartially desireth to be informed of the truth However because they lay a great stress upon that place of 1 John 2.2 I shall now say in particular something to 't we already have taken notice how there is a world of Believers taken out of the general world who by these means is divided into the world of Believers and of Reprobates hence it is that our Saviour saith (a) John 15.19 I have chosen you out of the world And this number of chosen men though comparatively small as to the wicked world yet it is great enough to deserve the name of world which is a Scripture phrase restrictive as we read it in the Gospel (b) Luke 2.1 There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed Not every part and corner of the world for many either never heard of or had any thing to do with the Roman Empire and the Pharisees said of our Saviour Behold the world is gone after him 'T was but a very small part of the Jewish world Thus in this place of St. John is to be
and without disturbance taught the truth of all those Doctrines The truth was then in possession of the Pulpits of Divinity Schools and of Presses but what when this Man appeared the most Famous and Learned Protestant Divines at home and abroad opposed him and did write against him If any one hath a mind to know the shifts and tricks of that Party to strengthen themselves and undermine their opposers and to prevent the calling of a General Synod which was sued for as the best way effectually to maintain truth and oppose falsehood let him read the Acts of the Synod of Dort with the Preface to it where they had all the fair play that might reasonably be wished for But because about these matters in the eighth Century disputes did break out again as it appeared in the case of Gottescalk wherein Hinemarus of Rheims and Remigius Archbishop of Lyons with the Churches of his Diocese were highly engaged these last for and the other against Gottescalk which if any one desireth to be well informed of let him read the Honest and Excellent account of it given by that worthy and Eminent Prinate of Ireland James Vsher which I quoted before A thing much to be taken notice of in all these disputes and which is the chief Subject of this Chapter is this that Arminius and his Followers do hold the opinions of Pelagians and Semipelagians and that Calvin whom they make the head against their opinions and we hold the same with Austin Hilarius Prosper Fulgentius and other Orthodox Doctors of the Primitive Church we hitherto have sufficiently declared ours what remaineth is for me to shew what those Fathers of the Church did hold about these points but that shall be briefly because the trouble of proving it hath been saved me by others who make good out of the writings of those ancient Fathers the things now in question First As to Predestination (a) Justin Martyr dialog cum Triph. Sect. 2. God elected us and was made manifest to them that sought him not And do you think O man that we could ever have understood these things in the Scripture except we had received grace by the will of God of which grace ye Jews being destitute have understood none of them Another saith (b) Cyprian de Mort. num 2. there is no need of Money Industry and Man's Hand but it is the free and ready gift of God as freely as the Sun shineth the Fountain watereth the shower moisteneth so doth the heavenly spirit power it self into us The great asserter of Christ's Divinity speaks thus (a) Athanas cont Aâ—â—â—â—n 4. Pag. 175. The Apostle James hath taught of his own will begat he us with the word of truth Therefore of all the regenerate yea and of all that by creation were generated it is the will of God by the word of God that doth create and regenerate whatsoever pleaseth him Let us hear what saith another (b) Ambros in Psal 118. Serm. 10. Perseverance is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth for it is not in the power of man but in God that sheweth mercy that thou shouldest be able to accomplish that which thou hast began Another saith (c) Hieron ad Ruff. lib. 1. Paul and those that are like him are not elected because they were holy and unspotted but they are elected and predestinated that afterwards in their lives in good works and vertues they may be unspotted and holy These Doctors attribute it to grace to the free gift of God to his own will and pleasure perseverance is not in the will or power of man but in Gods mercy neither were we elected for our Faith or Holiness but to be unspotted and holy all this is the sense of the fore-quoted Doctors which agreeth with what we said But because in Austin's days chiefly that Heresie sprung up and that he was the man who most laid it to heart and made it his main business to oppose it he hath written against it more clearly and most to the full of any Out of so many Treatises he hath written about it which are so well known we shall quote only one or two places (d) August de praedest grat cap. 13. Out of those to whom the severity of Justice adjudgeth punishment according to the unexpressible mercy of his secret dispensation he chose out vessels which he might fit unto honour both delivering some from wrath to come and leaving others to the sentence of Justice Enchirid. ad Laurent cap. 99. And in another place he hath mercy with goodness he hardeneth without injustice so that he that is freed may not boast of his merits neither he that is damned may complain of any thing but his merits for grace alone maketh a difference between the redeemed and the lost whom one common cause derived from the root had united together in one lump of destruction With this concurred another when he saith (e) Prosper ad except genu resp ad dub 9. Austin by a godly and constant doctrine hath abundantly proved that predestination was to be preached to the Church in which it is the preparation of grace and grace is to be preached in which is the effect of predestination and the fore-knowledge of God wherein he fore-knoweth before all ages on whom he would bestow his gifts Which preaching whosoever is against he is a most open defender of Pelagian Pride And in another place he saith from himself No Catholick doth deny the predestination of God The faith of predestination is established by many authorities of holy Scriptures yet unto it Ad capit Gall. cap. 1. it is not lawful to attribute any of the sins of men who came to their inclination to sin not by God's Creation but by their first Fathers transgression from the punishment whereof no man is free but only by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ prepared and predestinated in the eternal counsel of God before the foundation of the world An excellent testimony about all these Doctrines by Austin asserted is given by Hormisda a Bishop of Rome to a Bishop of Africa who desired his advise about the Books of Faustus the Semipelagian in these words (a) Epist ad Possessor They know how not only the Roman and African Church and all the Sons of promise through all parts of the world do agree with this man's Austin Doctrine as in the whole Faith so in the confession of Grace But let us come to another (b) Fulgent de incar grat in fine God who made man by his predestination fore-appointed to whom he would give the gift of illumination to believe and the gift of perseverance to profit and persevere and the gift of glorification to reign who no otherwise performed indeed then he hath ordained in his unchangeable will The truth of which predestination by which the Apostle witnesseth that we are predestinated in Christ before the foundation
grat cap. 6. Anselm in Rom. 8. Bradward causa dei lib. 1. cap. 40. Margin Now we must come to the third thing The perseverance of Saints and certainty of Salvation wherein we do agree with the Doctors of the Primitive Church That (e) Trenae lib. 5. cap. 9. 10. 11. the Temple of God which is inhabited by the Spirit of the Father and that the members of Christ should not be partakers of Salvation how is it not a most great blasphemy c. (a) Cyprian de mâ—râ— lit de â—rat domin nam 6. It is written saith Cyprian the just shall live by faith if thou art just and livest by faith if thou truly believest in God why since thou art to live with Christ and art sure of the Lords promise Doest thou not rejoice that thou art called by death unto Christ And elsewhere He that hath believed in his name and is made the Son of God from that time must begin both to give thanks and to profess himself the Son of God Another saith He (b) Clemenâ— Alex. paedag lib. 1. cap. 6. that believeth in the Son hath eternal life if then we who have believed have eternal life what remaineth beyond the possession of life eternal Again He saith thou art no more a Servant but a Son if a Son then also an Heir thorough God what then wanteth to a Son when he is an Heir This certainty of Salvation worketh an assurance and comfort which makes one say (c) Hilar. de trin lib. 1. The soul knowing her own safety resteth in quietness rejoycing in her hopes so much not fearing death that she accounts it as the way to eternal life Let us hear what saith another upon the matter (d) Ambr. in 2 Cor. 1. Serm. 15. He hath sealed us by giving his spirit to us for an earnest that we may not doubt of his promises for if when we were in the state of death he gave us his spirit it is not to be doubted but that to us being made immortal he will add glory And in another place He saith well I am confident for confidence is the strength of our hope and an authority of hoping Therefore hope still and no man can make thee ashamed of thy expectation Our expectation is life eternal As for Austin he hath written at large upon this Subject in his Book De Perseverantiâ Sanctorum De Correptione Gratia But here we shall only quote few words (e) August in Psal 122. 123. For we are saved by hope but because our hope is certain it is so spoken of us as if it were already done Hereunto we do joyn what another saith (f) Bernard Epist. 107. O man thou hast the justifying spirit for a teacher of this secret and in the same witnessing to thy spirit that thou also art the Son of God Take notice of the counsel of God in thy justification for the present justification of thee is both a revelation of God's counsel and a certain preparation unto future glory The Doctor called profound having argued and proved perseverance to be a free gift of God concludes thus For these and the like motives it seems more probable to me and more to agree with reason and Catholick Doctrines that perseverance is not given to merits but is freely given of God according to his free grace free-predestination and free-purpose as the first working grace that justifieth a sinner Lastly to make an end of this one having spoken of the Elect and Believer saith (a) Ferus in 1. Joan. 5. Satan cannot touch him He may indeed dare to tempt the godly so likewise he durst to tempt Christ Yea sometimes he drives just men unto a fall as we see in David and Peter But finally as in Christ he could have nothing so neither can he prevail over the Saints for none can take Christ's sheep out of his hands wherefore going to his passion he recommended all that believed in him unto his Father The words of others I omit to quote only their (b) Basilus de Spiritu Sancto cap. 15. Prosper in Psal 114. Cyrill Alex. Comment in Isa lib. 3. in Joan. lib. 9. cap. 44. Gregor in Job lib. 11. cap. 20. lib. 16. cap. 2. Aâ—selm in Rom. 8. Names and places I set down in the Margin I think I have done enough in this kind to prove that in the matters of grace we have the Doctors of the Primitive Church with us and others in some of the late Ages and consequently Calvin is not the Author of such Doctrines and that we brought no Innovation into the Church which aspersion we may justly retort upon our Adversaries And to shew the more that conformity we have with the antient Catholick Church I must say in short how the very same aspersions by Arminians cast upon us were by Pelagius and his followers laid to the charge of St. Austin and they are these First That they take away free-will and bring in a Stoical fatality Secondly That the make God the author of sin Thirdly They open a gap to despair and slothfulness Fourthly They take away all use of Precepts Promises Threatnings yea and Prayer it self Fifthly That they make God an Impostor seeing he commands men to repent and believe yet doth not seriously will their repentance and faith nor their Salvation unto which only faith and repentance can entitle them Sixthly That their whole opinions are against the stream of Antiquity These were falsely fathered upon the Doctrine of Austin and other Orthodox Doctors of the Church as easily I now can and upon occasion shall ever be ready to prove out of their own writtings but this I now omit not to fill up so much Paper with Quotations neither thinking it so material to know what those Father 's believed as what the word of God which we have not been wanting to make use of doth declare upon the matter Nay to go up higher I have shewed how it was against St. Paul's Doctrine objected Rom. 9. and the Objections by him answered of making God unjust and men excusable out of the necessity of God's Decree and as these were falsly fathered upon St. Paul's afterwards on Austin's Doctrine So with the very same the truths we teach are aspersed by our Adversaries who are men of the same Principles as the others were Indeed 't is very sad that whilst a considerable Body of Papists followers of Jansenius Bishop of Ypres joyned with us in defence of those matters of grace a Party of our own should make a desertion and joyn with Papists against us And some of them with as much gall in the Heart and bitterness against us in Tongues and Pens as if we were the greatest Unbelievers and Miscreants in the World and all this for no other cause than our asserting of the truths plainly and fully contained in God's Word CHAP. XIV Of the absurd and dangerous consequences necessarily