Death those Infants and Sucklings no more than to take away by Death many thousands which daily die through the World for Death reigns over all and when Infants are taken away either by a Natural Death or in any cruel manner 't is for Sin even that of Adam's yea many times their own Parents Sin hastens the Death of the Child and in Temporals very often the Children suffer for the Father's fault not only in the good things of this Life but also Death it self as in the Old World and in the overthrow of Sodom and are slain with the Sword as in this Case and likewise in those common Calamities which have befallen Nations and Cities But what will any one dare to say that such Infants and Sucklings are damned Who can forbear trembling at such a dreadful conceit And surely you that hold than Infants have sin enough from Adam to damn them to Hell had need bring good Scripture-proof for such a dreadful Doctrine But I need say no more to this than to refer you to what Mr. Grantham hath writ upon this Subject in his Answer to Mr. Petto and Mr. Firmin in his Presumption no Proof and his Infants Advocate First and Second Parts where if you be not wedded to your Opinion or blinded with Prejudice you will see that though all are guilty of Adam's Sin Rom. 5. 14. yet Infants by the presentment of the Satisfaction of Christ are and shall be sav'd for the free Gift cometh upon all Rom 5. 18. Mar. Come leave this Philetus you may easily perceive that Philadelphus owns that rotten and corrupt Opinion of universal Redemption a grand piece of Popery Philet Yea I see he 's an Arminian and I doubt a Free-willer too which is an old Pelagian Heresy and hath been condemned for an Error long since by the best and most knowing Christians Philad This is but the Devil's subtilty and delusion to hood-wink Peoples Eyes and to draw on a Vizor upon the lovely Face of true Religion to make it extremely deformed that so People may start at the naming of it Mod. Come pray let us have no Heats Philad There shall be none for me yet methinks they deal in our Day and Time by those that own the Truths of the Lord much like the barbarous Pagans did by the Christians under the persecuting Emperors who that they might have some Pretence to put them to death loaded them with odious Names and Imputations as if all the Troubles that were in the World happened for their Sakes As may be seen in Tertullian's Apology for the Christians Or as they did when they put them to death in their publick Theater they put upon them the Skin of some Savage Beast or put them into the shape of Monsters such as the nature of Man has the most Antipathy against that they might be the more excited to destroy them and the more expos'd to the fury of the Dogs Even so the noise of Arminians Pelagians Popery Free-willers and I know not what sounds so terrible to the Ears of some that they neither will nor dare examine either the Writings or Opinions of those that differ from them by the Word of God Mod. Neither will nor dare for what reason Philad Why only their Teachers whom they admire have drawn them into a dislike of the Truth of God by putting the Name of Ignominy and Reproach upon them What tho the Papists hold universal Redemption and are so unhappy to hold this part of Truth in unrighteousness Doth it therefore cease to be a Truth Or must I be ashamed or afraid to own it because held for a Truth by them May I not as well renounce the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament yea God and Christ too lest I should be accounted a Papist The Devil held that Christ was the Holy One of God and may not I do so too It will not excuse any in the Rejection of any Truth to say the Papists hold it Tho it was told Paul Acts 28. 22. That this Sect was every-where spoken against yet it did not turn him out of the way or make him out of love with the Truths of God neither ought it to do any and tho you may call this Truth Popery Arminianism c. yet was it owned for a Truth before Popery or James Arminius was heard of or had any being in the World and is indeed the ground of all Saving-Truth and Soul-establishing Comfort since the Foundation of the World and the contrary to it will be found to appear rotten and unsound having no firm footing in the Word of God let it be varnish'd over with never such dresses of Words or pretence of Zeal thereby to make the Face of it shine in the Eyes of others And I must tell you I look upon it to be a piece of daring Pride in any that shall confidently attempt to set bounds and limits to God's infinite Wisdom and Goodness acted towards all Men in the death of his Son Philet Well I am one of those that hold that God looking upon Man in the Fall did set his Love upon some of the fallen Race chusing some to eternal Life and Salvation for which he gave his Son to die for them and rejected others and never afforded them an Object to believe in nor power to believe but hath left them to perish Philad Pray prove what you affirm if you can Philet That God chuseth some to Life and leaveth others in the Fall of his meer Will and Pleasure I prove it by the Instance of Jacob and Esau Rom. 9. 13. As it is written Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated And this was done before they were born the one elected to eternal Life and the other reprobated to eternal Death and this at the meer Will and Pleasure of God Philad I know it is concluded from this Text that Esau in Person was damned but this is but Mens Rashness and Presumption there is not the least Syllable in all the word of God that I know of for Persons to ground such a Belief or from whence to draw such a dreadful Conclusion that Esau should be damned eternally Love and Hatred in this Text may be with respect to Temporal Blessings and so Esau may be said to be hated and Jacob loved because to Jacob was given the fruitful Land of Canaan and to Esau was given the barren Country of Mount Seir Or Love and Hatred may be with respect to Christ the promised Seed and so Jacob was separated or sanctified to be the Fore-father of Christ according to the Flesh and Esau with respect to that rejected and so was but a common or profane Person Now this was one end of Circumcision to distinguish the Family of whom Christ should be born and to keep that People of whom the Messiah was to come unmixt from the idolatrous Nations Now Esau very justly lost that Blessing for selling his Birth-Right at so base a Price for
they never did in their own persons especially when satisfied for it by their Surety And as Dr. Taylor saith in his Apology for the Baptists speaking of Infants dying before baptized and under the supposed guilt of Adam's sin tells us That original sin either will not be laid to their charge so as to be sufficient to condemn them or if it could yet the Mercy and absolute Goodness of God will secure them if he takes them away before they can glorifie him by a free obedience As Infants without any consent of their own contracted the guilt of Adam's sin and are liable to all the punisament that can with Justice descend upon his Posterity who are personally innocent so Infants shall be restored without any Act of their own or any others for them by the second Adam by the Redemption of Jesus Christ by his Righteousness and Mercy Mod. I have a good Opinion of all dying Infants especially Children of Believing Parents Philad And is there not as good ground of hopes for all as some Doth not Mr. Baxter a Friend of yours tell us in his More Proofs pag. 8. That all Mankind was brought by Christ under a Covenant of Grace which is not vain nor repealed by God but as the abuse of the Grace of the Covenant may cast them out for as a Covenant of intire Nature was made with all Mankind in innocent Adam so a Covenant of Grace was made with all Mankind in lapsed Adam Gen. 3. 15. in the Promised Seed and renewed again with all Mankind in Noah And this is no more than what the Scripture agrees with Ezek. 18. where the Lord expresly tells them That he that sinneth shall die that the Son shall not bear the iniquity of the Father and God's dealing thus in Mercy with fallen Mankind is so agreeable to the pure Nature of the Deity that it is to be wondred that any should be so wicked as to believe that he hath fore-determin'd the Reprobation of any for anothers faults and when they themselves were uncapable of doing good or evil in their own persons Philet What will you go about to deny Original sin Shall none go to Hell For that David saith Ps 51. That he was born in iniquity and in sin did his Mother conceive him Philad Deny Original sin no but I do believe that all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God and that by reason of Adam's sin Death reigneth over all of which none is free being all concluded in unbelief and corrupted in the original Adam when he was first created was said to be made in the Image of God which Image did not only stand in having Dominion over the Creatures as some of the Ancients have expounded it neither as if the Soul was of the substance of God but the Image of God in which Adam was created was in Knowledg Righteousness and Holiness Col. 3. 10. Eph. 4. 14. indued with all Perfection which was requisite for a Creature and sufficiently furnished with necessary Wisdom Mercy Justice Patience Bounty Love Humility and such like that so they might in some measure hold forth the Divine Perfection and Majesty of God and know how to use aright their Dominion and Sovereignty over all the inferior Creatures and also might understand the Will of God towards themselves that so they might render that Obedience which was due unto God as their supreme Lord and Law-giver whereby they might have been forever happy and blessed But now Man being tempted to sin soon yielded to the temptation lost the Perfection of his Nature his Holiness and pure Innocence which was the condition of his Blessedness in dissolving of which he lost his Happiness and was driven out from the presence of the Lord being now fallen from a most glorious condition in Creation unto the miserable state of Corruption in which State of Corruption it is said Gen. 5. 3. That Adam begot a Child in his own lineness it doth not say that he begat a Son in the Image of God in which he was created but in the Image of himself that is in the same condition of himself at that time of Generation Had Adam begotten Children before he fell he had begotten a Righteous Seed after the Image of his Perfection because the Image of God in him was unpolluted but begetting Children after the Depravation of his Nature the Stream could not rise purer than the Fountain none could bring a clean thing out of an unclean one And though all with respect of what was derived unto them from Adam are wholly lost and in the strictness of Justice worthy of eternal Death yet the guilt of it as to eternal Death is taken away by the abounding Grace of God vouchsafed to the World by Jesus Christ which extends it self to all that were lost in Adam Philet You seem to hold that Adam's sin became ours and we all involved in the Fall because we were all in his Loins as he was the Root and common Stock from which we all by the appointment of the Lord should come yet you will not hold that any deserves Hell and Damnation for that sin Philad You cannot prove that that Death which was threatened to Adam if he disobeyed the Lord was Damnation to Hell-fire neither if the Promise of Christ had not been made whether Adam had lived to beget Children or not or whether he had not immediately gone to the dust from whence he was taken 'T is no better than sinful curiosity to be too confident in such unrevealed matters 't is the safest way to be sober and to go no farther than the Scriptures guide us and where the Holy Ghost hath not a Pen to write let us not have a Tongue to speak God hath revealed enough to make us wise to Salvation Yet this I say that whatsoever State Adam was in there was all Mankind with him there was a time if Eternity may be called so when all Men considered as in God were nothing but God himself according to that Maxim Whatsoever is in God is God All Men had a being in God before they had a being in Adam Luk. 3. 38. where Adam is called the Son of God 2dly There was a time when Adam and so all Men in him was righteous and holy as during his State of pure Innocency In which State all Men must needs partake of the same Holiness and Integrity with him Eccl. 7. 3. Rom. 5. 12. 1 Cor. 15. 22. 3dly There was a time when Adam with Eve his Wife being beguiled by Satan free from all inward or outward Necessity sinned against God by which Transgression they became liable to Eternal Death and so his Judgment Will and Affection came to be corrupted in which State all Mankind stood and so Original Sin is come upon all and Death by Sin yea upon those that have not sinned after the Similitude of Adam's Transgression 4thly There was a time when God who is rich in Mercy
Death he declares who he was to die for not for all Adam's Posterity but those whom the Father had given him to be his mystical Body and for those I pray as ver 9. I pray for them I pray not for the World As if Christ had said I am so far from dying for all Adam's Posterity that I will not so much as pray as Mediator for any but those thou hast given me Philad Could it be proved that Christ did not pray for all yet it doth not follow that he did not die for all because no Scripture saith Christ did not die for those he did not pray for Scripture Redemption freed from Restraints p. 75. And Dr. Homes in many things a Friend of yours yet upon John 3. 37. p. 15. says When Men urge that Argument out of John 17. 9. Christ prayed not for the World therefore he paid not for the World The Consequence may be excepted upon many good Reasons for tho Christ did not pray for the World yet he might pay for the World 1st Paying is giving Satisfaction praying solicites God's Mercy 2dly Paying containeth a Preparation of the Plaster necessary for Man's Salvation Praying is the means of applying the Remedy to the Malady 3dly Paying Satisfaction belongs to the common Nature of Man which Christ assumeth Praying is a special Privilege vouchsafed to such Persons only as the Father hath given to his Son Thus you see one of your Favourites against you in this Case But what if Christ did not pray for the World in this 9th Verse doth it therefore follow that he did not pray for the World at all Christ being now just taking his leave of the World and about to be taken from his faithful and true Followers and to leave them as Sheep amongst Wolves doth therefore most earnestly recommend them to his Father and from Verse the 6th to the 19th makes mention of his Disciples only and then in verse 20 and 21. prays for all those that should believe on him through their Words and in ver 21 and 23. prays for the World that they might have a belief and knowledg of him Philet Ay but what Belief and Knowledge Philad Why doubtless saving Knowledg such a Faith and Knowledg as was accompanied with Salvation Philet But surely if Christ had prayed for the World that the World might have savingly believed in him and known him then the World would have believed on him and known him because whatsoever Christ prayed for to the Father shall certainly be granted Christ was always heard of the Father and the Father's Mind and Will was eternally known to the Son and he came into the World to do the Father 's Will. Now Christ knowing that there was a World which the Father never intended to redeem to give him to die for it would have been vain yea inconsistent with the Wisdom of Christ to have prayed for that which stood diametrically opposite to the Will and Intention of the Father Philad Christ made Intercession for Transgressors Isa 53. 12. and prayed for his Enemies for those that crucified him that they might be forgiven Luke 23. 34. and also commanded us to pray for our Enemies for those that persecute us Matt. 5. 44. and for the World Christ prayed for as I have proved but it seems by what you say that Christ did not pray for the World with his whole Heart or with a desire to obtain what he prayed for Now whereas you say that whatsoever Christ prayed for shall certainly be done and that he was always heard this I believe it was and shall be according to what he intended yet when Christ prayed that the Cup might pass by him tho he prayed very earnestly he was not heard because this Prayer was conditional and with Submission to his Father's Will and so Heb. 5. 7. saith of Christ who in the Days of his Flesh c. How was Christ heard in this was he exempted from Suffering no his Prayer was conditional if the Lord will but he was so heard as to get support under his Sufferings But if whatsoever Christ prayed for was absolutely granted without any Qualification to fit the Creature for Mercy then those Jews and Gentiles that crucified him must be forgiven without Faith or Repentance because Christ prayed that they might be forgiven This would be inconsistent with the Wisdom of Christ to pray for that which stood diametrically opposite to the revealed Will of his Father For where do you find the Lord hath promised that any shall be forgiven their Sins whether they repent or not you your selves grant notwithstanding this Prayer of Christ that the Wrath of God burned at the same instant of time and afterwards against some of the Accusers Condemners Crucifiers and Mockers of Christ Synod of Dort Part 2. p. 82 83. Goodwin p. 565. Again Christ prayed in this Chapter that all those that believe in him might be one as he and his Father were one yet where do you find that Christ was heard in this that there was no Disunion in Affection between the Saints as there was none between him and his Father And did not he pray the Father to keep his Disciples from Evil can you infer from thence that they never sinned nor suffered Whatsoever Christ prayed for I believe God the Father did grant him an Answer to according to the true intent of his Prayer Philet Well I could give you many Arguments that Christ did not die for the wicked and unbelieving World but for the Elect. Philad We will leave that to the Learned yet give me leave to produce some Scriptures to prove Universal Redemption a Truth and the first sort of Scriptures that speak the Universality of Redemption by Christ are John 3. 16. God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life and so John 6. 51. He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but the sins of the whole World 1 John 2. 2. God was in Christ reconciling the World to himself Here you see from these Scriptures with many more that might be added that Universal Redemption is no rotten nor no unsound Opinion here Christ died for the whole Word Philet Ay for what World for the World of Believers the World of the Elect that shall in the successive Generations of the World believe 't is not to be understood in such a Comprehensive Signification to include all the Men and Women in the World for the World is taken two ways in Scripture largely for all Men and strictly in a restrained Sense for the Elect or Believers Taken in this Sense Christ died for the whole World by the World understanding the Elect dispersed up and down the World Philad But where doth the Scripture speak of a World of Elect Persons but rather the Elect are opposed to the World as 1 John 5. 19. we know c. John 14.
is proper to perswade or invite them to it Mar. Well for all you think these words of mine are such hard sayings yet I do farther affirm that all Men that are not by true Faith grafted into Christ but remain in an unconverted state all their Mercies are cursed to them yea they are cursed in every thing in their Name in their Estate in their Food for if they receive Food they are Usurpers of that which is none of their own if they receive no Food they are self-Murderers yea their Prayers the Word and Sacraments are cursed to them Phil. The Psalmist saith Ps 145. 9. That the Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works Martha God is good to all during the day of our Patience and long-Sufferance and what Mercy he affords to them may be called tender Mercy considering their sinfulness who deserve every moment to be cast into Hell But how the tender Mercy of God can be said to be over those when whatsoever God doth for them in a providential way he doth all with an intent to harden them that so he might bring destruction with the more severity and terror in the end will Men or can they call Health Peace Liberty Food Raiment given with an intent to become a Snare unto them and to bring unavoidable damnation upon them the tender Mercies of God Doth the Lord cause the Sun to rise upon the bad as well as upon the good and send Rain upon the Unjust as well as upon the Just in wrath and with a curse What can infinite Goodness and Perfection be implacable to his Creatures God forbid Ah Martha What would have become of you and I long before this time if God had not sought the good of his Creatures Consider we are all called the Lord's Off-spring Acts 17. All his Children by Creation Mar. What by that What would you prove from thence Phil. What Why then I think that the Lord must needs have a very tender regard to all as they are his Creatures the workmanship of his hands and is not implacable to them in this World Why may not God deal with his Off-spring as we deal by ours Goodman's Parable of the Prodigal Son which of us that have Children tho' they should prove very undutiful to us and we could not love them with the love of delight as we do those that are very dutiful and are good and vertuous yet at the worst we cannot chuse but pity them and heap favours upon them Why thus doth the Lord to the Sons and Daughters of Men though his delight is with them that fear him yet those that are the worst he pities And how can you think otherwise when there is not one Soul but is dearer to him than the whole World Neither did he count the Blood of his own Son too great a price for their Redemption but I doubt you are one of those that hold that God did from all Eternity fore ordain the greatest part of Adam's Off spring to everlasting destruction Mar. What if it was the Pleasure of God to make a thousand Worlds and then destroy them all Is it meet for Man to say unto God Why hast thou made me thus or what dost thou For he might glorify his Justice in the Damnation of all for their Sins who shall question God about this Phil. I say that God is so far from destroying one whole World that he is not willing that so much as one Soul should perish 2 Pet. 3. 9. and indeed who can think that our good and gracious God whose Name and Nature is Love should provide means of Life and Nourishment for Man in his Mother's Womb when he could neither breath nor eat should after he is born not provide as sufficient Means to nourish his Soul and Body to eternal Life I may say in this case as the Apostle in another doth God take care for Oxen hath God such a tender regard for the Bodies of Men and hath he none for the Soul surely he is every way as desirous of the welfare of the Soul as the Body and hath declared by Oath that he takes no pleasure in the Destruction of any Ezek. 33. 11 12. Who then is he that dare charge the God of Love with so much Cruelty as to expose his own Children at least by Creation to be a prey to the Devil What saith our Saviour Luke 11. 11. which of you having Children if they ask Bread will you give them a Stone c. Can we that are evil have Compassion upon our Children and will God harden himself as an Ostrich against his Off-spring Job 39. 16. Doth God condemn Cruelty in others and can we think he will harbour it in himself No the Scripture of Truth doth every where abound in giving Testimony of the Love Goodness and Bountifulness of God to all his Creatures and to Mankind above all other Works of his Hands in this lower World in so much as our blessed Saviour recommends him in his Carriage towards the worst and most unworthy of Men as an absolute Pattern for us to imitate in doing Good and shewing Mercy even to our Enemies Matt. 5. 44 45. Be ye therefore perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect that is be you true Imitators of the Lord Followers of God as dear Children in these works of Mercy and Kindness Now Martha pray you observe this if we should suppose that God hath irreversibly from Eternity doomed to everlasting Destruction and without any respect to their Sin those unjust ones upon whom he causeth the Sun to rise c. it must necessarily follow that while he did these good things to them he intended the greatest Evil that can be inflicted or imagined even the Vengeance of Eternal Fire which if so then must those that imitate him in such ways be the most accursed Hypocrites and Dissemblers under Heaven making shews of Love and Kindness while War and Blood are in their Hearts and so by this a Man may be most unjust unmerciful full of Dissimulation hating most Men without any Cause and yet be most like God O horrid and most unworthy a true Christian Believer Mar. What will you deny God to be omnipotent hath not he an absolute Soveraignty and Lordship over his Creatures with full Power to dispose of them as he pleaseth and you that contend with God about his Soveraignty unless you repent Phil. It cannot be denied but that God hath an absolute Soveraignty and Lordship over his Creatures that is a lawful Power to dispose of them as he pleaseth yet it is a horrible Indignity put upon him and a great Injury done to the Goodness Mercy and fatherly Compassion of our good and gracious God to affirm that he exerciseth this his Power upon the hardest Terms and the most grievous unto his Creatures that is or can be imagined and that which no ways is conducing to his own Honour and Glory nay
believe is an Error presently they are ready to say I cannot see it because God hath purposely blinded my Eyes and am such a one as is cast out of the Love and Favour of God and when this is once settled in their Hearts how can I expect Love from them unless I can believe they can be better to me than they represent God to be to the greatest part of Mankind Mar. I see that which is uppermost will out you still are of the same mind you was you hold fast your Error and will not let it go Philad Truly I am much of Rawlin the Martyr's Mind when the Bishop after he had read Mass ask'd him if he would revoke his Opinion answered my Lord Rawlin you left me and Rawlin you find me and by God's Grace Rawlin I will continue and tho I may seem to you to err yet I have considered every Particular and it seemeth so pleasing an Error if it be one and so comfortable a Doctrine to poor Mankind and doth so much exalt the Justice and Mercy of God that I think I shall never be of a contrary Mind Yea and if for any thing in the World I could suffer the Loss of all that 's dear to me methinks it should be to witness to this great Truth Mar. I know that natural Reason seems to stand on your side but you must know and allow Faith to be above Reason and God may have and questionless hath Ways and Actions which are known only to himself past finding out by Man neither doth he give an Account or Reason of any of his Matters Job 33. 13. You must have a care of searching into God's Decrees they are not to be fathomed by Man's weak and shallow Capacities what Eye looks upon the Sun doth not by that dazle So while Men would by the Eye of Reason see a Cause in God's secret Will they stumble and fall Pray ye what Reason can be given concerning the Mystery of the Trinity or that the second Person should take our Flesh upon him and be conceived of a Virgin or that the same Bodies after dissolved to Dust should be restored to a Spiritual Immortal and Incorruptible State These things are the object of Faith and are above our Reason to comprehend or define yet are we to believe these things to be Truth because revealed to us by God in his Word So tho it be beyond the Reason of Man to define how God whose Ways are all equal and just should from Eternity predestinate the greatest part of Adam's Offspring to Everlasting Misery or freely and unchangeably ordain the coming to pass of every thing in the World and yet he himself neither guilty of Cruelty or the Author of Sin yet we ought to believe it is so when declared to us by the Word of the Lord. Mod. These are great Mysteries which we ought not to pry into Secret things belong unto God but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our Children Deut. 29. 29. Philad This is true but surely Moderatus This wretched Opinion of God's positive Reprobation doth not carry the Nature of Divine Mysteries along with it It is not accompanied with so great Awe and Majesty as that it should be only obeyed and no way disputed For God himself denies it to be any Decree of his Ezek. 3. 11. And as Calvin saith We should not be ashamed to be ignorant of some of the Nature of Divine Predestination Yet as Eusebius saith 'T is an Argument of great Sloth and Idleness not to seek unto that whereof we may justly make inquiry Hockins on God's Decrees Page 126 190. Now I do not pretend to draw the Curtain to look into the wonderful and astonishing Mystery of the Holy and Blessed Trinity or of the Incarnation of the Son of God God manifest in the Flesh 1 Tim. 3. 16. which is so great a Mystery that infirm Man with all the strongest Faculties of his Soul cannot reach unto I also freely grant that whatsoever God hath revealed in his Word must needs be a Truth and meet and worthy to be believed of us all But where do you find that God hath revealed in his Word that he hath appointed the greatest part of the World to Everlasting Misery and tho there may be many things above Reason quite out of the Apprehension of it yet not altogether against Reason How is it contrary to Reason that God the first Being of all things being Infinite should have a manner of subsisting far different from all created and finite Beings Neither is it contrary to Reason that God should be able to make a Virgin to conceive in a way beyond the Course of Nature or ordinary Providence for the accomplishing of so great and glorious a Work as the saving poor lost and undone Mankind Neither ought it to be look'd upon no not in the Eye of Reason as a thing incredible that God should raise the Dead Act. 16. 8. Is it not every way as easy for God to restore a Body dissolved to Dust and give a Perfection and Glory to it as to restore a dry Hand to Life and Activity in the Body or cause Aaron's dry Staff to blossom and bare Almonds Can Man burn a Tree into Ashes and change it into shining Glass And cannot God cause that Dust that was once Flesh to become Flesh again and to restore it to a Spiritual Immortal and Incorruptible State But to let this pass are these Friends of yours to whom you say you have imparted the Substance of our Discourse c. of your Mind Mod. There is some Difference for what I hold you have heard But Philetus looks upon Mankind as lying in the Fall under the Guilt of Adam's Sin so that God looking upon Man as fallen did decree the greatest Number of Men to Eternal Misery for the Declaration of his Justice without affording them a Saviour which is the only Way and Means of their Recovery or without sufficient Grace for the avoiding of Sin Philad Truly I see little difference between you you both place the Sin and Damnation of the greatest part of Mankind upon the alone absolute Will and Pleasure of God you looking upon it from Eternity he as lying in the Fall But surely God never left any Man in that State whereunto Adam brought him but as I have said hath graciously provided means whereby both Sin and Misery might be prevented or removed if timely embraced seeing Christ hath abolished that Wrath and Death and hath brought Life and Immortality to light by the Gospel and God hath so far reconciled all Sinners to himself that thro the Sacrifice and for the sake of that Lamb of God that takes away the Sins of the World he is graciously pleased to be reconciled to them and to open a Door of Hope for all the Sons of Adam And tho it is a great Truth that Adam in breaking the Law of his God brought not
are sanctified an unholy thing and make all the Precepts of the Gospel uncertain whether they be the Will of God or not or whether Christ when he prayed to his Father for his People or for Sinners prayed as a Mediator or as Man only yea give footing to that Opinion which begins to evidence it self too much in many even denying the personal Union of God and Man in Jesus Christ in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily Col. 2. 9. which did influence and give a value and worth to all things done for us by the Manhood and therefore his Righteousness and his Blood was called the Righteousness and Blood of God Acts 20. 28. 1 John 3. 16. Rom. 10. 3. Christ as he was God-Man and our Mediator what he did upon this account in the Flesh he did in the Spirit also Now in this place where Christ bewailed Jerusalem's state with tears either they flowed from true inward compassion or they did not if the first then Christ in the Flesh and in the Spirit willed one and the same thing and had no distinct Will for Jerusalem's Salvation as Man different from his Will as God but if the second then his tears were only feigned and his bewailing nothing but dissimulation which is a capital Sin to affirm And tho the Lord was resolved to bring Jerusalem to desolation by delivering them into the hands of their Enemies yet as you say and say truly it was an effect of their Sins the neglect of the Day of their Visitation mocking his Messengers and stoning them that were sent to her to have drawn her from the evil of her ways and for crucifying the Lord of Life thereby filling up the measure of her Iniquity So tho the Lord brought her to desolation yet Punishment is rather his refuge than his choice and his defence against Sin than the hurt of his Creatures and the Sinner with his own hands most cruelly pulleth down punishment upon his own head for the evil of Sin and the evil of Suffering are Twins or rather Sin gives birth and being to the other God never inflicted the least punishment on any merely as Men but as workers of Evil as continuing sinful and disobedient So that it was Jerusalem's actual Sins and her refusing to be healed that brought her to ruin and not any irresistible Decree of the Almighty for you may as well deny the Being of a God as entertain a belief that he takes pleasure in the death and destruction of his Creatures His Nature is perfect Goodness and he is a stranger to Cruelty and all the expressions of Love and Good-will in Christ to poor Sinners are such that they neither admit nor are consistent with fraud or falshood so that yet you have not told me where the Attribute of God merely takes place upon those that God is resolved against all means possible to be used to punish by his Decree as you use to say But before I leave this let me ask you one Question more which is this Ought not or do not all Men stand ingaged to love God Philet To love God yea who should they love if they do not love God Philad Ay but I ask you for what Reason Mar. There may be many Reasons given the receiving the good things of this Life may engage all Men to love God Philad Yea but you will not own that God gives the good things of this Life with any good intention to the greatest number but rather gives them to them to heighten their misery doth God intend any good to the Souls of such by what he gives Mar. No yet are they to be accountable for the abuse of them Philad But you hold that God did decree they should abuse them accordingly and for that end were they given to them that so the abuse of them might heighten their misery this is but like the Proverb Give a Man Roastmeat and beat him with the Spit Can any Man become grateful or be tied in the Bonds of Love and Gratitude to such a Man that should feast him for a while yet after condemn him to Death and Destruction Philet The Apostle saith 1 John 4. 19. We love him because he first loved us but this is meant of the Elect only Philad Why should you go about to confine the Lor'd Mercy which is altogether Infinite and as incomprehensible as his Divine Essence why should you thus contract the Divine Goodness whose Mercies are not only exalted above our Conceptions but also above and over all his Works Therefore do not presume to measure the Lord 's Mercys by your narrow conceit nor labour to make it run into a lesser Channel than the Lord intended But God's great Love to all Men in giving his Son to die for them is the ground and cause of their Love to God again True love must first spring from the knowledg of God's Love to them neither can I think that any Men in the World will ever heartily and cordially love God unless they believe that God Almighty had designs of Love to them yea so far loved them as to send his Son to die for them otherwise instead of loving and living to God it would tend to a most horrid and desperate alienation of the Hearts of poor Creatures from their dear and ever-blessed Creator For how is it possible that the poor Creature should devest himself of those Delights and Pleasures of this Life and intirely love and delight himself in God and his blessed Will if he knew or had strong grounds of fear that before he made him or without respect to his Sins or unworthy carriage in the least he so far hated him as to resolve against all Mediation whatsoever to cast him out of his sight and to doom him to suffer the Vengeance of Eternal Fire You may preach up God's Sovereignty pronounce Justice and Judgment as some have done till they have brought Despair and Hell into the Souls of many and beget more Fear than Love make God feared as a Tyrant but 't is the making known Christ's meek Condescension Long-suffering and the superexcellent Amiableness of free Love and tender Mercy that soonest and most effectually works in us Repentance of our Sins and inclines us to love him that first loved us Wither's Paraphrase upon the Lord's Prayer Who is able to perswade Men by Arguments or move them by Threatnings to love God whose love to them in particular is doubtful Do you think it can or ever will be a motive for Persons to love God to tell them That before all Worlds or before they were born or there were any possibility of offending him in any manner it was decreed that the greatest number of Adam's Off-spring should be eternally reprobated and damned And tho he had provided means whereby Man might have been saved and that the worth and value was so great that it was sufficient for the Redemption of thousands of Worlds yet then it was
to believe in him or to cast himself upon him for Salvation no more than the fallen Angels Now either Christ shed his Blood for all with an intent to save them unless they be their own destroyers or to damn them or for nothing pray tell me which of these three things Christ intended in dying for all Philet I cannot say to save all Philad For what then Philet Why truly I believe all that Christ did for the Reprobate was to effect for them the good things of this Life Philad But doth he not give his Grace to all Philet Yea common Grace Philad For what use is it given Philet For no use in respect of Eternal Life all that it effects for them is to make their Condemnation in Hell the greater or as some say if they use it well the lighter Mar. Others beside the Elect may have the inlightning and conviction of the Spirit and God hath wise and holy Ends in it to restrain some of them from being Persecutors of his Church and to restrain them from gross Idolatry and such-like Sins whereby they are less punished in Hell but if they abuse these common Graces it will make their condemnation in Hell the greater Philad Then was Christ's Death rather grievous than gracious and Christ came not that they might have life more abundantly but that they might have Hell and Damnation more abundantly Blush O ye Heavens at this How cruel do you represent the God of Love For if Christ shed his Blood for all and yet did not intend Salvation to all then he must needs shed his Blood not for them but against them and so God gave his Son to die for the condemnation of the World contrary to our Saviour's Expressions John 3. 17. 12. 47. 1. 29. So that here can be no potent Argument used to perswade all Men to love and live to him for he that shall pay for the ease and benefit of another what was sufficient to have eased me as well as him and yet shall neglect me in such a Paiment and leave me in misery when he might without the least trouble or charge to himself above what he voluntarily put himself upon for the sake of others have relieved me and of miserable made me happy what reason is there that I should wholly live to him who wholly neglected me in my greatest need or that he should expect service or thanks for doing nothing 'T is a sensless conceit to think Men are engaged in any Bond of thankfulness or service unto Christ for dying sufficiently for them unless he died intentionally also Philet What do you believe Christ shed his Blood intentionally to save all then if all be not saved Christ must miss of his Intention God shall be frustrated of his Design and Jesus Christ be defeated of that excellent Honour provided by his Father for him Now if one of those that Christ died with an intent to save should miscarry why not another and consequently all and so by this God's Counsel and Christ's Honour must be laid in the Dust Mar. For all you make such a noise about Christ's dying for all Adam's Posterity yet do you really deny that Christ died for any Man or Woman in the World in a true Scripture-sense for unless Christ died so for Persons as to make satisfaction for all their Sins and to purchase saving Grace here and Glory hereafter to be infallibly bestowed upon them all you talk of universal Redemption by Christ is a universal Nothing Philad It may very well be conceived that God may intend the Salvation of all Men by Jesus Christ and yet not all Men saved nay should all Men prove so neglective of themselves as voluntarily to deprive themselves of that great Salvation which Christ out of his great Love hath provided for them yet it doth not follow from hence that the Counsel or Design of God should thereby miscarry nor Christ's Honour be laid in the dust because of the wilful folly of Men to forsake their own Mercy and destroy themselves see Isa 49. 5. And now saith the Lord that formed me from the Womb c. Tho Christ was sent to save and make Israel blessed and as the Apostle saith Acts 3. ult Hath raised up Jesus and hath sent him to bless you and to turn every one of you from your evil ways here you see it was God's Mind to gather Israel and to turn them from their Sins yet all Israel was not gathered nor turned from their Sins yet no disparagement to Christ nor a defeating the Counsel of God Indeed if it had been the Design and Intent of God that the saving Benefits intended to Sinners by the Obedience and Sufferings of Christ should immediately become theirs upon the bare shedding of his Blood and that therefore God must needs pardon the Sinner and bring him in by head and shoulders that is by a strong and irresistible hand save him whether he will or no or whether they repent of their Sins believe in him or continue in impenitency then indeed if any should miscarry here would be a defeating of the Counsel and Intention of God but seeing that as the Grace and Mercy of God in Christ to Sinners is absolutely free so is the Lord free to apply the Merits of his Son's Blood to whom and in what way and upon what terms he in his Wisdom thinks fit for we must not conceive that God intended to save Man upon any terms or without any provision or exception at all but to put the World into a capacity of Salvation by removing those grand Obstacles which stood in the way of Mercy and obstructed its communication to the Offender and to afford unto the Sons and Daughters of Men means and opportunities to repent and believe and consequently to be saved so that whensoever Christ is faithfully and effectually preached to Men and the Holy Spirit convinces Men of Sin in order to their Salvation God obtains his end and intent concerning their Salvation whether they come to be saved or no so Christ is said 1 John 2. 2. to be the Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World it doth not therefore follow that the Sins of the whole World are so actually and compleatly atoned by him that they shall never be charged against them but that which Christ offered in order to atoning the Sins of the whole World is so full of Virtue and withal is so propounded and held forth by the Lord unto the whole World that if any Man's Sins remain actually unpardoned 't is through their voluntary neglect of this Sacrifice not from any intention on God's part that their Sins should not be atoned as well as others Many more such Testimonies I might add Dr. Holmes upon John 6. 37. pag. 13. saith That all the Sins of Mankind are become venial in respect of the Price paid by Christ unto the Father c. But all do not obtain actual remission
break off at this time only give me leave to ask you and your Friend Martha this Question viz. What is the reason you go about to perswade your selves and others that God is so severe with the greatest part of Mankind as to leave them in the Fall without giving his Son to die for them but leaving them to perish is it to make your own Salvation doubtful for if Christ died for scarce one in a thousand what grounds have you to believe Christ died for you or that you were elected and chosen to Life Philet I do not question but I was beloved of God and chosen in Christ before the Foundation of the World Philad I suppose that you must needs have a high Opinion of your self that you are one of the Darlings of Heaven one beyond all possibility of miscarrying one that shall never behold the angry Countenance of the Almighty otherwise I believe you would be glad to hear the joyful Tidings of Peace and Reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ for tho you represent God at so dreadful a rate towards others yet you would not have him appear in such Wrath and Fury to your self nay your Doctrine would not be so readily imbraced by so many if they thought they themselves were of that number that God had by an absolute Decree of Reprobation shut under Wrath from all possibility of obtaining Life and Salvation And should the Lord awaken your Conscience under a sense of the dread and horror of your being absolutely rejected from Grace and Glory from having any saving benefit by the Death of Christ this might so amaze you that all Means and Arguments used to comfort you might be of no value your Opinion walks Antipodes to all words of comfort What would it avail you then at such a time to tell you of God's great Love to his Elect and that he had such a Love for some few of the degenerate Sons of Adam that rather than they should perish he would give his Son a Ransom for them and with him give them Faith and Repentance and by a strong hand of irresistible Grace carry them through this World to Glory but that far the greater number are left of the Lord to die and perish for the manifestation of his Justice and Displeasure against Sin Would this fasten any comfort upon you when you behold the Lord's angry Countenance only speaking Blood and Ruin to you Come Philetus this hath been so dreadful to many that they have run some to the Sword and others to the Halter Now seeing that you make the number of the Elect so small as not one in a hundred or one in a thousand how can you have any comfortable assurance that you are one of those that Christ died for unless you prove it by his dying for all and so consequently for you including a part in the whole Philet What rotten stuff have we here at what a pitiful rate do you talk would you have me believe Christ died for me because he died for the whole World if I had no other assurance and hopes for Heaven than this I should be in a miserable state I injoy saving Grace there is an inward Work of God upon my Heart and I am really brought over to Christ this is a better proof that I am not one of those that are left in the Fall to perish but one of those Christ died for Philad I own that there are Marks and Signs which may be sufficient proof of a Person 's Regeneration and may be a good Mark of Election and a sound Evidence for Heaven Rom. 8. 16. the Spirit witnessing with our Spirits But now in this weighty concern of our Souls and Salvation nothing ought to be believed by any but what they have grounds to believe from the Word of God and from that inward Witness which if true never contradicts but is always sutable and agreeable to the Word Now since by your Doctrine the Death of Christ did not extend to one of a thousand how is it possible for you to know that Christ died for you unless it be revealed in the Word of God since he that Christ did or did not die for must be built upon the Testimony of the Lord therefore I say shew me if you can a proof from the Scripture that Christ died for you or if you cannot do that shew me that Man now living in the World for whom Christ did not die Philet I cannot shew you my Name written in the Scriptures nor no place that saith that he died for I. S. but if I can prove my self a Believer I can prove that I am no Reprobate but an Elect Person and consequently one that Christ died for for believing is an infallible Fruit of Election Philad But what if you mistake and think you have true Faith when you have not there is a Faith which is only sancy nay mere presumption a Faith besides the Word of God 't is easy for Men to deceive themselves and others with false Appearances and deceivable Marks in this case since all saving Graces in the Saints have their Counterfeits in Hypocrites yea oftner furnished and set forth with more gaudy paint in Hypocrites than real Christians the Devil can shew himself to be an Angel of Light But come to your Marks of Election Are you the Child of believing Parents this is not sufficient to prove you in the Love and Favour of God for so was Cain Ishmael and Esau yet you say they were reprobated Have you been baptized and so initiated into the visible Church of Christ so have many thousands who by their Conversation shew themselves to be of the Synagogue of Satan Have you done Miracles so did Jannes and Jambres yet they were Cheats Do you outwardly partake of the Lord's Table so do many that have no part in him as Judas Do you preach the Word to others prophesy in Christ's Name so may many to whom Christ will say Depart you cursed and while they preach Salvation to others miss it themselves Philet These are outward Marks which may very well stand with Hypocrisy mine is a supernatural spiritual and inward Work the saving Effect of the sanctifying Spirit of God What say you to Faith is not that a Fruit of the Spirit Philad Yea true justifying Faith is but what would you prove that Christ died for you because you are a Believer Philet No Christ did not die for me and elect me because I believe but because God elected me and gave his Son to die for me therefore I believe I being to prove that God loved me and gave his Son to die for me and that Faith is a Fruit of God's electing Love Philad But what if your Faith be the Faith of the Hypocrite which will perish Simon Magus Acts 8. 13. believed the Doctrine preached by Philip and professed his Faith publickly by being baptized in Water according to our Lord's Command and yet in the