gratifies it in another For in making the Apostle to say that the saving Grace of God hath appeared unto all men they suppose him to be of their Judgment who conceive the Gospel and the saving Grace thereof to be discovered and preached by God unto men not only by the Ministry of Men or by the Letter of the Gospel it self but by the Works of Creation also and the gracious Government of the World For certain it is that the saving Grace of God of which the Apostle here speaks had not at this time appeared unto all men upon any other terms But this by the way Our former Translators dealt much more fairly with the Holy Ghost at this place rendering and pointing the words thus For that Grace of God that bringeth Salvation unto all men hath appeared The Grace of God in Christ is here said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 salvifical unto all men not because it is such to all sorts or ranks of men only or to some men of all sorts and degrees as some not fearing to destroy the clear sence of the Holy Ghost to salve their own interpret but because it is such to all men simply and without exception of any This Exposition is confirmed 1. From the Context in the words immediately following wherein the proper end or ducture of this saving Grace of God now discovered is declared thus Teaching us that denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godlily in this present world If then this saving Grace of God teacheth i. e. be apt to teach perswade and lead all men without exception as well one as another to a denyal of all ungodliness and to live soberly then must it needs be alike saving unto all For if this teaching property in it flows from the savingness of it which the Apostle here clearly supposeth then must the savingness of it necessarily be of equal extent with that property An Act of Grace Love or Bounty inviteth obligeth no more unto thankfulness then those to whom it is meant and intended Now certain it is that the saving Grace of God held forth and profered unto all men in the Gospel teacheth inviteth perswadeth obligeth all mâ—n without exception as well one as another to deny ungodliness c. to live soberly c. Otherwise we must say that there are some men who ought not who are no ways bound to learn any of these things from the Gospel nor to practise them upon any accompt of Grace or love â—endered herein from God unto them which I suppose is a saying too hard for any considering man to digest 2. The words themselves in their Grammatical native and proper signification give out the sence and Exposition specified The Grace of God here spoken of is expresly said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. saving or salvisical unto or apt to save all men And of what dangerous consequence it is to turn the words of the Holy Ghost out of their proper and best known significations into any by devious and qualified sence when there is no necessity of doing it hath been once and again admonished and declared in the Premisses a Cap. 5. Sect. 35. Cap. 6. §. 2 3 4 c. 3. The Exposition given fairly accordeth the passage in hand with many other its fellow-Scriptures as where God is said to have prepared His Salvation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before the face of ALL People b Luke 2. 30. to be willing to have ALL Men saved and to come to the knowledg of the Truth c 1 Tim. 2. 4. So again to have NONE perish but to have ALL MEN come to Repentance d 2 Pet. 3. 9. And again where Christ is said through the Grace of God to have tasted death for EVERY MAN e Heb. 2. 9. to omit several others which we have demonstratively proved to be of one mind and one heart with the said passage so understood as now interpreted 4. And lastly The Exposition given is attested by Orthodox Interpreters so owned and acknowledged by our Adversaries By name saith Pelican he testifieth the Grace of God to be COMMON TO THE UNIVERSE OF MEN or to men universally because of Servants of whom he had spoken And presently after But we are ALL one in Christ we are ALL UNIVERSALLY called to the Kingdom of God we were ALL after the offence given to be reconciled unto our Father f Nominatim universiis communem esse gratiam Dei testatur propter servos de quibus locutus erat sed cuncti in Christo unum sumus universi ad regnum Dei vocamur omnes post offensam Patri nostro reâ—onciliandi suimus Aretius upon the place affirmeth That the Gospel offers the Grace of God unto ALL MEN and hereupon infers that therefore it concerns ALL MEN to adorn the Doctrine hereof with their lives and manners g Prima ratio est Evangelium omnibus hominibus offert gratiam Dâ—i Ergo omnium interest hanc Doctrinam ornare vita moribus If the Gospel offers the saving Grace of God unto all men and all men upon this account stand bound to adorn the Doctrine thereof then must this Grace in the offer of it and so in the intention of him who offers it in the Gospel be saving i. e. of a saving tendency and import unto all men Yea if all men stand alike bound in respect of the alike offer of it respectively unto them neither of which alikeness can reasonably be denyed or indeed questioned it is a plain case that the savingness of it and Salvation by it is by God alike intended unto all men But from the Universal Offer of Grace unto men in the Gospel we have formerly argued and evicted real intentions in God of Salvation by Christ unto all men without exception h Cap. 7. Sect. 2. 3. c. As for those trivial evasions from this and such-like Scriptures as viz. that by all men may be meant either great numbers of men or all sorts or some of all sorts and ranks of men or Jews and Gentiles and so again that the Grace of God may be said to be saving unto all men because there is a sufficiency of merit in Christ to save all men though the Salvation of all men by him be not intended by God c. These I say with the like put-offs we have already upon like occasions frequently occurring detected of vanity and shewed their clear inconsistency with the principles as well of that Wisdom which is revealed from Heaven in the Scriptures as of that reason and understanding which are naturally ingrafted in men If any mans judgment be yet tempted with a face of any seeming beauty or strength in any of them he may I presume be delivered from further inconvenience in this kind by a second review of the sixth Chapter of this Discourse at least if he shall diligently consider what is to be seen
loosing of the Soule And for the latter I meane the English Ministers and those mentioned with them there is the like consideration of these also The works of such of them as have written bewray them to have had both the Nations we speak of in their womb in which works or writings of theirs if they speak one word for a necessity of Perseverance in the Saints it is ten to one but they speak another for a possibility of such a defection which is never accompanied with Repentance For those godly Ministers now upon the Stage who are looked upon as rigid Patrons and Assertors of the received Doctrine of Perseverance the truth is that whatsoever they are in the letter of their Conclusion they are in the Spirit of their Principles and Premises builders up of that Faith which destroyes the Faith of that Doctrine most of their Sermons which any wayes relate unto that subject having Janus-like two Faces with the one of which they countenance this Doctrine and with the other that which is contrary unto it So that the experience pretended in the objection of so many pious men embracing the Doctrine of Perseverance is but a meer presumption the men generally are divided in their own judgements about the Point True it is our English Ministers and Professors more generally profess themselves for the Doctrine of Perseverance and cry out upon the Doctrine of falling away as Arminian but as it fell to Esaus lot through Divine dispensation to be first-borne and so to have the precedency of Iacob in worldly honours in respect of time though at last his Mountaine and his Heritage was laid wast a Mal. 1 3 4. for ever so it seemed good to the Providence of God that of the Doctrinall twins we speak of striving together in the wombs of the minds and judgements of those men now under consideration that of Perseverance should first lift up its head in the World and be applauded making no question withall but that the time is a comming yea and is even at the doore when this Doctrine must decrease and the contrary to it increase and be exalted in the judgements and tongues writings of Men. The maine Providentiall occasion I conceive which hath caused the Doctrine of Perseverance to flourish hitherto like a greene bay Tree in this Land as it hath done was the Permission of Mr. Perkins his judgement to be over-ruled on this hand by those Texts of Scripture some or all of them together with those reasons which are commonly at this day insisted upon for the Proof of this Doctrine The great worth of the Man otherwise commended his Opinion unto many far above the worth thereof And it being so incident unto men malle credere quam judicare rather to believe then Omnes malumus credere quam judicaâ—e Sen. judge and again to believe persons reputed singularly Pious and learned rather then others it may very well be conceived how by the authority and repute of this worthy Instrument of God in His Generation this land should come to be so generally levened as it is not so much indeed with the opinion it self of which we speak as with the Profession of it Before his dayes this Doctrine found no such generall applause or intertainment amongst conscientious Persons in this Land and many of the learned Martyrs in Queene Maries dayes leaned another way who likewise dessented from him in severall other Tenents about the Arminian controversies And when I consider what grudgings there are of the contrary Opinion I meane of that which avoucheth a Possibility of falling away in the judgements of the most consciencious Ministers amongst us though the streame of their Professions runs in opposition hereunto withall what Principles they cleerly and frequently hold forth especially in the applicatory Parts of their Sermons I am easily induced to believe that as by the authority of one Man or some few the Profession of such a judgement came in upon them and surprised them so likewise they want nothing in order to the Profession of a change of their judgements in the Point but only the authority and countenance of some one or some few Men of like Popular acceptance to goe before them 2. Suppose it should be granted that the godly Persons minded in the Objection as holding the Doctrine of Perseverance were perfectly whole and intire and not divided as hath been said in their judgements thereupon yet would it nâ— wayes follow from hence that therefore this Doctrine was any wayes accessory to that godlinesse whereof they gave so good an accompt in their lives and conversations These men I presume held many Principles of Christian Religion which taught them to live godâ—ily righteously and soberly in this present World So that if they did live according to all these worthy and commendable straines of Christianity yet is there no necessity of entituling the Doctrin of Perseverance held by them either in whole or in part thereunto 3. Concerning the Persons chiefly intended in the Objection for the confirmation §. 26. of the experience therein averred on the left hand who I suppose were the worst of our late Bishops such as Romanized and Tyrannized most amongst them together with their Clergy creatures and favourites who were generally inclined to the Doctrine of falling away and with all took more liberty in their lives then men truly Religious ought to have done my Answer is 1. That as was said concerning the godlinesse of the other that it did not necessarily flow from the Doctrine of Perseverance either as held or professed by them so neither did that loosenesse or unworthinesse in any kinde which was found in these necessarily no nor so much as probably arise from that Opinion concerning the possibility of a totall and finall defection in the Saints professed by them They held other Principles more then enough sufficient to teach them all that irregularnesse and unrighteousnesse of conversation which can with truth be charged on them So that neither the good nor the bad neither the godly nor the ungodly deportments of persons professing such or such particular Doctrines principles or opinions are any demonstrative no nor yet so much as any Dialecticall or probable arguments either of truth or error in them The Scribes and Pharises were full of all Hypocrisie and unrighteousnesse yet did they hold and teach many Doctrines that were sound in so much that the Lord Christ himself commanded his own Disciples to observe and doe whatsoever they taught as necessary to be observed a Mat. 23. 3. And if the soundnesse or rottenesse of Opinions should be estimated by the goodnesse or badnesse of the lives of any parcell or number of persons professing them as well the Opinion of Atheisme which denies the being of any God as the Opinion of Polytheisme which affirmes a plurality of Gods must be esteemed better and more sound then that which maintaineth the being of one God and
suffer Persecution a while before â—heir Faith expired So that the Faith of those who in the Parable are called Temporaries can by no argument or allegation be â—victed of any degenerateness or unsoundnesse in kinde but onely of a deficiency in point of rooting or firme fixation in the Soul Nor doth our Saviour any wayes blame or reprove it but upon this account onely Yea in blaming it upon this account onely and reproving those who had it for being no more diligent and carefull in the use of means for confirming and establishing themselves better in it He plainely gives testimony unto it in Point of truth and soundness in as much as no Man deserveth blame for not consulting or endevouring the Perpetuation of an Hypocriticall Faith in his Soul or such which though Persevered in would yet have left Him in the hand of eternall Death These Considerations and Discussions are so full of Light Evidence and Power that were not the foot of our Adversaries held in this snare to judg of the truth and Soundness and so of the Hollowness and Unsoundness of Faith by the issue and event of it as viz. the Perseverance or non-Perseverance of it unto the end they could not lightly stand in the way of their present judgements before them And yet this Rule or Method of judging is not of any good accord with their own Principles otherwise Concerning those helps or assistances of grace say our English Divines present in the Synod of Dort which are afforded by God unto Men we are to judge of them meaning in point of sufficiency or efficaciousness by the nature of the benefit offered as attainable by them and by the most manifest Word of God NOT BY THE EVENT or abuse of them a Ex naturâ benefiâ—ij oblatâ— verbo Dei â—pertissimo iudicandum est dâ— illis Gratiae auxilijs quae hominibus suppeditantur non autem ex eventu aut abusu Synod Dordr Act. Pag. 128. The last proof from the Scriptures which we shall at present insist §. 39. upon and urge for the confirmation of the Doctrine under Protection shall be that passage which holds forth these things unto us For when they speak great swelling words of vanity they allure through the lusts of the flesh through much wantonnesse those who were CLEANE ESCAPED from those who live in error While they promise them liberty they themselves are the servants of corruption for of whom a Man is overcome of the same he is brought in bondage For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the World through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ they are againe intangled therein and overcome the latter end is worse with them then the beginning For it had been better for them not to have known the way of Righteousnesse then after they have known it to turne from the holy Commandement delivered unto them But it is happened unto them according to the true Proverbe the Dogg is turned to his own vomit againe and the Sow that was washed to his wallowing in the mire b Pet. â— 18 19 c. The Possibility of a totall and finall defection in true Believers lieth as large and full in these quarters as truth lightly can be lodged in words the Holy Ghost here plainely supposing that which is clearly consistent with yea and equipollent thereunto viz. that they who by the acknowledgement of Jesus Christ have cleane or truly or really 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 escaped the pollutions of the World being againe intangled therewith may be overcome so as that their spirituall state and condition will be worse at the last then it was at the first or before they believed What is this being interpreted but that true Saints or Believers may possibly apostatize from their believing condition so as to perish everlastingly But here also our Adversaries attempt to hide the Truth shining in the recited §. 40. passage under that old covering or veyle which hath been rent in twaine already both in this Chapter and elsewhere Thâ—se expressions say they who were clean escaped from those who live in error who have escaped the pollutions of the World through the acknowledgement of Jesus Christ to have known the way of righteousnesse c. doe not suppose the Persons spoken of to have had true Faith nor import any thiâ—â— but what may very possibly be found in Hypocrites But with how little truth yea or semblance of truth these things are asserted hath been already exposed to open view when we traversed the Scripture in hand upon another occasion a Cap. 8. Sect. 4 5 46 c. Neverthelesse we here add 1. If the said expressions import nothing but what Hypocrites and that in sensu composito i. e. whilest Hypocrites are capable of theâ— may those be Hypocrites who are separated from Men that live in error 〈◊〉 from the pollutions of the World and that through the knowledge of Jesus C 〈…〉 and on the other hand those may be Saints and sound Believers who wallow in all manner of filthiness and defile themselves daily with the pollutions of the World This consequence according to the Principles and known Tenets of our Adversaries is legitimate and true in as much as they hold that true Believers may fall so foule and so far that the Church according to Christs institution may be constrained to testifie that they cannot bear them in their outward communion and that they shall have no part in the Kingdome of Christ except they repent b Repondemus posse quidem verè credentes eousque prolabi ut Ecclesia juxtà constitutionem Christi cogatur â—esta 〈…〉 ipsos in externâ ipsorum communione non posse tolerare neque habituros partem ullam in regnâ— Christâ— nisi convertantur Contr-Remonstr in Coll. Hag. p. 399. c. But whether this be wholesoâ—â—â—nd sound Divinity or no to teach that they who are separate from sinnâ—â— and live holily and blamelesly in this present World and this by means of the knowledge of Jesus Christ may be Hypocrites and children of perdition and they on the other hand who are companions with Theeves Murtherers Adulterers c. Saints and sound Believers I leave to Men whose judgements are not turn'd upside down with prejudice to determine 2. The Persons here spoken of are said to have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 truly or really escaped from those who live in error Doubtlesse an Hypocrite cannot be said truly or really but in shew or appearance at most to have made such an escape I mean from Men who live in error considering that for matter of reality and truth remaining in Hypocrisie he lives in one of the greatest and foulest errors that is 3. An Hypocrite whose foot is already in the snare of Death cannot upon any tolerable account either of reason or common sence be said to be allured i. e. by allurements to be deceived or overcome by the pollutions of the World
and Vnderstandings as unlawful or dangerous in these affairs how prudently soever they may consult their own carnal ease honor or worldly accommodations by such a Doctrine yet herein they say unto men in effect Be not excellent let it never be said that the God of Heaven hath made you rich or Great Good Reader I have no Apology for my Prolixity in the Argument in hand but only the high and soveraign importance of it together with mine own abounding in the sense of that most sad Calamity under which the world groaneth by means of the importune tyrannical Regency of that Notion or Doctrine unto the deposal whereof I have lift up my Heart and Hand in all that I have said herein I shall only add this one word more upon this account at the present Whereas thou I fear art ready to complain of a long Harvest already the truth is that all I have said in the business hitherto is but a first-fruit of that abundance which yet remaineth in my spirit and Soul ready to utter it self upon any other like occasion for the eradication and utter extirpation if it be possible of that most pestilential and pernicious notion and conceit out of the minds of men In the mean time I shall make thee some part of amends for thy patient bearing of my burthen in this Point by as much brevity as thou canst reasonably desire in the third and last particular yet remaining The tenour hereof was to remove some stumbling stones which it is like have been thrown in thy way to alienate thy mind from the perusal of the Discourse ensuing Objections against the reading of the present Discourse with others of like Argument answered For Satan and men have together devised and hammered out variety of Arguments or Pretences to alienate the minds of weak and inconsiderate persons not only from the Dâ—â—trines themselves here asserted but even from acquainting themselves with Books or Discourses of like Argument and Plea with the Discourse before thee One Vizor very hideous and affrighting which they put upon the face of such Discourses as this to scare children in Vnderstanding from them is that they teach the uncomfortable sad and dismal Doctrine of the possibility of Saints and true Beleevers falling away and this both totally and finally But how far this Doctrine is from being either uncomfortable sad or dismal I shall not here stand to demonstrate but refer thee to the nineth Chapter of the Discourse it self with several other passages afterwards where I evidently prove the two opposite Doctrines being duly and unpartially compared together that that which denyeth this possibility is every whit as great yea a far greater Enemy to the peace and comfort of the Saints then that which affirmeth it Secondly Some labor to work a distaste of such Discourses as we speak of in the minds of men by possessing them with a conceit that they are derogatory and injurious to the Grace or freeness of the Grace of God in the Salvation of Men and that they exalt Nature and the abilities hereof as Free-will and the like to the dishonor and prejudice of this Grace To this I answer 1. That I am no ways responsible for all that may possibly sibly be taught or said in every Treatise or Discourse that buildeth up one or more of the Doctrines here asserted but only for such things wherein their sence and mine greet eâ—ch other 2. I answer to the Charge in reference to my self and my Doctrine and Judgment touching the Grace of God that it is of a like consideration and relation between my Accusers and me as the accusation of an unchaste deportment brought against Joseph by his Mistress was between them For as the Accuser here and not the Accused was guilty of the crime objected in the Accusation so the truth is that the Sence and Opinion of those who sentence my Doctrine as injurious to the Grace or freeness of the Grace of God are themselves deep in the condemnation my Doctrine being as innocent as the manifest Truth it self is from such a crime Nor doth it exalt Nature any whit more if not much less then they For 1. Concerning the Grace of God and the freeness hereof I hold and teach nothing but what fairly and fully accords with these Positions 1. That the Original or first-spring of the Salvation of the World and so of every particular person that comes to be saved was in and from the Grace the free Grace and good Pleasure of God 2. That the whole method or systeme of Counsels by which and according unto which God effecteth and bringeth to pass the Salvation of all that are saved did proceed wholly and entirely from the same Grace and good pleasure 3. And more particularly That the gift of Jesus Christ for a Mediator and Saviour unto the World and so the Grant or Promise of Justification and Salvation unto men by or upon beleeving issued solely and wholly from the same Grace 4. That men by Nature and of themselves i. e. considered in and under such a condition as they were brought unto by Adam and wherein they should have subsisted in case they had ever been born and lived in the world had not the free Grace of God in Christ interposed to relieve them and better their condition have no strength or power not the least inclination or propension of Will to do any thing little or much acceptable unto God or of a saving import 5. That notwithstanding this restaâ—ration or healing of the natural condition of man by the free Grace of God yet there is not one of a thousand possibly not one throughout the whole World but so far corrupts himself with the lusts of the flesh and ways of the World that without a second relief from the free Grace of God as viz. in his patience and long-suffering towards him ever comes to repent or believe or to persevere beleeving and so to be saved 6. That it is from the free and undeserved Grace of God that any person of Mankind is so much as put into a capacity of beleeving or hath power and means vouchsafed unto him sufficient to enable him to beleeve 7. That a man is put into this capacity of beleeving by an irresistible acting or working of the free Grace of God 8. That when any man by vertue of the power and means vouchsafed unto him by the free Grace of God comes actually to beleeve the exercise and acting of this power proceeds also from the free Grace and good pleasure of God so that no man ever believeth without a present and actual assistance from the free Grace of God in order to this his beleeving over and above his ability or power to beleeve 9. And lastly That the act of beleeving whensoever it is performed by any man is so inconsiderably and at so low a rate of efficiency from a mans self that to help apprehension a lttle in the case
not by way of intention on Gods Part. Yet let us afford the honor of a triall to the three Interpretations mentioned For the first which by the whole VVorld understands only the Elect this §. 34. hath been resolved into smoke already Sect. 9. 10 11. c. of this Chapter where if the Reader please to look back he may see it smoking still The other two being confederate with it for both the one and the other are the same in substance of matter with it and differ only in terms of explication must needs fall with it For both they who by the whole VVorld in the Scripture in hand understand Men of all sorts and conditions by these Men of all sorts and conditions understand the Elect only and they also who interpret Jewes and Gentiles understand no other either Jewes or Gentiles but the Elect only So that all the three interpretations are interpretatively but one and the same And therefore as in case Abrahams Son by Sarah had been sacrificed Isaac could not have escaped no more can any one of the three Interpretations mentioned stand if any one of them fall there being but one and the same faint spirit of life in them all That which their Respective Assertors plead for their legitimacy is of no §. 35. value at all For their Plea is that the word World and the whole World do in severall other places signifie sometimes the Elect only sometimes Men of all sorts ranks and conditions sometimes likewise Jewes and Gentiles and hereupon they conclude that they may admit of the same sence and signification both in the Scripture in hand and in all the other Scriptures usually brought upon the Theater of Discourse for the same end and purpose with it But the mouth of this Plea is easily stopped For 1. The determinate signification of a word in one place is no argument of the same sence or signification of it in another place Elohim Gen. 1. 1. signifieth him who is by nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Joh. 17. 3. a true God subsisting in three Persons but this is a weake Proofe that it is to be taken or that it may be taken in the same sence Psal 82. 6. where the Prophet introduceth God speaking thus to and concerning the Rulers of the Earth I have said yee are Elohim or Gods That the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth 1 Pet. 3. 3. as it is translated adorning is no argument at all that it so signifieth Joh. 3. 16. or in twenty places besides where it is used Nay in one and the same period or sentence where the same word is twice used it doth not follow that because it is used and must necessarily be taken in such or such a sence determinately in one of the places therefore it must be taken in the same sence likewise in the other As for example where Christ saith to the Scribe Let the dead bury their dead Mat. 8. 22. because in the first place by dead are meant persons spiritually dead or dead in sinnes and trespasses it no wayes followes from hence that therefore it signifieth such as are spiritually dead in the latter place So likewise in that passage of our Saviour whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst againe but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst a Ioh. 4. 13 14 c. by Water in the first place he cleerly meaneth that common and materiall element commonly known by the Name of Water but in the latter Water analogically only and spiritually so called viz. the gift of the spirit as himself interpreteth Joh. 7. 39. and Joh. 4. 14. compared Therefore to heape up a multitude of quotations from the Scriptures wherein the word World or the whole World doth or may signifie either a certaine species or determinate kinde of persons living up and down the World or Men of all sorts and conditions or Jews and Gentiles and from either an Evidence or Possibility of any or all of these significations in these places to infer either a Necessity or Possibility of a like signification of the words either in the Scripture in hand or in those other places argued in this Chapter is but to beate the Aire or build upon the Sand. 2. If the said words either may be taken or necessarily must be taken §. 36. in the places so multiplied in any of the said significations it is a signe that there is a sufficient ground of reason in the Contexts respectively to inforce either the Necessity or Possibility of such significations Now then to infer or suppose either a like Necessity or Possibility of the same signification where there is no sufficient ground in the Context to inforce either which is the case in hand but many sufficient grounds to overthrow such significations as hath been in part already and shall God assisting be out of hand further manifested as concerning the Texts insisted upon in this and the following Chapter is as if I should prove that such or such a Man must needs be a Prisoner at London because he is a Prisoner in Yorke or that he hath the liberty of the Tower of London because he may walke where he pleaseth within the Liberties of Yorke Castle The signification of words in one place is not to be adjudged by their signification in another unlesse both the Contexts stand uniformly and impartially affected towards this signification 3. That neither of the two Texts already opened will at any hand endure §. 37. any of the three significations of the word World lately mentioned as pretended unto hath been argued into the cleerest evidence That the Text in hand no whit better comports with any of them then they appeareth thus 1. If any of the said three significations of the whole World should be here admitted the Apostle or rather the Holy Ghost by the Apostle must be supposed to speak after no better rate of reason then this Christ is the propitiation not for our sinnes only but also for the sinnes of some few particular Men besides whom you know not or of some few Persons as well of the Gentiles as of the Jewes For none of the three interpretations amounts to any thing more then this as is evident They who interpret that Christ is the propitiation for the sinnes of Jewes and Gentiles by Jewes and Gentiles doe not meane the two great divisions of Men in the World commonly distinguished by these Names in all the Particulars of either division for this is the fence and interpretation which we contend for but that small and comparatively inconsiderable remnant of both who in conclusion come to be actually saved There is the same consideration of the two other interpretations Now what weight or worth of Notion or savour of sence there should be in informing the Christians here written unto that Christ was the propitiation for some few Mens sins besides theirs or as well as theirs I
Texture of words as this Yea doth not such a carriage of the place cleerly imply that there are or may be some of the Elect themselves who shall not live or be restored from death by Christ and consequently shall not be bound upon any such ingagement to live unto him Doubtlesse if by the word ALL the Apostle had meant ALL the Elect and these only he would not have added that they who live but rather that they or these might live For these words that they who live cleerly import a possibility at least yea a futurity also i. e. That it would so come to passe that some of those ALL for whom Christ died would not live and consequently would be in no capacity of living from themselves to live unto him The uncouthnesse and sencelessnesse of such interpretations as these was somewhat more at large argued in the next preceding Chapter Sect. 12. 13 c. But now let us take the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ALL in the proper and due signification of it viz. for the generality or universality of men the sence will run cleer and have a savoury and sweet relish with it Because we thus judge i. e. upon cleer Grounds and Principles of reason argue and conclude that if one died for All Men then were All Men dead i. e. Obnoxious unto death dead in Law as good as dead otherwise they should not have had any need that another should die for their preservation and that he died for All Men i. e. we further also judge and conclude that he died for All Men with this intent or for this end amongst others that they who live i. e. That whosoever of those for whom he thus died shall be saved by this death of his for them should in consideration of and by way of signall thankfulnesse for such a Salvation not live unto themselves i. e. only or chiefly minde themselves whilest they live in the World in their carnall and Worldly interests but unto him who died for them and rose again i. e. Promote his interest and affaires in the World who so notably ingaged them hereunto by dying for them and by resuming his Life and Being after his Death is become capable of their love and service to him in this kinde In such a carriage of the place as this there is spirit and life evidence of Reason Commodiousnesse of Sence Regularnesse of Construction no forcing or straining of Words or Phrases or the like whereas in any such exposition which contracts the signification of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ALL Men either to the Elect or to any lesser number of Men then ALL there will be found an universall disturbance in the sentence nothing orderly smooth or clear By the way the Apostle in saying that Christ died for All Men that they §. 6. who live should not live unto themselves c. doth not intend to confine the duty of thankfulnesse for Christs Death only unto the Saints or those that are put into an estate of Salvation by it as if wicked Men and Unbelievers ought him no service at all upon that account but only shewes that Christ expects or lookes for no such deniall of themselves for his sake at the hands of any but of theirs only who come actually to taste and partake of the great benefit and blessing of his death Thus then we see that the word ALL or ALL Men though in some place or places it may yea of necessity must signifie only some men or some parts of all men yet in others and particularly in those two lately insisted upon it must with the like necessity signifie ALL Men without exception 4. And lastly for the word World which was the terme of contention in the former head of Scriptures though I deny not but that in some places it signifies only some part of men in the World and not the intire universality of Men as Luke 2. 1. Acts 19. 27. and frequently elsewhere yet that it any where signifies precisely that part of the World which the Scripture calls the Elect I absolutely deny neither hath it yet been nor I believe ever will be proved and the rather because the Holy Ghost delights still as some instances have been given a Cap. 5. Sect. 10. and more might be added without number to expresse that part or party of men in the World which is contrary unto the Saints and which are strangers and enemies unto God by the World This by way of answer to that exception or pretence against the exposition given of the Scriptures alledged viz. that the word World and those generall terms ALL and every Man are sometimes used in a restrained signification Concerning the exposition given of the Scripture last argued were it not §. 7. clear and pregnant enough by the light wherein it hath been presented further countenance might be given unto it by shewing what friends it hath amongst our best and most approved Authors Among the Ancients Chrysostome is generally esteemed and that worthily the best Interpreter of the Scriptures His sence of the place under debate is plainly enough the same with ours For saith he writing upon the place He meaning Christ had not died or would not have died for All had not All died or been dead In which words he cleerly supposeth that Christ died for as many as were dead and consequently for ALL without exception in as much as ALL without exception or difference were dead A little after thus For it argueth an excesse of much love both to die for SO GREAT A WORLD and to die for it being so affected or disposed as it was b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Amongst our later Divines Musculus is not the least if not equall to the greatest Yet he also gives the right hand of fellowship to the interpretation given upon the place But Christ saith he died not only for his friends but for his enemies also NOT FOR SOME MEN ONELY BVT FOR ALL without exception This is the unmeasurable or vast extent of the love of God a Christus verò non pro amicis tantum sed inimici◠non pro quibusdam tantùm sed pro omnibus Mortuus est Haec est immensa Divinae dilectionis amplitudo But the cause we plead needs no such Advocates as these being potent enough with its own evidence and equity and therefore we shall retaine no more of them A third Text of Scripture presented upon the same account with the former §. 8. was that he by the Grace of God should taste death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for every Man b Heb. 2. 9. This clause importeth that universality of attonement made by the Death of Christ which we maintaine more significantly if more may be and with lesse liablenesse to any evasion or shift then any of the former places ingaged in the warfare To shew that the Lord Christ though cloathed with a body of flesh
their consciences with the guilt of such Unchristian misdemeanours as these must needs carry a strong antipathy in it and be full of enmity against the inward Peace and Comforts of their deer soules And what Doctrine lightly can there be of a more apparant and notorious tendency this way then that which promiseth unto Men and that with heigth of assurance under what loosenesse or vile practises soever exemption and freedome from that punishment the feare and dread whereof is the strongest and sharpest bridle which God Himself hath to put into the lips of the unruly flesh in Men to restraine it from sin yea and which the strength and sharpnesse of it notwithstanding the flesh many times despiseth and laughs to scorn and disdains to be reclaimed or held in by it And is not that Doctrin of perseverance comonly taught and believed amongst us of this very calculation tendency and import If it be said yea but they who teach the Doctrine of perseverance teach §. 4. withall yea urge and presse the necessity of the use of such meanes which God hath appointed to inable Men to persevere I answer It is in vaine to perswade or presse Men unto the use of such meanes in any kinde which are in themselves distastfull and unpleasing unto them when they are ascertained and secured before hand that they shall not faile of the end howsoever whether they use such means or no. If it be replied that the Teachers I speak of do not promise perseverance in Faith unto the end but only unto those who shall use the meanes appointed by God for the obtaining of it I answer if this indeed be the tenor of their Doctrine mine and theirs are no more two but one and the same I am as willing and free as the most zealous of them in their way to give that great Pledge of Heaven the Word of the living God unto the Saints to secure them of their standing unto the end upon the use of the meanes which God hath prescribed in order thereunto But I feare this is not the clear and simple tenour of their Doctrine we now speak of they blind it with some such additionall ingredient as this that as God requires the use of the meanes of perseverance at the hand of the Saints and will give it unto none but those who shall use them yet he hath certainly universally and irreversibly decreed that they shall all use them accordingly and that he himselfe will interpose by the power of his spirit that not a Man of them shall miscarry at this point I have but a word to say to this let them produce such a decree as this and it shall be an end of all strief between me and them as to this point immediately But how little there is to evince any such decree in all that they are wont to alledge and argue to that purpose will sufficiently appeare upon the examination whereunto we shall bring it in due time 2. As that Doctrine of perseverance whereof Professors make such a §. 5. treasure is deeply accessary to the greatest part of those feares those wringings and gripings of conscience wherewith their peace is interrupted and their comforts appal'd and shaken so is it exceedingly to be feared that it hath a potent and pernicious influence of causality into those frequent daily and most sad apostasies and declinings from wayes of holinesse unto loosenesse and prophanesse which are found amongst them For when the flesh or that which is corrupt carnall and sensuall in a Man a Principle not only in being but even vigorous more then enough in the greatest and best Believers shall be intoxicated with such a luscious and fulsome conceit as this that it hath goods layd up for the dayes of eternity hath it not the temptation of that foolish man as he is called upon it who upon a conceit that he had goods laid up for many yeares incouraged his Soule unto vanity Soule take thine ease Eate Drink and be Merry a Luke 12. 19 When a man that stands is in any capacity of falling is it not the only way to educe that power or capacity into act and to cause him to fall indeed to perswade him that he is in no possibility of falling Agag being full of this conceit Surely the bitternesse of Death is past b 1 Sam. 15. 32. came as the Text saith unto Samuel delicately When the flesh shall be taught to say Surely the bitternesse of eternall death is past I am out of all danger all possibility of suffering the vengeance of eternall fire is it not a secret and bewitching incouragement unto it to wax wanton against Christ and to feed foule upon the sinful delicacies of this present World Not only the distinct sound but any confused blast of such a trumpet as this is sufficient to prepare the flesh to the battell of sence and sensuality Nor doe they seem to be much acquainted with at least not much to consider the genius of that Principle in men we now speak of I meane the flesh who thinke there is any other meanes so proper or probable to hamper it to break the heart and strength of it as the Iron yoke of the feare and dread of the Worme that never dieth If it be said yea but it cannot be proved that any of those who decline §. 6. from Religious courses unto loosenesse how many soever they be that thus miscarry ever were true believers or if such that they continued in their declinings without an holy recollection of themselves before the end To this I answer 1. Be it supposed which yet will never be proved that all they who fall away from a Profession of Faith and Holinesse without rising againe or returning were never true Believers yet it cannot be denied and it is commonly granted by men of contrary judgement but that many of them were or might be in a very faire probable and hopefull way of obtaining true Faith of being made sound Believers Now that Doctrine whose native and proper tendency is to take men off from the meanes or to turne them aside out of the wayes of Life and Peace or which is the same of sound Believing is every whit as much if not more Anti-evangelicall as that which directly occasioneth such miscariages in those who do truly believe So that there is nothing gotten by that pretense howsoever But 2. If there be any Persons under Heaven who may upon sufficient grounds §. 7. and justifiable by the Word of God he judged true Believers many of those Apostates we speak of were to be judged such All the visible lineaments of a true Faith were in their faces As far as the eye of man is able to pierce they lived godlily righteously and soberly in this present World Doth any true Believer act zealously for his God So did they Is any true Believer fruitfull in good works So were they yea there were found in those
and all other reasonings and demands of like import with them I Answer 1. To be in danger of falling away and to be under a Possibility of falling away are two very different things at least if we take the word danger in the common which yet is the Proper Notion and signification of it viz. as it imports a Probability or likelyhood of evill to befall those that are said to be in danger A man that is in danger Properly so called of suffering evill if the evill be great cannot well injoy himself with much Comfort or Peace whilest the danger continues But he that is only in a possibility of suffering evill especially being sufficiently Provided of meanes whereby to prevent the comming of the evill upon him if he please is fully capable of injoying himself upon the richest and best terms of security that are competiable to a Creature Nor are men wont to be troubled with the lightest grudgings of feare in respect of such an evill though very grievous in the Kinde and Nature of it which may very possibly befall them in case they may with ordinary care keep themselves from it Men may very possibly fall into the fire and be burnt into the water and be drowned from the tops of Houses or Steeples and be dash'd in peeces yet no man lives ever a whit the more uncomfortably or under any kinde of feare because they live under a Possibility of suffering these great evills The reason of their security in this kinde is because they know that God hath given them reason and understanding sufficient to preserve themselves from them In like manner God having vouchsafed unto the Saints meanes abundantly sufficient to preserve themselves from Apostasie and consequently from Perishing so that they need not either Apostatize or Perish except themselves please there is no occasion at all much lesse any necessity why they should live any whit the more uncomfortably or abate so much as the least haire of their Head in confidence of being saved only because they are under a Possibility of Declining and so of Perishing The Apostle Paul acknowledgeth himself to have been under a Possibility of being made a Reprobate or cast-away lest saith he having Preached unto others I my self should prove or become a cast-away a 1 Cor. 9. 27 yet at what an excellent rate and height of comfort yea of joy unspeakeable and glorious did he live I am perswaded saith he that neither Death nor Life nor Angells nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor Height nor Depth nor any other Creature shalâ— be able to separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord b Rom. 8. 38 39. That which ministred unto him the ground-worke of this most raised and blessed confidence notwithstanding the Possibility he was under of being made a cast-away was partly that cleare and certaine knowledge which he had of the unchangeable Purpose of God to give Salvation unto all those who should Persevere in Faith and Holinesse unto the end parâ—ly also the like knowledge of the bounty of God towards all His Saints in vouchsafing unto them so rich and full a Proportion of meanes as he doth whereby to Persevere accordingly Thus then we see that the Doctrine of falling away teaching only a Possibility hereof and so of Perishing is no Doctrine of uncomfortableness nor necessarily occasioneth the least fear in men of falling away or of Perishing 2. Suppose for Argument sake the Doctrine of Perseverance should §. 22. be subscribed unto and that absolute assurance of Salvation granted unto Believers which this Doctrine pretends to give unto them yet will not that conditionall assurance which the other Dostrine affords unto them fall much short of it yea in most respects some whereof have been already touched it will be found in order to their Comfort and Peace greater then it Put case I were a man who very much desired to live long in the World and God should please to grant me a Lease or Assurance of my life for a thousand years only upon condition that I should not willfully destroy myself as either by thrusting a Sword through my own bowels or by casting my self headlong from some high Tower or by taking Poyson known to me for such before hand with the like would I not upon the matter be as well satisfied with such a conditionall Lease or Grant as this as with one that should be absolute and wherein my life should be assured unto me against all possible attempts to be made by my self to destroy it Doubtless if it were simply long life which I desired the former grant would be as satisfactory unto me as the latter Indeed if besides the security of my life and of the continuance of it for such a terme I should wantonly or vaine gloriously desire to shew desperate tricks without fear or danger as to take Lyons by the beards or Beares by the pawes to treade upon Cockatrices to wash in cauldrons of boyling Lead or the like then the latter grant would accommodate me better then the former In like manner if it be simply and singly the Salvation of my soule which I desire and the certainty or assurance hereof such a conditionall Promise made unto me by God as this that saved I shall certainly be if I will but quit my self like a Man abstaine from foolish lusts and not with the Dog returne againe to my vomit or with the Swine that hath been washed to my wallowing in the mire such a Promise I say as this is security in abundance unto me in that behalf But if my desire be over and above the saving of my soule to live loosely and prophanly to disport my self in all manner of sin and wickedness to affront the Heavens and bid defiance to the Almighty and laugh Jesus Christ and His Gospell in the face to scorne or the like without running the hazard of losing my soule then I confesse only such a Grant or Promise of Salvation from God as the Doctrine of absolute Perseverance demands would satisfie and content me and furnish me with that assurance which I desire So that the most express and evident truth is that there is nothing more in that assurance of Salvation which the Doctrine of absolute Perseverance pretends unto then in that which the Doctrine of falling away or of conditionall Perseverance indulgeth unto the Saints but only a liberty or fearlesseness of sinning And whether men may not be of a free ingenuous and Son-like spirit without a liberty or boldness of sinning yea whether such a liberty as this will consist with that spirit I freely refer to the Determination of any man who hath been never so little baptised into the spirit whereby the Saints cry Abba Father 3. That Doctrine which is efficacious and proper to cut off and prevent §. 23. all those occasions and miscarriages from which troubles of Conscience doubtings
deliberate or elective Act of the will of man cannot be said to be positively peremptorily or absolutely Decreed by God nor is it any other in the Nature and Condition of it then what may very possibly not be Now certaine it is that the use of means to prevent seduction in the Elect is such an Act or series of Actions which depends upon the deliberate Act of their will at least so far that it can never take place or be without a deliberate concurrency hereof If it be yet further said Though the use of means to prevent seduction in §. 17. the Elect depends upon the deliberate motions and actings of their wills thus far that it cannot take place or be performed without them yet may it have such a relation unto or dependance upon the absolute will or decree of God which shall give certainty and infallibility of being unto it notwithstanding For God is able so to interpose by His excellency of Power in all the deliberations of Men as to carry and fix the issues and determinations of them which way and upon what He pleaseth To this I answer that the Question is not what God is able by the excellency of His Power to doe in this kinde but what He is pleased to doe or what He hath decreed to doe out of the Counsell and Liberty of His Will And that which we affirme and plead in the cause depending is not that God is not able to determine the wills of the Elect to the use of means proper and sufficient to prevent their being deceived but that He hath no where declared Himself willing oâ— resolved to doe it and consequently that it is an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a conceit above what is written to think that He doth it Therefore untill it be proved either from the Scriptures or by the light of some solid demonstration otherwise that God hath absolutely Decreed the non-seduction of the Elect we still speak of a seduction to destruction or which is the same upon our Adversaries Grant and Plea lately mentioned the determination of their wills to the use of means necessary to secure them against seduction we judge our selves free in Conscience to deny the pretended impossibility of the Saints deception or seduction Another Scripture much discoursed in the behalf of the common Doctrine §. 18. of Perseverance is 1 Pet. 1. 5. who are kept by the Power of God through Faith unto Salvation From hence it is frequently concluded that they who once truly believe and are regenerate Verse 3. are kept by the ingagement of the Mighty Power of God from falling away to destruction I Answer 1. That it is not here said that regenerate Men are kept simply and absolutely by the Power of God unto Salvation but that they are kept by the Power of God THROVGH FAITH unto Salvation Which plainly implieth that the Power of God here spoken of ingageth for no Mans preservation or safeguarding unto Salvation but by the mediation of Faith or any whit longer then their Faith shall continue Now here being nothing said or implied touching the certainty of the continuance of the Faith of the Saints unto the end nor concerning any ingagement of the Power of God for the Perpetuation thereof evident it is that nothing can be concluded from hence for the establishment of the said Doctrine of Perseverance But 2. For the cleer sence and importance of the place it is this that Men once begotten by God to a lively hope by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead Have or may Have the greatest security which the infinite Power of God can afford that persevering in that Faith from whence this hope issueth unto the end they shall be saved The place according to this interpretation runs parallel in sence and import with these and their fellowes But he that shall endure to the end shall be saved a Mat. 24. 13 viz. against all opposition nnd contradiction of impediments whatsoever Be thou faithfull unto death and I will give thee a Crown of life b Revel 2. 10 So with that lately opened upon this Rock will I build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevaile against it c Mat. 16. 18 to which you may add Joh. 10. 18 19. Eph. 1. 19. with many others This exposition perfectly accords with Bullingers Commentary upon the place In the meane time saith He let this suffice us that eternall happinesse is in safety for us or to us which no either Man or Devill can intercept or deprive us of unlesse Faith failes us wherewith neglecting the things which mortall Men so much seek after let us wholly depend upon Heaven d Nobis interim sit satis quôd aeterna faeâ—icitas nobis est in tuto quam nullus hominum aut daemonum possit intercipere modò ne eos nos deficiat fides quâ neglectis rebus mortalium totipendeamus à coelo In the clause modo ne nos deficiat fides so that Faith faile â—â— not He clearly supposeth 1. A possibility that our present Faith may faile us 2. That in case it shall faile us we may perish notwithstanding any thing here delivered by the Apostle concerning our being kept by the Power of God unto Salvation If against this Interpretation it shall be objected that it greatly depresseth §. 19. and in a manner quencheth the spirit of the consolation clearly intended by the Holy Ghost to be administred unto the Saints in the words and that it makes very little for their comfort to hear of their being kept unto Salvation by God or by His Power in case this keeping depends upon their continuance in Faith especially if this also be uncertain and depending upon themselves their diligence and care to procure it I answer 1. That the Heart of this Objection was broken in the former Chapter a Sect. 21. 22. where we shewed that in matters of greatest consequence and most desireable in things appertaining to this life yea as to life it self the most timorous and cautious Men neither wish nor desire any greater security then to have what they desire assured unto them upon their own willingnesse and care either for the procurement or the continued injoyment of it The most impotent lover of life under Heaven and He that lives in the greatest bondage in the World through feare of Death would both of them be highly satisfied if God would but vouchsafe such a promise as this unto them that so long as they should desire the continuance of their lives and take heed of destroying them themselves by unnaturall or desperate courses as by casting themselves into the Fire into the Water down from high Towers c. He would secure them against all other interveniences or means of dissolution whatsoever In like manner it is and ought to be so esteemed by the Saints a consolation rich and glorious that God hath undertaken and ingaged Himself by the
them f Jer. 18. 7. 8. Much after the same manner elsewhere having promised or said that He that hath walked in his statutes and kept his judgments to deal truely being righteous or just shall surely live g Ezek. 18. 7. addeth afterwards But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousnesse and committeth iniquity and doth according to all the abhominations that the wicked Man doth shall he live h Verse 24. In this passage we cleerly see that this Promise made by God to a righteous Man He shall surely live is to be understood with this Proviso and Condition that he departs not from his righteousnesse which is here plainly enough supposed that he may very possibly doe Therefore this Promise also They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion c. being of that kinde of Promise which God makes out of those gracious respects which He beareth to some speciall qualification in Men carrieth no further obligation in it on Gods Part unto those to whom it is made then as and whilest they remaine so qualified as they were when first they came under the Grace of the said Promise i. e. as and whilest they trust in the Lord. So that this Promise hath nothing to doe little or much with that Doctrine of Perseverancâ— which we oppose but looketh quite another way Another Text of Scriâ—ture sometimes urged to prove the Proposition of §. 10. our present Contest viz. that God hath made an absolute Promise of Perseverance unto trâ—â— Beleevers is that of our Saviour But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up to eternal life a John 4. 14 But neither doth this Scripture any whit more if so much then onely face the business in hand For here is no Promise made that they who once beleeve how unworthily soever they shall behave themselves shall still be preserved by God or the Spirit of God in beleeving or that they shall be necessitated always to beleeve but onely a Declaration and Assertion made by Christ of the excellency and desireableness of that life which he comes to give unto the World above that life of Nature which is common unto all This by comparing the words transcribed with those in the former Verse is evident Jesus answered and said unto her Whosoever drinketh of this water i. e. of material water such as this well affordeth shall thirst again i. e. is subject notwithstanding his drinking hereof to thirst again But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him c. q. d. The best means that can be had or enjoyed to render this present life which we live free from inconvenience and that which is troublesom and contrary to it will not effect it the condition of this life being subject to dissolution will not admit of any such freedom or perfection but whosoever shall drink inwardly receive and beleeve that Doctrine which I shall administer unto him shall hereby be made partaker of such a life which shall within a short time if men be careful in the interim to preserve it by reason of the nature and perfect condition and constitution of it be exempt from all sorrow trouble and inconvenience whatsoever as being eternal But 1. that he doth not oppose that life which accrues unto men by §. 11. drinking the water which he gives them unto that natural life which they live by other means in respect of the present condition or constitution of it or as it is enjoyed by men in this present world is evident from hence because he asserts it free from thirst shall never thirst Now we know that the Saints themselves notwithstanding the life of Grace which is in them by drinking the water that Christ hath given them are yet subject to both kindes of thirst as well that which is corporal or natural as that which is spiritual yea that spiritual thirst unto which they are now subject though it argues a deficiency of what they would further have or desire to be and in that respect is troublesom yet is it argumentative of the goodness or blessedness of their condition Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after Righteousness for they shall be filled b Mat. 5 6. By the way this spiritual thirst which is incident even unto that life which is derived by Christ and the waters given by him unto men as it is enjoyed or possessed by them in this present world is according to the purport of our Saviours own arguing in the Scripture under debate an Argument that for the present and whilest it is obnoxious to such a thirst it is dissolveable and may fail For in the latter part of the said passage he plainly implies that the eternalness of that life which springs from the drinking of his waters is the reason or cause why it is exempt from thirst Let the whole passage be read and minded and this will clearly appear If then the eternality of a life be the cause or reason why it is free from the inconveniency of thirst evident it is that such a life which is not free from thirst is not during this weakness or imperfection of it eternal or priviledged against all dissolution I easily grant that such a life as we now speak of may notwithstanding the dissolvableness of it be in a sence called Eternal as it is frequently called in the Scriptures viz. in semine or in fieri as they say as the conception of a man in the womb may be called a man or because in respect of the native and in-bred tendency of it and being duly nourished and preserved it is apt in time to become Eternal formally and properly so called even as the conception of a man in the womb by reason of the natural frame and tendency of it will in time if it meets with no unnatural and destructive accident by the way come to be a man in his full stature and strength But as this frame or tendency of the conception we speak of doth no ways prove that therefore it must of necessity or what will or can befall it come in time to be a perfect man so neither is it necessary that that life in the Saints which is seminally inchoately and conception-wise Eternal should against all possible occurrences of things adverse to it come to be actually properly and compleatly Eternal The result of this discourse amounts clearly to this that our Saviour in the words in hand doth not oppose the life which comes by drinking his water to the life of Nature in respect of the present and imperfect condition of it in this World but in respect of the future and compleat growth and condition of it in the World to come Therefore 2. When he saith that the water which he shall give him shall be in him §. 12. a well of
that we shall also live with Him Knowing that Christ being raised againe from the dead dieth no more death hath no more dominion over Him For in that He died He died unto sin once but in that He liveth He liveth unto God Likewise reckon yee also your selves to be dead indeed unto sin c. The intent of the Apostle in these passages is nothing lesse then to teach or insinuate a non-possibility of their returning or living againe unto sin who at present are dead unto it such a supposall as this is diametrally inconsistent with the emphaticall energy of His exhortation Verse 12. Let not sin therefore reigne in your mortall bodies as likewise with many other pregnant Scriptures which shall be consulted with in due time but to set forth the spirituall condition of the Children of God partly in respect of what it is partly in respect of what it should or ought to be by a metaphor or similitude borrowed from what happened unto Christ corporally or literally after this manner As Christ died once corporally for the abolishing or taking away of the sins of Men but now liveth and acteth for the advancement of the Glory of God and is not obnoxious unto any more dyings in that kinde in like manner they who are his or desire or professe themselves to be His ought to be conformable to Him in these things in a spirituall way as viz. by dying unto sin i. e. by endvouring to destroy and work out all sinfull dispositions from within them and by ceasing from all Sinfull actions and wayes and againe by living unto God i. e. Righteously Holily and so that God may be glorified in the World by the excellency of their conversations and by persevering and continuing in this course of living unto God without relapsing into that death in sin which is opposite hereunto even as Christ liveth unto God so as never to cease thus living unto Him Therefore all that can be inferr'd from this contexture of Scripture is the duty of Perseverance in Faith and Holinesse or necessity of it in respect of the great obligation to it that lieth upon the Saints and that professe interest in Christ and expect Salvation by Him not any absolute not any such necessity of it which is unavoideable or undeclineable by the Saints For to what purpose should they be so solemnly so seriously cautioned against that whereby they were not in any possibility of suffering inconvenience If it were impossible that sin should reigne in their mortall bodies after they were once dead to it needlesse and vaine had that exhortation been Let not sin reigne in your mortall bodies The common maxime among Divines and interpreters of Scriptures is that Similitudes or Metaphors doe not run on all foure meaning that they are not to be extended or applied to the spirituall thing intended to be illustrated by them in all the properties or relations which are found in those things from which they are taken but in respect of that only which suits naturally with the scope of the place where they are used From the consideration of Christs death once suffered by him without being liable to die the second time and so of His living unto God without danger of ever having this life extinguished or taken from Him cannot be proved either that Men who are once dead unto sin can no more live to it or that Men once alive unto God cannot possibly suffer any interruption or losse of this life Because these particulars are not mentioned or insisted upon by the Apostle to prove the absolute but only an Hypotheticall or conditionall necessity of the Saints conforming themselves spiritually unto them or unto Christ Himself in respect of them viz. if they meane to answer the tenor and import of their holy Profession or to obtaine Life and Salvation herein in the end Nor doe these words 1 Joh. 5. 4. For whatsoever is borne of God overcometh §. 53. the World and this is the victory i. e. the means of the victory or that victorious thing that overcometh the World even our Faith imply any absolute necessity that he that is borne of God or that truly believeth viz. at the present and in this respect is victorious over the World must alwayes retaine the strength and vigor of His new Birth or true Faith and so be victorious alwayes and to the end All that can be reasonably and according to the usuall import of such Scripture expressions concluded from this place is 1. That all the true-borne Sons and Daughters of God by means of that Spirit of Faith which works in them in this estate of Regeneration are for the present above the temptations and allurements of the World wherewith others are overcome and hereby remaine in imminent danger of perishing 2. That they are likewise in such a posture or condition by means of their Faith that if they shall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Apostle Pauls word is quit themselves like Men and act their Faith or with their Faith according to the vertue vigor and usefulnesse of it they may make good the ground or standing which they have gained and maintaine their present victory or conquest over the World unto the end But here is not the least or lightest intimation given but that those who are at present victorious over the World by the aid and working of their Faith may through carelesnesse security and inconsideratenesse suffer the World to recover her former advantage and so far to insinuate with them as to cause them to let fall the Shield of Faith out of their hand before they be aware of it See more to this point Sect. 9. of this Chapter Nor is there any whit more reliefe for the cause now in distresse in that §. 54. other place Ver. 18. of this Chapter We know that whosoever is borne of God sinneth not but he that is begotten of God keepeth Himself and that wicked one toucheth Him not For that which is here asserted and held forth by the Holy Ghost is only this that the naturall genius or property of a true-borne In Scriptura saepe ea facta vel futura dicuntur quae fieri â—ecâ—t aut debent sive quâ— ut fiant honestas rerum natura postulat vel quibus ut sâ—ant justa gravisque causa datur Cornel. Lap. in Zachar. 13. 12. Child of God as such and whilest such is to refraine from wayes or customary practises of sin and to set a guard as it were of holy and potent considerations and resolutions about his Heart that the Devill may have no entrance or accesse thither by the mediation of any temptation whatsoever Not that such vigilancy and care as this are always perform'd and taken by Him the contrary hereunto is too much experimented but that there is a certaine propensnesse in that Divine nature wherein He partakes by being borne of God that inclines Him hereunto Men are often in Scripture Dialect
before Him carried the Apostles meaning in the words the same way as they are cited and owned in their respective Interpretations by Musculus upon the place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tollens taking saith He is so expounded by Jerom as that it is declared by the Apostle that those Bodies which are made the Members of an Harlot are taken away and cut off from or out of the Body of Christ He takes saith He the Members of Christ i. e. He cuts Himself off from the Body of Christ who is joyned unto an Harlot Ambrose avoucheth the same when he saith He meaning the Apostle saith thus because such Members which adhere unto an Harlot cease to be the Members of Christ. Certainly it cannot be that a Member of Christ should be a Member also of an Harlot a Tollens ità exponitur à Hierōut indicetur ea corpora quae scorti Membra fiunt sublata esse abscissa è corpore Christi Tollit inquit membra Christi i. e. abscindit se à corpore Christi qui junctus est meretrici Idem ponit Ambr. cum dicit Ait quia meretrici adhaerentia membra desinunt esse membra Christi Certè non potest fieri ut membrum Christi sit membrum scorti c. c. And if it be no dishonour unto Christ to admit and take in such who have been the foulest and most deformed Members of the Devil upon their Repentance for Members of His Body which is nothing but what He doth dayly why should it be any disparagement unto Him to reject such from being Members of this His Body who by their wicked and abominable ways render themselves altogether unworthy the great dignity of such a Relation 3. And lastly for the frequent repetition of Regeneration it is of the same §. 29. consideration with the two former Particulars there is no inconvenience nothing unworthy God or of Christ in it and for men it is of a most happy and blessed accommodation unto them When the Scripture speaks of an impossibility of renewing some by Repentance in case they fall away b Heb. 6. 6. it plainly supposeth that there is such a thing incident unto men or whereof some men are capable as renewing again by Repentance And what is Regeneration being interpreted but a renewing again by Repentance And if men may dye twice spiritually as Jude speaketh of some that were twice dead Vers 12. why may they not live twice or twice receive the life of grace opposite hereunto As it is agreeable to the Righteousness and Holiness of God to denounce the sentence of exclusion from his Kingdom against men whoever they be or have been when they turn Adulterers Fornicators Idolaters c. yea and to execute this sentence accordingly in case they return not from these sins by Repentance before they dye and so to leave them no footing or foundation for their Faith I mean to beleeve or to expect Salvation by Jesus Christ but onely upon their Repentance so is it no less agreeable to the Mercy Patience and goodness of God to promise unto backsliding sinners a re-injoyment of his Favor and Love which is in Christ Jesus upon condition of their renewing again by Repentance and to exhibit unto them accordingly the full fruits thereof in the Salvation of their Souls if they persevere in a course of Repentance unto the end And how sad and deplorable above measure would the condition of many thousands of Saints be in case there were no reiteration of Regeneration I mean of all such who at any time fall into such ways and practises of sin which according to what we have lately heard from the Scriptures exclude from the Kingdom of God! Doubtless there is no more inconvenience for the same person to be twice regenerate then it was or would have been under the Law for the same man to have taken Sanctuary the second time in case He had the second time miscarried in slaying a man at unawares And for Regeneration it self according to the Grammatical and proper signification of the word it imports a reiteration or repetition of some generation or other It cannot import a repetition of the natural generation of men the sence of Nicodemus in John 3. 4. this point was orthodox who judged such a thing impossible therefore it must import a repetition of a spiritual generation unless we shall say which I know is the road Opinion that it signifies onely the spiritual generation with a kinde of reference unto or reflexion upon the birth natural But it is the common sence of Divines that the two generations mentioned the natural and spiritual are membra dividentia and contradistinguished the one unto the other and so the Apostle Peter seems to state represent them a 1 Pet. 1. 23. as also our Saviour Himself Joh. 3. 6. Now I suppose there can hardly any instance be given where the introducing of one contrary form or quality into the subject is termed a reiteration or repetition of the other Calefaction for example is never termed a repetition of frigefaction nor is albi-faction called a reiteration of nigri-faction nor when a regenerate or mortified man dyeth His natural death is He said to reiterate or repeat His spiritual death Therefore I rather conceive that Regeneration which the Scripture makes appropriable onely unto persons living to years of discretion who generally in the days of their youth degenerate from the innocency of their childhood and younger years and corrupt themselves with the Principles and ways of the world relates not unto the natural generation as such I mean as natural but unto the spiritual estate and condition of men in respect of their Natural generation and birth in and upon which they are if not simply and absolutely yet comparatively innocent harmless free from pride malice c. and in respect of these qualifications in grace and favor with God upon the account of the death and sufferings of Christ for them as we shall God willing prove more at large in the second part of this Discourse In the mean time what we now offer as most probable touching the Reason of the name and relation of Regeneration I conceive our Saviour Himself implieth in that Passage of His with His Disciples At the same time came the Disciples unto Jesus saying who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven And Jesus called a little childe unto Him and set Him in the midst of them and said Verily I say unto you except ye be CONVERTED AND BECOME AS LITTLE CHILDREN ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven b Mat. 18. 1 2 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 except ye be turned back as Calvin interpreteth i. e. unless ye recover and re-instate your selves in that estate or interest in the love and favor of God which you are in danger of losing by your ambition by returning to such an humility innocency and simplicity wherein whilest
postulanti ut gratissimè illi possit inservire in eo spiritu quem accepit in nullo vincatur à malitiâ aut fallatur per ignorantiam temeritateÌ„ ac ignaviam aversa peragens omnia praeter decorum divinae voluntatis Talem enim animam manet supplicium mors luctus quod Divinus etiam Apostolus dixit ne cum aliis praedicaverim ipse reprobus efficiar Vides cum Dei Apostolus esset quo pacto timebat Ejus enim est homo naturae ut etiamsi in profundum vitiorum lapsus sit ac peccato deserviat ad id quod bonum est converti possit Et contrà Spiritui Sancto devinctus rerum coelestium ebrietate correptus ad id quod malum est converti potest Ibid. No man considering these things can lightly imagine but that this devout and learned Father who carrieth Blessedness in his name held dogmatically and upon mature consultation had with the best of His understanding in the Mystery of Christ a Possibility that even the best and highest-raised Saints may through sloth and negligence lose this standing fall away and perish Basil sirnamed the Great who lived much about the same time with the last-mentioned §. 13. Author assigning the differences between the condition of the Saints in this present world and that which is to come asserteth this for one That in this life the danger of falling is great upon which account Paul said Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall but there meaning in the future estate of glory their steps are firm or fixed life is unchangeable there is no more danger of being carried away unto sin For neither is here any rebellion or insurrection of the flesh c. Not long after Therefore we men dye often before the body cometh by death to be unyoked or loosed from the Soul So that the life of men is made or naturally apt to be accomplished or fulfilled not only with a change in respect of one age succeeding another but with falls or ruines of their Souls through sin a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Basil in Psal 114. non longè à fine Paulo post 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same Father in another place speaks yet more plainly to the business in hand Many saith he who had gathered much together from their youth when they come to the middle of their years Temptations from evil spirits rising up against them and assaulting them have not been able to bear the stress or burthen of the Winter for want of a good Pilot-ship and so HAVE LOST ALL. And hence it cometh to pass that SOME HAVE MADE SHIPVVRACK OF FAITH others by means of a violent tempest as it were of pleasure rushing upon them have utterly lost that Chastity which they had preserved together from their youth A most sad spectacle for a man after fasting after austereness of living after much praying after much weeping after a continent life it may be for twenty or thirty years together through negligence and carelessness of Soul to be found naked or destitute of all and that such a person who hath greatly prâ—spered and thriven by the trade or work of the Commandments of God should become like unto a Merchant of a great Estate who whilest His ship sailed on Her course with a fair and prosperous wind judged Himself a brave man for the abundance of Goods in Her but having passed through Tempestuous Seas His Vessel comes to be wracked in the very Haven and He pointed at or shewed by men as one that on the sudden and at once hath lost all that abundance which He lately had b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 IdeÌ„ HoÌ„ 12. in Princip Proverb propè sineÌ„ The same Father in another of His Sermons expresseth His sence in the matter yet before us in words of this import But Sin is the Destroyer of that Grace which is given us by the Laver of Regeneration And soon after allegorizing our Saviours Parabolical History of the man who going from Jerusalem towards Jericho fell among Theeves thus But now stripes go before stripping or taking off his rayment that thou mayst learn and know that Sin goeth before the laying aside or loss of that Grace or gracious benefit which is given unto thee by that Love or kindness which the Lord beareth unto men c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Et paulò post 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Idem Hom. 21. circa finem Once more in another Homily this Great Doctor of the Christian Church in his days owneth the Doctrine we now contend for in words to this purpose Thou seest them speaking of the Galatians having the Spirit thou hast also heard Ye are abolished from Christ and again Ye are fallen from Grace What doth He subjoyn after all this making room or granting place for their renewing My little children of whom I travel in birth again He had once begotten them before but He that had once begotten them refuseth not to beget them the second time unto Salvation d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Idem Hom. 28. De Poenitentia propè finem All the Authors hitherto consulted about the sence of Antiquity and of §. 14. the Primitive Christians concerning the possibility or non-possibility of the Saints relapsing unto death had served their generations respectively and were gone off the Stage of Mortality before Pelagius was entered to act His part hereon or at least had not much to do with Him We now come to enquire what their judgment and sence in the same Points were who either synchroniz'd with Pelagius and skirmished Him or else took their turns of Mortality after Him Concerning the former of these that Star of the first magnitude in the Christian Firmament Augustin I mean is I suppose in every mans estimate instar omnium a man that will perform the service alone as sufficiently as if He had twenty more with Him to assist Him Questionless no man was better versed in the affairs of Christianity or that better understood what Doctrines or Opinions ruled in the Christian World or that dissented less from the common and generally-received Tenets of he Church then He. Now to how great a degree He abounded in that Faith which beleeveth a Possibility of the Saints declining and that unto death cannot lightly be unknown to those that are though but competently acquainted with His Writings I shall present the Reader with a first-fruits onely and leave the Harvest for his own gathering It is saith He much to be admired and admired again that God to some of His Children whom He hath regenerated in Christ and to whom He hath given Faith Hope and Love should NOT GIVE PERSEVERANCE when as He forgives such great sins unto strange children and by imparting His Grace unto them makes them children of His own a MiranduÌ„ est quidem multuÌ„que miranduÌ„ quòd Filiis suis deus quibusdaÌ„ quos regeneravit in Christâ— quibus
by a Physician in order to his health as to call it His LIFE or the emphatical means of his preservation in case his life would certainly have been preserved without it So neither have the Elect any competent reason or ground to call or count the long-suffering of the Lord towards them SALVATION i. e. a signal means or opportunity of Salvation to them in case this their Salvation might and certainly should have been obtained by them or conferred on them whether any such long-suffering had been vouchsafed unto them or no. If it be said That as the Salvation of the Saints is infallibly decreed so is it with the like infallibility decreed to be effected by the long-sufferance of God towards them as the means and opportunity thereof and in this respect they may properly enough be required to count or esteem the long-suffering of God towards them Salvation I answer If the Decree of God concerning the Salvation of the Saints be absolute and infallible in the sence asserted and contended for by our Opposers then cannot the execution of this Decree the actual saving of the Saints be suspended upon any fallible or contingent condition such as is the Saints accounting the long-sufferance of God to be Salvation to them or their managing this long-suffering of his in due order to their Salvation no more then the standing or continuance of an house that is well and strongly built upon a rock depends upon those weak or rotten shores or props which are applyed unto it to support it Nor can God be said absolutely and infallibly to decree the coming to pass of such things which are essentially in themselves and in their own Natures contingent it being a Maxim generally granted by our Adversaries themselves That the Decrees of God have no real influence upon their objects or things decreed at least no such which altereth their Natures or essential properties of their Beings It is a common saying amongst them that Praedestinatio nihil ponit in praedestinato i. e. Predestination putteth nothing in or into either the thing or person predestinated And if Predestination putteth nothing in or into the things or persons predestinated there is no reason to judg that any other of his Decrees doth any whit more And if the Decrees of God relating unto contingent events should have any such influx upon them which alters their Natures and changeth the fundamental Laws of their Beings transforming them into things absolutely necessary or necessary with any such necessity which is unavoydable contingency would be onely a name or matter of meer speculation God having with the same infallibility and absoluteness of Decree as say our Adversaries decreed things contingent and things necessary and consequently made all things as to matter of event and coming to pass necessary So that the Salvation of the Saints is not absolutely decreed by God to be effected by His long-suffering towards them Nor could this long-suffering be reasonably by them accounted Salvation in case their Salvation were so absolutely decreed unto them as our contrary-minded Brethren suppose Therefore 6. And lastly when the Apostle saith that the Lord is long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all c. his meaning must needs be that he is long-suffering towards men simply and indefinitely considered or towards mankinde and that this long-suffering of his towards them proceeds out of a gracious and merciful disposition in him which inclineth him not to will or desire the destruction of any Person or Soul of them but that they may generally one and other by the advantage and opportunity of his goodness and long-sufferance towards them be so overcome as to repent unfeignedly of their sins and turn unto him that they may be saved This Interpretation 1. Perfectly accords with the words in their genuine proper and best-known §. 12. significations whereas the other as we lately proved requires such a sence and signification of the two Particles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 any and all wherein they are not to be found throughout the Scriptures 2. The series and story of the Context falls in much more genuinely and fairly with this then with that other interpretation the scope of the words being as we formerly likewise shewed to vindicate the delay which the Lord Christ maketh in not performing His Promise of coming to Judgment with so much celerity and expedition as some conceive it meet that He should perform it from any Pretence or Plea that can in a way of Reason render it offensive unto any man Now look out of how much the greater richer and larger mercy and goodness towards the poor children of men this Delay of His shall be found to proceed and by how much greater the number of those are whose benefit and blessedness shall appeaâ— to be intended by it and concerned in it it must needs be conceived to be proportionably so much the further off from being any just matter of offence unto any man then it would be in case it should be occasioned by any straitness of bowels or the good intended by it be conceived to relate onely to a few 3. The sence of the words and place which this Interpretation exhibiteth is more clearly parallel and consistent with the minde of the Holy Ghost in other Scriptures then that which is issued by the other The Scripture no where at least no where so much commendeth the Patience or long-sufferance of God determinately towards his Elect or towards Beleevers in reference to their Repentance or Salvation as towards the generality of men and more especially towards those that are wicked and ungodly But we are sure saith the Apostle Paul that the Judgment of God is according to Truth against them which commit such things And thinkest thou this O man that judgâ—st them which do such things and dost the same that thou shalt escape the Judgment of God Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth THEE to Repentance But THOV a Rom. 2. 2 3 4. c. And God Himself by His Prophet Ezekiel speaketh thus to the wicked and stiff-necked Jews in general Turn your selves from all your transgressions so iniquity shall not be your ruine And further For why will ye dye O House of Israel For I have no pleasure in the death of Him that dyeth saith the Lord God wherefore turn your selves and live ye b Ezek. 18. 30 32. And elsewhere by the same Prophet Say unto them As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his ways and live Turn ye turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye dye O House of Israel c Ezek. 33. 11 Our Apostle himself speaking of the wicked generation of the old world and of Gods Patience towards them saith thus Which sometimes
World had first passed to bring his Son Jesus Christ into the World to suffer death and so to raise him again from the dead and upon this to anoint him with that precious oyl of joy and gladness by which he was consecrated into the great Honor and Dignity of that Glorious Headship we speak of and whereof he stands possessed at this day and that for this end and with this intent on Gods part that all Men without exception that should for the time to come be born and live in the World should by beleeving in him and submitting to him have the opportunity to enjoy him in the blessed relation of a Glorious Head by whom they might be preserved and kept in peace and blessedness for ever If it be yet demanded how God in the latter of the said Passages may §. 4. be said to reconcile all things i. e. as well Angels as Men as we formerly expounded unto himself by Christ when as between him and his Elect Angels there was no enmity or distance I answer 1. It is not necessary upon the account of any expression here used by the Apostle to suppose that the Angels were in particular reconciled unto God by Christ but those words whether they be things on Earth or things in Heaven may be taken emphatically and import onely such a sence as this that as Gods Project in Christ was for Reconcilement so was it so gloriously vast and comprehensive in this kinde that it compassed and took in not onely the inferior World the Earth and all things therein but even the superior also the Heavens themselves and all things herein viz. as far as they were reconcilable or stood in need of reconcilement unto him So that in case there had been any distance more or less between God and His Angels the course which God had taken by his Christ was abundantly sufficient and proper to have healed it When the same Apostle exhorts Timothy in preaching the Gospel to be instant in season and out of season he doth not suppose or imply that there is any time out of season or unseasonable for the work but the expression is emphatical and imports that he need not be curious or solicitous to distinguish between times and times for the preaching of the Gospel as if there were any danger that he might preach it unseasonably or at any time or times that were not fitting for such a work meaning that all times were seasonable for it The two expressions I conceive do somewhat parallel one the other Yet 2. There is a sence and this not altogether unproper wherein the Angels themselves may be looked upon as reconcilable unto God yea and as actually reconciled unto him by Christ For 1. as Calvin upon the place well observes The Obedience which the Angels perform unto God is not in every respect so compleat or absolute as to satisfie God without a Pacifier coming between And to this Point he citeth that of Eliphaz in Job and his Angels he charged with folly z Job 4. 18. He reads the words In his Angels he will finde iniquity agreeable whereunto is that other saying of the same Author Yea the Heavens are not clean in his sight a Job 15. 15. which he is confident cannot be meant of the evil Angels or Devils Again 2. He observeth further and that with more unquestionableness of truth that the Angels being Creatures are not out of all danger of falling and so have need of confirmation by the Grace of Christ From whence he concludes that there is not so much Righteousness in the Angels themselves which sufficeth for their perfect and full conjunction with God but that they also stand in need of a Peace-maker by whose Grace they may throughly and entirely cleave unto God b Sed tamen duabus de causis Angelos quoque oportuit cum Deo pacificari Nam quùm Creaturae sint extrà lapâ—ûs periculum non erant nisi Christi gratiâ fuissent confirmati Hoc auteÌ„ noÌ„ parvum est momentum ad pacis cuÌ„ Deo perpetuitateÌ„ fixuÌ„ habere statum in justiciâ ne casum aut defectionem ampliùs timeant Deinde in hâc ipsâ obedientiâ quam praestant Deo non est tam exquisita perfectio vt Deo omni ex parte citrà veniam satisfaciat Atque huc procul dubio spectat sententia ista ex libro Job In Angelis suis reperiet iniquitatem Nam si de diabolo exponitur quid magnum Pronunciat autem illîc spiritus summam puritatem sordere si ad Dei justiciam exigatur Constituendum igitur non esse tantum in Angelis Justiciae quod ad plenam cum Deo conjunctionem sufficiat Itaque Pacificatore opus habent per cujus gratiam penitùs Deo adhâ—reant unde rectè Paulus qui in solis hominibus negat residere Christi gratiam sed Angelis etiam communem facit c. When he ascribeth their obnoxiousness to fall unto their being Creatures He plainly supposeth that they have no such confirmation by Christ but that they are in a possibility at least of falling this notwithstanding in as much as they are Creatures still as well as they were before or should have been without this confirmation by Him though it is true their condition is eminently bettered by that benefit of confirmation which they have by Christ being hereby become out of danger though not out of possibility of falling But this by the way Whether the present Righteousness or Obedience of Angels be every ways so absolute as to satisfie God without any further satisfaction from another or no in case without that confirmation which now they have received by Christ they had been liable to offend God and make Him their Enemy but are by means thereof delivered from this danger they may properly enough be said to be reconciled unto God by Him For as such a receipt which is taken to prevent a disease may be as properly called Physique as that which is used to recover a man out of sickness in like manner I see no Reason but that that gracious and friendly act by which a breach likely to happen between two is prevented may be called an act of Reconcilement as well as that whereby actual enmity between them is healed Or 3. And lastly The best Interpretation of the Place may very probably be this which leaveth no place for the difficulty or demand propounded viz. to expound these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not terminatively or to himself but causally for himself which construction the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with an Accusative case frequently admits 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for THEREFORE came I forth c Mark 1 38. So again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. FOR THIS CAVSE came I into the World that I should bear witness unto the Truth d Ioh. 18. 37. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 propter ob Rob. Constant
Men. 2. By Nature cannot signifie by natural Birth nor by communion in the humane Nature nor by descent from Adam or the like because then it would follow that all Children whatsoever dying Infants or Children should perish everlastingly at least if by children of wrath be meant in an estate of Condemnation or under the actual displeasure of God because all partake alike of the natural Birth of the Nature of Man are of a like descent from Adam c. 3. Some ancient Expositors interpreted the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Nature prorsus i. e. utterly or altogether Theophylact and Oecumenius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verè seu germane i. e. truly or indeed 4. Chrysostoms Interpretation of the Place is of much affinity with that first mentioned The Apostle saith he saith we have provoked God and made Him wroth that is we were wrath and nothing else For as he that is the childe of a man is by nature a man even so we also were children of wrath even as others that is none was free but we all did things deserving wrath o 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 5. And lastly By children of wrath the Apostle may very probably mean Persons that had been lost and were worthy wrath or deserving death And thus Calvin interprets By children of wrath saith he understand simply such as were lost and worthy of eternal death p Per filios irae simpliciter intellige perditos ac morte aeternâ dignos According to the import of this Interpretation of the phrase children of wrath all Men may truly be said to be by nature i. e. by natural Propagation or by their descent from Adam children of wrath and yet be born in an estate of Justification or in an actual and immediate capacity of Salvation by Christ. As it is with those who having arrived at years of discretion and actually beleeve they carry original defilement still about with them they were in respect of what was derived unto them from Adam in their natural conception and birth wholly lost and are still notwithstanding their Faith in the rigor and strictness of Justice worthy of eternal death and yet by means of their Faith and the gracious Compact and Covenant which God hath made with those that beleeve they are not in an estate of Condemnation or liable to eternal Death In like manner Children may possibly be conceived and so born into the world with original sin and yet not with or under the guilt of it this may be dissolved and taken away by the superabounding Grace of God vouchsafed unto the World by Jesus Christ though the sin it self remaineth So again Children as soon as conceived or born may be and are in strictness of account worthy of eternal Death by Reason of that communion they had in Adams sin being in his loyns when he sinned and yet this worthiness may not be imputed unto them or charged upon them being as we suppose it clear from the Scriptures expiated or attoned by the great Sacrifice of Christ in His Death This Interpretation of the Apostles saying We were by nature children of wrath even as others is I conceive of all the rest least liable to any material exception But we have gone beyond the line of our late intentions in following this chase We retire with a purpose to conclude this Chapter with the addition onely of one Argument more for the confirmation of our main Doctrine Therefore In the thirteenth and last place The Universality of Redemption purchased §. 41. Argum. 13. by Christ I further argue and demonstrate from the consideration of some of the Principal Types under the Law by which the compass and unlimited extent of it was prefigured I shall insist onely upon two the Brazen Serpent and the Feast of Jubilee First Concerning the Brazen Serpent our Saviour himself owneth and asserteth a typical correspondency in the erection and usefulness hereof with himself in respect of that great and gracious Design and Purpose of God in sending Him unto the World And as Moses saith He lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up That whosoever beleeveth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life q Ioh. 3 14 15 A Type being a kinde of Similitude and the property or condition of this not being in the Proverbial expression to run on all four i. e. to answer or hold proportion in all Particulars indeed many times not in more then one onely therefore our Saviour to prevent all misunderstanding in the interpretation or application of the Type mentioned particularizeth that very respect or consideration in himself and his sending into the World which was prefigured and expressed in the Type alledged by him in these words That whosoever beleeveth in Him should not perish c. To understand clearly what there was in the Type answering in a way of pre-signification that consideration in Christs coming or sending into the World which himself here insists upon as presignified hereby we must have recourse to the History concerning the erection of the Brazen Serpent unto which also himself sendeth us in that Particle of comparison or resemblance As As Moses lifted up c. The original of this Brazen Serpent together with the Counsel and Intention of God in his Erection Moses recordeth thus Make thee saith He to Moses a fiery Serpent viz. in similitude or form and set it upon a pole and it shall come to pass that EVERY ONE THAT IS BITTEN when He looketh upon it shall live r Numb 21 8 From which words it is most evident that this fiery Serpent in form as Christ came in the similitude of that sinful flesh whose sting is so mortal to the World was not intended by God as a means of healing or preservation to a certain definite or determinate number of Persons or that such and such by Name and no other should look upon it in order to their healing or that whosoever in the event did look upon it and no other but these should be healed by it but that whosoever would might look upon it for which end also Moses was commanded to set it up on high upon a pole where it might be readily visible unto all and that whosoever should or did look upon it being bitten or stung with any fiery Serpent might be healed thereby Now all Men without exception being as we all know and confess stung and that mortally with the fiery Serpent Sin unless Christ should be lifted up upon the Cross i. e. suffer Death with an Intent on Gods part 1. That every man if he pleased might beleeve in Him And 2. That every man that should beleeve in Him should be saved by Him He should altogether dis-answer that famous Type we speak of and that in that very consideration and respect wherein He pleads a special conformity to it If it be replyed The correspondency between Christ and the Brazen
debt of any other by dying whereas amongst the Sons of Men our Lord Jesus alone was found in whom all Men â—ere crucified all Men dyed all Men were buried yea and all Men rose again g Singulares quippe in singulis mortes fuerunt nec alterius quisquam debitum sâ—o funere sâ—lvit cum inter filios hominuÌ„ solus Dominus nostor Iesus extiterit in quo omnes crucifixi omnes mortui omnes sepulti omnes etiam sint suscitati Leo. Serm. 12. de Passione Domini Elsewhere thus That general and deadly Hand-writing of our being sold under sin and death was cancelled and made voyd and the bargain of our captivity passed into a right of Redemption h Evacuatum igitur est illud generale venditionis nostrae lethale chirographum pactum captivitatis in jus transiit Redemptionis Idem Serm. 10. de Passione Domini Once more That He Christ might repair the life of ALL MEN He took on Him the cause of all Men and that which He of all Men was not bound to do He made voyd the force of the old hand writing by making payment of the debt due thereby FOR ALL MEN i Vt autem repararet omnium vitam recepit omniuÌ„ causam vim veteris chirographi quod solus inter omnes non debuit pro omnibus solvendo vacuavit Idem Epist 72. Fulgentius about the year 500 succeeded His Predecessors in the inheritance of their Judgment concerning the Universality of Redemption by Christ. As the Devil saith He smote or wounded whole man by deceiving him so God by assuming whole man saved him that so one and the same might be acknowledged both the Maker and REDEEMER OF THE WHOLE CREATVRE or Creation who was able both to make that which was not and to REPAIR or restore THAT WHICH WAS FALLEN k Sicut totum hominâ— Diabolus decipiendo percussit ita Deus totum suscipiendo salvavit vt agnosceretur idem creaturae totius Conditor Redemptor qui potuit quod non erat facere quod dilapsum est reparare Fulgent ad Thrasimund l. 1. c. 14. Primasius who lived somewhat more then an hundred years after Augustin §. 11. helped to keep the Doctrine we plead alive in the World As Christ saith He suffered reproach from his own he means the Jews whom He CAME TO REDEEM when they said unto Him Thou hast a Devil and offered Him all other indignities even to his Passion it self l Sicut enim Christus improperiuÌ„ sustinuit à suis quos vâ—nerat reâ—mere quadâ— ei dixerant Damonium haâ—es catera maâ—â— ei intulerâ—nt usque ad Passionem c. Primas ad Heb. c. 11. so did Moses likewise c. If Christ came to redeem those who charged Him with having a Devil with casting out Devils through Beel-zebub and who maliciously prosecuted Him with all manner of injuries and evil entreaties and this unto death doubtless He came not to redeem the Elect onely or such who in conclusion repent beleeve and are saved for some of these and particularly those that said He had an unclean spirit were charged by Him with that sin which He saith shall not be forgiven neither in this World nor in the World to come Matt. 12. 32. compared with Mark 3. 28 29 30. The same Author elsewhere saith that Christ as much as lay in Him DYED FOR ALL MEN how ever his Death profiteth none but onely those who are willing to beleeve in him m Ita Christus quantum in se fuit pro omnibus mortuus est quanquam non profit ejus Passio nisi soluÌ„modo iis qui in eum credere volunt Idem ad Heb. c. 2. And yet again The Father Son and Holy Ghost is or are the God of all Men and therefore desireth that ALL THAT HE HATH MADE SHOVLD BE SAVED A little after The Blood of Christ hath verily been shed FOR ALL MEN benefiteth them that beleeve n Pater Filius Spiritus Sanctus omniuÌ„ hominum Deus est ideo cupit omnes salvari quos fecit Et paulò post pro omnibus quidem effusus est sanguis Christi sed credâ—ntibus prodest c. Idem in 1. ad Tim. c 2. c. Gregory sirnamed the Great about the year 570 counted it neither Heresie nor Error to teach the same Doctrine The Father then saith he being just and punishing him who was just meaning Christ disposeth all things justly because upon this account HE JVSTIFYETH ALL or all things because he condemneth him for Sinners who was without sin o Pater ergo cum justus sit justuÌ„ puniens omnia justé disponit quia per hoc cuncta justificat quòd eum qui sine peccato est pro peccatoribus damnat c. Greg. Mag. Moral l. 3. c. 11. Elsewhere he termeth Christ THE REDEEMER OF MANKINDE p Redemptor quippe humani generis Mediator Dei hominis per carnem factus c. Idem Moral lib. 9. c. 21. vid. lib. 33. c. 10. and in another place expresly saith that Christ REDEEMED ALL MEN by his Cross but yet that it remaineth that he that endevors to be redeemed i. e. to enjoy the Redemption purchased for him by Christ and to reign with God be crucified q Remansit quidem quia non omnia nostra Christus explevit Per crucem suam quidem omnes redimit sed remansit vt qui redimi regnare cum Deo nititur crucifigatur Idem in 1. Reg. cap. 9. 24. Bede somewhat above an hundred years after Gregory propagated the same Doctrine in the World for Truth Joseph saith he in the Egyptian language signifieth Saviour of the World This is manifest in Christ since under the figure of Joseph He is declared to be the SAVIOUR not of the one onely Land of Egypt but also of the WHOLE WORLD And soon after But in our Joseph meaning Christ the WHOLE WORLD deserved to receive increase r Vocaturque Joseph linguâ Egyptiacâ Salvator Mundi Manifestum est de Christo quando sub figurâ Joseph Salvator ostenditur non tantum unius terrae Egypti sed totius Mundi Bed in Gen. c. 41. Et mox In nostro verò Joseph augmentum habere Mundus omnis meruit Theophylact who lived more then two hundred of years after him viz. about the year 930 as some of our best Chronologers calculate the time of his mortality is a sufficient witness that the same Doctrine was alive in the Church in his time He verily saith he speaking of Christ dyed FOR ALL MEN and canst not thou endure to pray for them s 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theophylact in 1 Tim. c. 2. 6. Elsewhere we have words to this effect from his Pen As by the offence or fall of one the curse came upon all Men that which before he called judgment or condemnation he now calleth an offence that is the sin of
dyed for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which dyed for them and rose again 98 99 100 c. 5. 19. To wit that God was in Christ reconciling the World unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them Pag. 87 88 c. 7. 1. Having therefore these Promises let us cleanse our selves c. 334 8. 12. For if there be first a willing minde it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not 17 548 10. 15 16. Not boasting of things without our measure and not to boast in another mans line 331 12. 14. but Parents for the children 70 13. 14. and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all 286 Gal. 1. 6. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that calleth you unto another Gospel c. 362 363 2. 21. For if righteousness come by the Law then Christ is dead in vain 459 3. 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were the Promises made He saith not And to seeds as of many but as of one And to thy seed which is Christ 458 4. 11. I am afraid of you lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain 363 6. 1. Brethren if any man be overtaken in a fault c. 323 Ephes 1. 4. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundations of the world that we should be holy c. 62 63 461 1. 6. To the praise of the glory of his Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved 462 1. 10. That in the Dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in Heaven c. 436 1. 11. who worketh all things after the counsel of his owâ— will 67 429 430 482 1. 13 14. In whom also after ye beleeved ye were sealed with the spirir of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance c. 255 256 1. 22. And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the Head over all things to the Church 436 438 c. 2. 3. and were by nature children of wrath 518 4. 30. whereby ye are sealed to the day of Redemption 256 5. 5. For this ye know that no whoremonger nor covetous man who is an Idolater hath any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ c. 272 5. 18. but be ye filled with the Spirit 325 5. 23. and he is the Saviour of the body 252 253 Philip. 1. 6. Being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ 241 242 1. 7. Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all because I have you in my heart c. Ibid. 2. 12 13. work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling For it is God that worketh in you both to will c. 176 Colos 1. 20. And having made peace through the blood of his Cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him I say whether they be things in Earth or things in Heaven 436 437 c. 1. 21. And you that were sometimes alienated c. 439 1. 23. If ye continue in the Faith grounded and setled c. 237 2. 8 20. the rudiments of the world 522 523 1 Thess 5. 23. And the very God of peace sanctifie you wholly and I pray God that your whole spirit and Soul and Body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 238 239 2 Thess 3. 3. But the Lord is faithful who shall stablish you and keep you from evil 235 1 Tim. 1. 18. This charge I commit unto thee son Timothy according to the Prophecies which went before on thee that thou by them mightest war a good warfare c. 357 1. 19. which some having put away concerning Faith have made shipwrack 353 354 c. 2. 4. Who will have all men to be saved and c. 103 104 284 2. 6. Who gave himself a ransom for all men 97 98 5. 15. For some are turned back already after Satan 365 6. 3. and to the Doctrine which is according to godliness 333 6. 13 14. I give thee charge in the sight of God that tho ukeep this Commandment without spot unrebukable unâ—il the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ 239 2. Tim. 1. 3. whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience 355 356 1. 12. I am perswaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day 254 2. 13. If we beleeve not yet he abideth faithful he cannot deny himself 359 2. 18. and overthrow the faith of some 358 2. 19. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure and hath t is seal The Lord knoweth who are his c. 359 360 c. 4. 2. preach the Word be instant in season out of season 440 Tit. 1. 1. according to the Faith of Gods Elect and the acknowledging of the Truth which is after godliness 243 244 269 283 c. 1. 4. To Titus mine own Son after the common Faith 489 2. 11. For the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all men 406 407 2. 14. Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity c. 250 3. 4. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man appeared c. 408 409 c. Hebr. 1. 3. upholding all things by the Word of his power 3 2. 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great a Salvation 480 492 499 2. 9. that he by the Grace of God should taste Death for every man 102 103 2. 16. For verily he took not on him the nature of Angels 484 3. 6. whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoycing of the hope firm unto the end 260 261 6. 4 5 6. For it is unpossible for those who were once enlightened if they fall away to be renewed again c. 282 283 c. 329 7. 25. seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them 248 9. 24. now to appear in the presence of God for us 248 249 c. 9. 27. As it is appointed unto men once to dye 9 10. 26. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledg of the Truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin 416 417 c. 10. 29. Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing c. 148 149 c. 282 283 c. 10. 38. Now the just shall live by Faith but if any man draw back my Soul shall have no pleasure in him 290 11. 6. for he that cometh unto God must beleeve that he is and that he is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek him 507 11. 7. By Faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as