garment was speechlefs, as being felfcondemned, rü yap under ἔχειν ἀντειπεῖν κατέκρινεν ἑαυτὸν, for having nothing to fay againft the fentence to be paffed upon him, he condemned himself, faith Chryfoftom; but why fhould he be fpeechless, if he could have pleaded with truth and a good confcience, that he never had or could have means to procure fuch a garment, and therefore ought not to be caft out into outer darkness, for that which he could never help? 5thly. In the parable of the talents, he who improved not his fingle talent is declared to be (q) a wicked and flothful fervant, and that because he did not what he ought to have done. Now there can be no obligation to impoffibilities, no iniquity in not doing what he could not do, and no punishment due on that account, this being to punish him because he did not an impoffibility; and Chrift by faying to all who had received talents (r) negociate till I come, demonftrates he conceived they all had power fo to do. SECTION IX.-7thly. That which doth render this doctrine most worthy to be rejected by all who truly love their God and Savior, is this confideration; that it unworthily reflects upon our good and gracious God, our bleffed Lord, and merciful high priest, who is in fcripture often faid, but by this doctrine is denied, to be the Savior of the world. For ift. It in effect declares, that he who is in fcripture ftyled love, hath from eternity hated the greatest portion of mankind, fo far as to leave them under, and even condemn them to, a state of everlasting and inevitable mifery. For, if he himself faith, (J) Facob have I loved, and Efau have I hated, only because he laid the mountains and heritage of Efau wafte, is there not greater reafon to fay, he hated all thofe fouls whom he hath utterly excluded from any intereft in that Jefus who alone delivers from the wrath to come? If he is faid to (t) hate his brother in his heart, who fuffers him to go on in his fin without reproof, must not he hate those fouls much more, who by his decree of preterition concerning them, when he was defigning the great work of man's redemption, hath laid them under a fad neceffity of finning, fo as to be obnoxious to ftill greater mifery? Our Lord makes it the particular cafe of Judas, that (u) it had been better for him he had not been born; whereas this doctrine makes it the case of all, fave only the elect. Now can we imagine, that that God who will require the blood of fouls from every watchman who doth not warn the finner to turn from his iniquity that he die not, fhould himself leave them inevitably to pèrish (9) Matth. xxv. 26, 27.—(r) Luke xix. 13.—(s) Mal. i. 2, 3. -(tj Lev. xix. 17.(u} Matth. xxvi. 24. in it? So that what he doth threaten to him only, (v) whe being often reproved hardeneth his heart, fhould be the ftate and cafe of almost all men before they came into the world, viz. to be deftroyed without remedy. 2dly. It reprefents that God, who is continually declared in fcripture to be a God rich in goodness, plenteous in mercy, and of great pity towards all his creatures, as having no bowels of compaffion, no drop of mercy, no inclination to do good to the generality of his moft noble creatures, obnoxious to death and endlefs mifery; and therefore as proper objects of his mercy and compassion, as those whom in his love and pity he redeemed but rather an unmoveable refolution before they had a being, to withhold from them his lovingkindness and mercy, and to fhut his bowels of compaffion up against them. And is not this to represent our God and Savior more uncompaffionate to the fouls of men, than were that priest and Levite to their brother's body, who feeing him ready to perish by his wounds, (w) paffed unconcerned by another way? When this great lord faith to his fervant, to whom he had forgiven the great debt, (x) oughteft not thou to have had compaffion on thy fellow fervant, even as I had pity upon thee? Would not this doctrine teach him to anfwer, Lord, I have chofen to deal with him as thou dealeft with the greatest part of mankind, to whom thou never intendeft to forgive the least mite, and on whom thou wilt never have the leaft compaffion? And when the apoftle inquires, (y) if any man fee his brother in need, and fhutteth up his bowels of compaffion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? Would not this doctrine teach him to reply, even as it dwells in God himself towards the generality of mankind? To make this more apparent, let us confider these four things: 1. That God by fending his Son to be the Savior of the world, or in giving him up to the death, had no other primary end than the glorifying himself in the falvation of men; (z) he fent his Son to be the propitiation for our fins, that we might live through him; (a) that the world through him might be faved; had therefore defigned his death for the fal vation of all men upon conditions poffible to be performed by them, he must have glorified himself more, than by reftraining the defign of it only to the falvation of a few. adly. That the death of Chrift was a fufficient facrifice for the fins of the whole world, and fo might have procured a conditional pardon for all men as well as for the elect, had God been pleafed to give him up to the death for us all. (v) Prov. xxix. 1.- -(w) Luke x. 31, 32. 33.) John iii. 17. -(%) 1 Jchn iv, 9. 10. -fx) Matth. xviij. -(a) John iii. 17. 3dly. That it could be no ways more dishonorable to God, or more inconfiftent with his justice, wisdom, hatred of fin, or any other of his attributes, to have defigned Chrift's death for the falvation of all men, than to intend it only for the falvation of those few whom they ftyle the elect. 4thly. That they who are fuppofed to be excluded by God from any benefit by Chrift's death, were as much the offspring of the Father of Spirits, and the fouls that he had made, as much pertakers of the fame nature in which our Savior fuffered, and every whit as miferable, and as much wanting an intereft in our Lord's falutary paffion, as they who are fupposed to be the objects of the pardon and falvation purchased by our Savior's blood. Can it be then confiftent with the grace, goodness and mercy of the divine nature, and of the lover of fouls, and the relation which this father of Spirits beareth to them, to confign the death of Chrift to procure pardon and falvation only to a few, and to fuffer the far greater part of fouls which were equally his offspring, as capable of falvation by the very fame means, as miferable, and fo in the fame need of pardon and falvation with the reft; to remain inevitably miferable only for want of God's defigning the fame facrifice for the procuring mercy to them as well as others ? If it be faid God doth this to declare his fovereignty, or prerogative over his creatures, in fhewing and denying mercy to whom he pleaseth : I anfwer, God never exercifeth any fovereignty, or prerogative over his creatures, which is repugnant to his rich grace, goodnefs, love, mercy and compaffion to the fouls which he hath made; and therefore never fo as to leave the greatest part of them obnoxious to eternal and inevitable ruin, when, he hath a remedy provided fufficient to prevent it, if he did not arbitrarily exclude them from it. When under the Roman and the Grecian government the Father had an absolute power over his children, and in the Eaftern nations the Prince had abfolute power over his fubjects; would this prerogative and fovereignty excufe them from a feverity and rigor unworthy of a Father or a Sovereign, in leaving moft of their fubjects and their children under the extremeft mifery, when by the very fame means that a few of them have been refcued from it, they might all have been fo? And shall we then impute that rigor, want of natural affection and compaffion to the lover of fouls, and the benign government of our heavenly Father, which we could not but condemn and abhor in earthly governors, and in the fathers of our flesh? And 3dly. This opinion renders the God of truth and of fincerity, and who hath magnified his truth above all his name, fo full of guile, deceit and infincerity, diffimulation and hy. pocrify, that he who doth conceive God may addrefs himself to his creatures without diftinction, as in the fcripture he continually doth, and yet hath left them deftitute of a capacity of mercy, and of all ability to help themselves, may doubt of his fincerity and truth in all the declarations contained in his facred word. For, ift. It reprefents that God who declares exprefsly and affirmatively, that he would have all men to be faved, all men to come to repentance, and fwears that the converfion of a finner from that iniquity in which he may die would be highly pleafing to him; and negatively, that he would not that any one fhould perifh, that he delighteth not in, would not the death of him that dies; denying to fend his Son to die for their falvation, or to vouchfafe them means fufficient to repent and turn to him; and fo rendering it impoffible they fhould repent, or avoid perifhing in their iniquity. 2dly. It reprefents him who declares, he would have purged them who would not be purged, he would have gathered them who would not be gathered; and inquires what could he have done more to enable them to bring forth good grapes, who only brought forth fouer grapes; denying them any interest in the blood of cleanfing, or any fufficient means to enable them to bring forth good grapes. 3dly. It introduceth that God, who, according to the whole tenor of the fcripture, calls upon men without exception to repent and be converted, that their fins may be blotted out, and they may not die in them, fending all his prophets to reduce his people from their finful courfes, because he had compaffion on them, inquiring of them, Why will you die? Will you not be made clean? When fhall it once be? Yea, waiting that he might be gracious, and stretching out his hand all the day lang to a rebellious people, and exercifing the richness of his goodness, patience, and long fuffering, to bring them to repentance; denying to the most of them to whom he thus affectionately fpeaks, any poffibility of being made clean, of turning to him, or repenting, or efcaping death. 4thly. It reprefents him who faith with the greateft paffion, (b) Oh that they were wife, that they would confider their latter end! (c) Oh that my people had hearkened to me, and Ifrael had walked in my way! (d) Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! (e) Oh that thou hadst known in this thy day the things which belong to thy peace; and inquireth in the most affecting manner, (f) How Shall I give (b) Deut. v. 29.(e) Luke xix. 42•~ (c) Pfal. xxxi. 13.-(d) Ifa. xlviii. 18.(f) Hof. xi. 8. thee up, Ephraim? How Shall I deliver thee, Ifrael? How Shall I make thee as Admah? How fhall I fet thee as Zeboim? My heart is turned in me, my repentings are kindled; after all these seeming transports of affection and defire of their welfare, and yearning bowels of compaffion, refufing to have the leaft compaffion for them, and decreeing to leave them without a Savior, without means of being spiritually wife, truly obedient, or having any faving knowledge of the things belonging to their peace. 5thly. It reprefents him as one encouraging the foolish, and the fcorner, (g) to turn at his reproof, by a promife of pouring his Spirit on him; the fimple (h) to forfake the foolish and live; the wicked man (i) to forfake his way, and turn to the Lord that he may be abundantly pardoned; (h) to cease from evil, and learn to do well, that though his fins were as crimfon he might be white as wool; yea, more concerned to find the loft fheep, than for the ninetynine that went not aftray, and rejoicing more at the return of his prodigal Son, than in him who never wandered from him; yet leaving the generality of men under an incapacity to return from their implicity and folly, or to cease to do evil; leaving the prod igal to famith on his hufks, and the loft fheep without ability to return to the fhepherd of his foul. SECTION 10.-Laftly. This doctrine is vifibly destructive of almoft all the acts of piety and virtue. And, 1ft. All prayer and fupplication is the duty of all chrif tians (it is to be performed by them in every place, and at all times (m) without ceafing; it is to be offered up for all chriftians, and all men, and this in faith, believing that we fhall receive our petitions; (n) and all thefe prayers are to be put up in the name of Chrift, imploring all mercies and bleflings for his fake, and through his meritorious paffion, which how can we do ferioufly, and in faith, if we may reafonably question whether Chrift's merits do refpect us, or are available in our behalf? How can we do this for all men, provided God himself hath taught us that his Son never died for all, nor did he defign his paffion for the benefit of all, but only for the benefit of his elect; for whom alone we cannot pray, because we cannot know them? Moreover, we have no access to God the Father but by him by whom (0) we are brought nigh to God; it is through faith in (p) him we have this freedom of accefs with confidence; it is only through the blood of Jefus that we can come to God with full affurance of faith; how therefore (g) Prov. i. 23.(b) Prov. ix. 6.. (i) Ifa. v. 16, 18. -(1) Eph. vi. 18.. 1, 8. -(0) Eph. ii. 13, 18. (m) 1 Theff. v. 17.- 7. -(k) Chap. i. -(n) Tim. ii. |