A TREATISE OF Election and Reprobation; In Vindication of the Universal Grace AND LOVE of GOD TO MANKIND.  
By B. L.  
LONDON, Printed and Sold by T. Sowle, in White-Hart-Court in Gracious-street, 1700.   

THE PREFACE.  
IT is God's Will, That Testimony should be born, Age after Age, unto his Truth; and that Error, and the Deceiveableness of unrighteousness, as well as Ungodliness, and Sin, should be Testified against; the one being an inlet to the other, and the Gate in at which it enters; and whoever is enveloped in the one, is besmeared with the other. But as Light springs up, so will Holiness; for they are coincident, as Sin and Error.  
Light and Truth goes together, accompanying each other; and so does Darkness and Error.  
He that hath the clear Light and Knowledge of God, and lives therein, lives an holy Life, and is a true Worshipper of Him. Let him departed from this, and Wisdom soon departs from him; for into a malicious Soul, Wisdom will not enter; nor dwell in the Body that is subject unto Sin; such an one shall have no fellowship with Her.  
The Wisdom of the Truth, cannot be held without the Obedience of the Truth, nor the Light without the Life of it. I have lived some Years, and observed, and never saw any Man swerve from Faithfulness, but as the gathering together of thick Clouds, he became darkened, be his Understanding never so clear before; of which we have a miserable Instance in G. Keith.  
But he that testifieth against Error and Darkness, testifieth against the Root of Ungodliness and Sin, and the Region of Evil, in which all Filthiness of Abomination is committed; for all these are Works of the Night.  
And when these destructive Holds of Satan are discovered, Men will fly unto God's Hold.  
Where it is Day, it is Light, they are not separable. And it is Light's Nature to discover and manifest things, and these Discoveries are of the Truth, and for the Information of Man in the things of God; and the Understanding being truly Righted, draws the Will after it, tending much to its righting also.  
It is God's Will and Work, that the Light of his Servants shine before Men; there's no cause to be afraid of, or suspect the Day, 〈◊〉 it's Light; this is concomitant with its warmth. Light and Nourishing Heat goes together, as Wisdom and Life; for Wisdom is a Tree of Life to them that lay hold on her, as is Ignorance and Error a Tree of Death.  
And there's scarce any Error to be met with so deep and depraved, as this Man run into, about Election and Reprobation, which stubs up all Religion by the Roots, and stands, Dragonlike, ready to devour the Gospel, and evacuate all Godliness.  
So it is here endeavoured, to state and clear those Doctrines from Men's false Notions thereof: Which, when I had gone a pretty way through, came accidentally to my hands a Book of George Keith's, which he calls Truth Advanced; whose Arguments upon this Subject falling quite contrary to mine, and unto the Truth, it appeared to me necessary to give an Answer unto it, which is accordingly done in the end of this Book.  
B. L.   

A TREATISE OF Election and Reprobation, etc.  

The Introduction.  
Reciting those Scriptures so frequently Urged, in Defence of Election and Reprobation, and the Inferences usually (though falsely) drawn from them; with some gross Absurdities that Doctrine naturally resolves into.  
PEter the Apostle maketh this Remark upon the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, That in them are some things hard to be understood, 
2 Pet. 3.16.  which they that are unlearned and unstable wrist, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own Destruction: And it is still so, as it was then; the things in his Epistles are the same, the difficulty in understanding them (and many others, of which some are hereafter considered) the same now as then; and the unlearned and unstable, like those of old, make the same ill use of them now, the others did then.  
And which those places are, seems to appear from the many great and continued Disputes that have arisen about them, and filled the Minds of People unto this day; as these following, and some others.  
Rom. 8. v. 29. Whom he did foreknow, he also did Predestinate, etc.  
30. Whom he did Predestinate, them he also Called; and whom he Called, them he also Justified; and whom he Justified, them he also Glorified.  
Rom. 9 v. 11. The Children being not yet Born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to Election might stand, not of Works, but of him that Calleth.  
12, 13. It was said unto her, The Elder shall serve the Younger; as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.  
18. Therefore hath he Mercy on whom he will have Mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.  
22. What if God, willing to show his Wrath, and to make his Power known, endured with much long-suffering the Vessels of Wrath fitted to destruction.  
23. And that he might make known the Riches of his Glory on the Vessels of Mercy, which he had afore prepared unto Glory.  
Ephes. 1. v. 4. According as he hath chosen us in him, before the Foundation of the World, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love.  
5. Having Predestinated us unto the Adoption of Children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his Will.  
11. In whom also we have obtained an Inheritance, being Predestinated according to the purpose of him, who worketh all things after the Counsel of his own Will.  
Before I enter upon a particular Disquisition of these Scriptures, there are a few things to be premised. As, 

1st, That for special and eminent Services, God hath been pleased to choose out some particular Persons, as peculiar Instruments (as his choice) Prophets and Ministers, and hath attended, preserved and supported them, by his special Providence and divine Power, for those eminent Services in his Work and Ministry: As the Prophet Jeremiah, before form, known of God, and sanctified, before he came forth of the Womb. 
Jer. 1.5. Luke 1.15. Acts 9.15.  John Baptist, filled with the Holy Ghost from his Mother's Womb. And the Apostle Paul, a Chosen Vessel.  
2dly, These and the like being granted, do not make for an absolute Election, either of a certain definite number of Persons, of all that are or shall be saved; nor of a personal, absolute, unconditioned Predestination, of the greatest part of Mankind to Damnation.  
3dly, That we oppose the Notion of Reprobation, as it opposeth Universal and Saving Grace, as come by Jesus Christ; and the Notion of a Personal Election absolute, as it is set up to limit and confine Saving Grace only to a few Persons, and indulge that few as secure in Sin, etc.    
Which being premised, I observe, That these Scriptures, with several others which are herein after spoken to, seem to me to be some of those places hard to be understood, of which the Apostle made the Observation; but be it so or not, there is a great Misunderstanding of them amongst many People, who from hence, 

1. Distinguish all Mankind into Elect and Reprobate.  
2. The first they make but a very small Number.  
3. The latter, an huge Number, and abundance of Infants and young Children among them.  
4. They conclude all the first under Salvation.  
5. And all the last under Damnation.  
6. And that the first can in no wise miss of Salvation; nor the latter escape Damnation, by any endeavours whatsoever, they are both so fixed and unavoidable upon them.  
7. And they also hold, That the Salvation of the one, and Damnation of the other, are by an absolute Decree, without any respect to their Good or Evil Deeds.    
All which resolves into this: 

1st, That God loved but a few, and hated the far greater part of Mankind, from all Eternity, or from the Fall, or at least from before they were Born.  
2dly, That those few, whom he loved, he ordained to Salvation, so positively and absolutely, as that they could never, in any wise, or by any means, miss it.  
3dly, That that great Number, whom God hated, he ordained to Damnation, after the same positive and arbitrary manner, and so absolutely as they can never in any wise, by what means so ever, avoid it.  
4thly, That as God, of his own freewill and choice, loved those few, without respect to any thing in them, either Good or Evil, when as yet they had done nothing to deserve or procure it; so after the same manner he hated the other great Multitude (without any cause, or respect, but to his own Will) having yet done nothing to procure or deserve it.    
Now, it is hereby intended to detect, and remedy, and to expose the Evil Tendency and Consequence of such Abuse and Misunderstanding of these, and several other Scriptures, of like import.   

The First Part. Treating Principally of Reprobation.  

CHAP. I.  
Wherein is laid down Two Positions, opposing the Doctrine of Reprobation, and the same demonstrated by sundry Arguments: 1. From God's Work of the Creation in the beginning, and from his Divine Nature and Attributes. 2. From Solomon's Observation of that great Work. 3. From the Rejoicing of the Heavenly Host over that Blessed Work. 4. From the Creature made; the Universality of Christ's Death, and of the Gospel, and God's Grace and Love to Mankind. 5. From sundry Destructive and Pernicious Consequences, naturally and clearly resulting from this Doctrine. 6. From sundry clear Texts and Authorities of Scripture.  
AND for the better ordering the Argument to treat of Election and Reprobation severally, to avoid the inconvenience of keeping no Method, by handling them Promiscuously, I shall begin with Reprobation, and show: 

1. That God did not Hate and Reprobate the greatest, or any part of Mankind from all Eternity, or from the Fall, or from before they were Born.  
2. But that we came forth into this World free and clear from any such fixed Decree, accompanied with the Grace and Love of God, being God's Delight; and so far from the wretched Condition this false Doctrine represents us, in crawling under the Burden of a Decree of Destruction; which, let us struggle under its weight never so long, and do our utmost endeavours, we must at length be overcome of it, and fall inevitably under Ruin thereby.    
Both which are demonstrative:  
§. 1. From the Work of Creation, that great and first of the Works of God, in time, that began with the beginning of Time, and is the Date of Mankind; in which we come to our Spring Head, and are Streams from thence.  
If this was a Work of Blessedness, Goodness, Grace and Love, in a most comprehensive and entire Sense, than no part of Mankind was Predestinated to Damnation, or Hated of God from all Eternity; for that would be an exception to its being a Work of Grace and Love. Destruction and Misery are not from thence; that sweet Fountain sends forth no such bitter Streams.  
But that this Work of Creation was a Work of Blessedness, Goodness, Grace and Love, is shown:  
From the Divine Nature and Attributes of God, the great and blessed Author of it, by whom we are taught, That as is the Workman, so is his Work: A good Tree bringeth not forth corrupt Fruit; neither doth a corrupt Tree bring forth good Fruit, etc. 
Luke 6.43, 45.  A good Man out of the good Treasure of his Heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil Man, out of the evil Treasure of his Heart, bringeth forth that which is evil. As is the Man, so is his Work; and as is God, so is his Work: But God is good in the greatest Eminency, the Treasury of Blessing is with him; he is abundant in Goodness, Grace and Love; which the Beloved Disciple makes his Definition, 
1 john 4.8.  in so many express words, saying, God is Love: Then his chief Motive in the Creation of Man must be his own Benignity, Goodness, Grace and Love; and his End, that Man might partake of his Glory, and enjoy Him for ever. Which shows, God did not Hate Man, nor put him under any such unavoidable Decree of Destruction from all Eternity.  
§. 2. From the Observations of Solomon, upon this great Work of Creation; which are, first Negative, That God made not Death; neither hath he pleasure in the Destruction of the Living. 
Wisd. 1.13, 14.  Then Affirmative, That he created all things, that they might have their Being; and the Generations of this World was healthful, and there was no Poison of Destruction in them, or Kingdom of Death upon the Earth. But we were made in Righteousness and true Holiness, 
Ephes. 4.24.  (or Holiness of Truth.)  
And to have our Being as such, is to have (or enjoy) God, the Divine Life; for a Man cannot properly be said to have what he doth not in some measure possess or enjoy; so this End, to which we were made, is an high State of Glory, above Death, Destruction, or Misery; all which made their Entrance through the Fall.  
Neither hath he pleasure in the Destruction of the Living.  
Then he hath not from all Eternity had pleasure in Decreeing their Destruction; for otherwise he was not a free Agent in so Decreeing, but under some necessity of working against himself, of acting and doing contrary to his pleasure, which subjects him to Misery; showing, as if He, who is the most Sovereign and free Agent of all, received Control from some other; which is absurd and blasphemous, as are all the Consequences of this false Principle.  
There was no Poison of Destruction in them, or Kingdom of Death upon the Earth.  
Then there was no Curse, but all was in the Blessing, than God had not Hated or Decreed the Destruction of any number of Men; for if so, there had been some Poison of Destruction, and there had been some Kingdom of Death upon the Earth. And if God had not then done it, in the beginning of the World, which was in Time, being computed about Five Thousand Seven Hundred Years since, much less had he done it from all Eternity.  
§. 3. From the Rejoicing of the Heavenly Host over this Blessed Work of Creation; 
Job 38.7.  for then the Morning-Stars sung together, and the Sons of God shouted for joy; which holy pure Spirits rejoice not at the Out-going of Destruction, or Misery, or Death, or Hell; but at the Out-going of the Power and Work of God, and of his Life and Glory; which excellently illustrates the Blessedness of this great Work, its being ushered in, in the Morning of it, with those holy Songs and Shouting of Joy so Divine and Heavenly.  
§. 4. From the Creature made; for God created Man in his own Image, in the Image of God created he him, etc. Even this gives us a pregnant Instance of the great Love of God to us in our Creation, and secures us against the Fear of being put into the hands of Destruction by an Eternal Decree. To be made in the Maker's Image, and in his Likeness, is sufficient warranty against it, to any who know what it is to be form after that Pattern of perfect Bliss; for it must needs be, that God beholds Himself above all, and loves his own Image above every Image, and thence hath made choice to dwell with Man, delighting in him, and loving him: For, of which of the Creatures ever said he at any time, I will walk in them, and dwell in them: Nor doth he afflict willingly, or grieve the Children of Men; much less will he, without cause, 
Lament. 3.33.  destroy with an Eternal Destruction the Creature, that with so much Wisdom he hath so curiously framed. And had there been such an Eternal Destructive Decree upon Mankind, than he had been created under the Curse, and could not have born the Image of the Blessed; on the contrary, as he was created in the Image of God, he could not be hated of him, nor have any such Decree impending him or his Offspring.  
Again, If there had been such a Decree, Man must either have been created with the Seed of this Destruction in him, which in despite of all his endeavours should increase and grow up with him, till he were consumed of it; or he must causlessly have been cast down of God into Perdition.  
It cannot be the first, for Man was made very good, 
Gen. 1.31. Jer. 2.21. Mat. 13.—  planted wholly a right Seed, sown a good Seed, etc. and the latter is Blasphemy.  
As God made nothing evil, so he made nothing to an evil End; it is incompetent with Wisdom and Justice, to make a good thing to an evil end; and to be sure, he that made all things good, 
Gen. 1.30.  hated no good thing; for no Man willingly propagates what he hateth; he must be blinder than a Beetle, that gives credit to such stuff, which stubs up all Wisdom and Religion by the Roots, inverts all Series and Orders into Confusion, bereaves God of his Wisdom and Goodness, and Man of his Honour and Blessing.  
Object. But it is alleged, that Man forfeited his blessed Estate in the Fall, and became subject to Misery, so that God might justly have given him over to utter Ruin; but through his infinite Mercy in Christ Jesus, he choosed to save a few, 
Vincent's Catechism, p. 19, etc.  and pass by all the rest of Mankind. So that God's Eternal Decree of Reprobation, is his leaving them to perish in their Sins, unto the Praise of the Power of his Wrath, and infinite Justice, in their Everlasting Punishment.  
Answ. If so, this Forfeiture was general; either all forfeited their Blessed Estate, or none at all. Then how is that Mercy infinite, which forgives but a few? or that Justice infinite, which punisheth not all? But as the Mercy of God in Christ is infinite, there is made Provision therein for the Salvation of all, if they will accept God's Salvation on God's Terms; and as his Justice is infinite, it is provided therein to punish all Men, that despise or neglect so great Grace and Mercy. And if God should leave any to perish in their Sins, through their impenitency, how can this be called his absolute Eternal Decree of Reprobation of Persons? Or how doth the leaving a Man to the natural Consequence or Effect of his own evil Actions, imply the Decreeing him to such an End, or such Actions? Put the case of a Man's stabbing himself with his own Sword, Is the not forcibly hindering him from it, the forcing him thereto? Is the bare permitting him to do it, the putting him under a fatal necessity of doing it, as is employed in these words [God's Eternal Decree of Reprobation? etc.] What passage can be collected out of all the Scripture, to show God's seeking to have Praise ascribed to his Wrath? Which is not voluntary, or a first Principle in him, as shall hereafter be manifest. So that in short, these Tenants are sad ones, equally void of Reason and of Gospel.  
But I shall make it appear, God did not take this Advantage against any part of Mankind, or absolutely Decreed their Destruction from Eternity, or from the Fall, but tendered Salvation and the Gospel to them: Then, Neither hath he done any thing to frustrate any one's Salvation before his Birth.  
1. From the Benefit of Christ's Death, universally extended; 
2 Cor. 5.14, 15. 1 Tim. 2.6. Hebr. 2.9.  he died for all Men; he gave his Life a Ransom for all.  
2. From the Universality of the Gospel; it brings good Tidings of great Joy to all People; 
Luke 2.10. Mat. 28.19. Mark 13.10.  and was to be preached to, or in, every Creature under Heaven; all Nations to be taught, etc.  
3. From the Universality of the Grace of God, called in Scripture, 
Titus 2.11.  Gratia Salutifera, the Salvation-bringing Grace, or the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation.  
This Grace hath appeared to all Men, and it bringeth Salvation; it appears not ; if it should cease to have such a Gift, it should cease to be that Grace; but all Men have the Tenders of Salvation in and through this Divine Grace, and this since the Fall: So God hath not taken that Advantage against any from the Fall, as to leave them unavoidably to perish in their Sins, etc. but visits all Men in and by his Divine Grace, in order to their Salvation; and enlighteneth every Man that cometh into the World; and hath not done any Act to frustrate the Salvation of any before their Birth.  
He that is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to Repentance; 
2 Pet 3.9. 1 Tim. 2.4.  who will have all Men to be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the Truth: He hath done nothing to frustrate the Salvation of any Man before his Birth.  
But God is not willing that any Man should perish, etc. So here we acquit ourselves of Decretal Reprobation, either Eternal or Temporal, that's previous to our Birth; and indeed of all Decretal Reprobation.  
§. 5. That Doctrine, which makes the cause of the Destruction of the Wicked to be of God, and not of themselves; and that Evil is no cause of it, but God's Decree, etc. hides and conceals the Malignity and Poison of Sin, which of its own Nature is pernicious and destructive to Man's Soul, tainting and infecting it with Corruption and Rottenness, by which it slides into the deep Abyss of Death and Misery, as a due Reward.  
This Doctrine searcheth not into the Wound of the Soul, made by Sin, which decays it, and of its self brings Death and Ruin, if not timely cured.  
And this Doctrine makes the Physician, the Malady; the Healer, the Destroyer; the most Sovereign Balm, the Canker of the Wound.  
So if we can admit of all these Absurdities, and abundance more, we may admit of Decretal Reprobation; which cannot be.  
§. 6. For the Scripture declares, 1 Thes. 4. v. 3. That this is the Will of God, even your Sanctification.  
Vers. 4. That every one should know how to possess his Vessel in Sanctification and Honour.  
Vers. 7. That God hath not called us unto Uncleanness, but unto Holiness.  
Ezek. 18. v. 32. That he hath no pleasure in the Death of him that dieth.  
Chap. 33. v. 11. That he hath no pleasure in the Death of the Wicked, but that the Wicked turn from his way and live.  
Luke 15. v. 7. That there is Joy in Heaven for one Sinner that Repenteth, etc.  
Now, as Holy Writ hath given us this true Account of God's Will; for us to conclude him Acting quite contrary to it, is, to affront the Scripture, and oppose God, against himself; making him Will one thing, and Act another; Who worketh all things according to the Counsel of his own Will.  
But for us to conclude him Decreeing any Man's Eternal Destruction from all Eternity, or from the Fall, or from before his Birth, without any respect to his Deeds, etc. is, to conclude him Acting quite contrary to his declared Will in Scripture, etc.  
Then he that worketh all things according to the Counsel of his own Will; and willeth not, nor hath pleasure in the Destruction of the Wicked; he hath not, without any respect to their manner of Life, decreed it.  
But God works all things according to the Counsel of his own Will; and willeth not, nor hath pleasure in the Destruction of the Wicked; therefore he hath not absolutely Decreed it, etc.  
Object. But they say, God hath his Declared Will, and his Secret Will; and that Men are Decreed to Election or Reprobation, according to his Secret Will, etc.  
Answ. As to this, we read of Secret things that belong unto God; 
Deut. 29.29. Psalm 25.14.  and of his Seerets that are with the Righteous, and with them that fear him. This Secret Will, of which they talk, 
Job 15.8.  must be the one of these two sorts; if of the first, how do they know it? Do they understand the Secrets of God? And do they restrain Wisdom to themselves? If of the latter, what Proof give they of it? Or how do they reconcile it, that there should be in God two opposite Wills; the one Secret, the other Revealed; and these contradictory to each other; the one preservative, the other destructive, of Men? According to the one, he hath Sworn, He wills not the Death of a Sinner; according to the other, He both Wills and hath Decreed it; because of his Will, not because of their Sin: And thence come so many Thousand innocent Infants to be in Hell (according to them) among the Damned. A witless, graceless, merciless, gospel-less Opinion, a most staring Piece of Confusion and Blasphemy, which either chargeth Schism upon God, or reconciles Contradictions.  
There have been none so bad, but what have had Offers of Salvation; Cain had it, the Old World had it, Sodom and Gomorah, 
Gen. 4.7. and 6.3. and 18.30, etc. Jonah 3. Jer. 51.8, 9 Rev. 2.21.  Nineveh, etc. Nay, even Babylon, God called to Mourning for 'em, saying, Howl for Babylon, take Balm for her Wound, if so be it may be healed; he would have healed Babylon. And of Jezebel he saith, I gave her time and space of Repentance, but she Repent not.  
In the next Chapter, I shall take account of some general Relations of God to us, and show from them, That our Preservation, not our Destruction, is his Work, Will and Delight, etc.   

CHAP. II.  
Being a further Refutation of the Doctrine of Reprobation, by Arguments deduced from some General Relations of God to us. viz. 1. From his Regal Office and Power. 2. From his being the Everlasting Father. 3. From the Office of Jesus Christ, as our High Priest, etc.  
§. 1. THe Lord most High is a great King over all the Earth. 
Psalm 47.1, 2. Mal. 1.14. Rev. 19.16.   
And Regis est Regnare; it is the Property of a King to Reign: According to which, there are several Powers or Prerogatives belonging to him; the Power of Sovereign Rule, Power to execute Justice and Judgement, Power of Life and Death, of Punishing and Pardoning Offenders, etc. Where the Word of a King is, there is Power; and who may say unto him, What dost thou?  
But all this Power is lodged in him, not for the hurt, but good of his Creatures, for their Benefit, not Detriment; His Office is not to Destroy, but to Preserve and Defend them, against the Violence and Spoil of foreign Enemies, and the Injuries of one another; their Safety is his Law: Salus populi suprema lex; He is the Terror of the evil doer, and Praise of them that do well.  
Now, should a King use his Power to an evil end, to bereave the greatest part of his Subjects of their Properties and Lives, not because of their Fault, but of his own Arbitrary Will and Pleasure, and had only this to be said for him, That he was extraordinary kind to a few. Or suppose he agreed with his Rebelling Subjects on these terms: 1. To forgive all past, and accept them still, on Condition they behave themselves well and dutifully for the time to come. 2. That their Treason should not attaint their Children, or subject them unto any Forfeiture or Punishment; and should pass these Covenants into Laws. Yet should, notwithstanding all this, without Provocation by any new Offence, break out into Fury against them, and should utterly Kill the far greatest part of them, and their Children, merely for his own Will, or to show his great Power over them, or to set forth the Terribleness of his Wrath, or to spread his Name abroad, etc. In an Earthly King, this would be accounted (and that truly) the height of Persidiousness, Cruelty and Tyranny; and yet these Predestinarians consequentially lay all this at his door, and aver it to be the way and manner of the great King.  
§. 2. God is called in Scripture, the Everlasting Father; and we are called his Offspring; The Offspring of God, etc. For he is the Father of us all by Creation. Now this is not a Destructive, but a Preservative Relation, who careth for the Life of his Children, nourisheth and provides all things necessary for them; and if they be wicked, and go from him, 
Luke 15.  and abuse his kindness, and spend their substance upon Harlots, as the Prodigal Son; if they do but consider, and return, he seeing them afar off, hath Compassion, and runs to meet them, and kisseth them; and brings forth the best Robe, and kills the fatted Calf, and feeds and clothes them, and rejoiceth over them, etc. Now if our natural Fathers know how to give good Gifts unto their Children, how much more shall our Father which is in Heaven give good Gifts to them that ask him? Mat. 7.  
A natural Father, declining from this Rule, comes under the Reproach of being Unnatural, Careless, Senseless, etc. But should he not only omit the Fatherly Love, Care and Provision, becoming him, but also inhumanely Slay the most of his Children; how odious a thing would this be amongst Men? He would incur the Infliction of Death.  
And yet the Tenants I'm opposing, lay even harder things than these, at the door of the Almighty and most Merciful Father; the Slaying his Children, not only with Temporal, but Eternal Death, for the Praise of the Power of his Wrath.  
§. 3. Jesus Christ is our High Priest, and as such, it is his Office to Bless us, to offer up our Sacrifices, to Atone and Intercede for and in our Behalf. 
Heb. 5.1, 2.  Every High Priest taken from among Men, is ordained for Men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both Gifts and Sacrifices for Sins; who can have compassion on the igrant, and on them that are out of the way, etc. And if Men had such great Benefit and Blessing by the High Priests after the order of Aaron, how great Blessing and Benefit then have we by our High Priest after the order of Melchizedec, who was before Aaron, and is greater than Aaron? etc.  
Great was the Love of God unto us, in giving his Son to be our High Priest, to have the oversight and cure of our Souls, and ineffable the Benefits Mankind receive by him, who being exalted by the right Hand of God, and having received from the Father the Promise of the Holy Ghost, hath shed forth this in some measure upon all. O how wonderfully did he, when he took our Nature upon him, show how great was his Goodness to the Sons of Men! So if under the Cure of such an High Priest we come to any miscarriage, it must be through ourselves.  
But what for a Priest, do the Priests of these times make him, with their Reprobate Doctrine, which renders him shutting the Gates of Heaven against the greatest part of the Flock, committed to his Cure; and instead of interceding to God for them, delivering them over to Satan, and to Eternal Ruin; and this not because of their Wickedness, and that they will not be Reclaimed, but for the Pleasure of his Father's Will; even because God hath Willed and Decreed it? (as they say.)  
See here how injurious is this Doctrine of Reprobation unto God and Christ, in those general Relations of King, Father and Priest, etc.   

CHAP. III.  
Reassuming the Substance of those Scriptures and Inferences mentioned in the Introduction, most usually Urged in pleading for Personal Reprobation, with particular Answers and Explications to each, according to their true and genuine Sense; in which is clearly Refuted those false Senses and Meanings which the Predestinarians commonly impose upon them: The whole comprised in Ten Objections, and their respective Answers.  
HAving thus far gone upon General Reasons, I shall now come to a Particular Examen of sundry Scriptures, most used in pleading for Personal Reprobation; which I shall put as Objections, not that they are really so, to the Argument I'm Advancing, but the Misunderstanding, or that false Sense put upon them: So what I put down under the Head of Answer, is the Explication of their true genuine Sense, and Refutation of those false and foreign Senses and Meanings imposed on them: Which, having (for avoiding of Cavils) premised, I proceed.  
Object. 1. Though God be Love, Good, Gracious, Merciful, etc. yet is he Excellent in Power and in Judgement, and in plenty of Justice; and the Scripture tells us of the Fierceness of his Anger, and of his Indignation, and of his Wrath and Vengeance, etc. Deut. 9.7, 22. and 13.17. Josh. 7.26. Job 37.23. Jer. 50.7. Mic. 7.9. Rom. 12.19.  
Answ. All such places, in which God's Anger and Wrath, etc. are spoken of, have respect to Provocation, and Offence given, and not otherwise; for all his Attributes are resolvable into Goodness and Love; Mercy and Truth meet together (or are united) in him; and Justice and Peace kiss each other (or agree in one) in him; so speaking of God, simply, as what he is in himself, or what is Primary and Spontaneous in him, and he is all Goodness and Love, Deus est primario bonus, atque ex indole Naturae & secundario & ex accidente severus idem est ex populi peccato: God is primarily good, out of the inclination of his Nature; but secondarily and accidentally he is severe, by reason of People's sins.  
So Anger, Wrath, Fury and Vengeance, the executive part of Justice, are consequential from God, and not primarily in his Being; but stirred up by the Devil, and wicked Men, proceeding according to his Lusts, and the Inclination of their depraved Nature, it is the Fruit of their Do; but the Fruit of the Spirit is Love, Gal. 5.22. and God is Love.  
God is slow to Anger, it is not kindled in him, nor repays he Vengeance or Wrath, without great Provocation, and cause given on our part; take away this, and Justice is our Friend and Advocate, and is as sweet as Mercy.  
It's Transgression puts the Rod into the Hand of Justice, or she Chastizeth not: She never smites the Innocent, or wounds the Mind that is Guiltless; if so, it would cease to be, it would be no more Justice; but it's the Wicked that are slain at her feet, and Transgressor's are wounded by her.  
And as Anger, Wrath, etc. are not primary or voluntary in God, but as effects of Provocation and Offence; so neither is he inclined or prone thereto; which is an ill Character in a Man, and denominates him crabbed, peevish, angry, implacable, etc. which by no means may be spoken of God. Thus the Race of Mankind could not offend their Maker before they were made, neither could it be consistent with him to make such a number of Living Souls, so Good, so Honourable, and Resembling Himself, to an End so Miserable as the Torments of Hell.  
Object. 2. The Scripture mentions Vessels of Wrath fitted for Destruction; and also, Vessels of Mercy; and it is plain, some Men are intended by Vessels of Wrath, and some Men by Vessels of Mercy. Now there is a vast difference betwixt Wrath and Mercy, and the Scripture speaking of Mankind under the terms of so great difference, showeth as if they were not all made to the same End.  
Answ. The Vessels of Wrath, are them that become such through Degeneration and Sin; and even towards these God exerciseth great Patience, Goodness and Mercy, gives them time and space of Repentance, endures them with much long Suffering, till the Day of their Visitation is over, than they are Vessels of Wrath fitted for Destruction; but that they were so from before they were Born, or fitted to Destruction in their first Structure, neither this or any other Scripture holds; whosoever are saved, it is through Regeneration; and Regeneration supposeth Generation; and Degeneration going before, Regeneration is a restoring our Generation, bringing us into our first State and Image; and all such are Vessels of Mercy. And the Vessels of Wrath, are the Unregenerate, them in the Degeneration; but no Man was made a Vessel of Wrath in the Day in which he was made.  
Object. 3. The Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my Power in thee, and that my Name might be declared throughout all the Earth; therefore hath he Mercy on whom he will have Mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. From whence some conclude Pharaoh to be made for a purpose of Destruction, etc.  
Answ. This Scripture refers to Exodus 9.16. where the words in the Latin are, Veruntamen propterea feci ut restares; nevertheless therefore I made, that thou mighest remain, etc. (or that thou remainest) and in the Margin is put, Made thee stand; instead of which is put, in the English Bible, For this cause have I raised thee up; and in Romans 9.17. For this same purpose; where in the Latin both Tremellius, Beza, etc. use the Verb Excitavi, and in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the same Signification.  
None of all which Expressions relate to the Creation of Man, or Pharaoh's being made to such an end, but to something done to him, or permitted, or suffered, after he was Man: Nor is it denied, but God may Judicially harden People, after so long and manifest Opposition and Rebellion against him.  
Now were passed already Seven of the Plagues of Egypt, and the Eighth about to be poured forth; so no question, God in his Justice sooner might have cut Pharaoh off: Yet Time was lengthened to him, and his Punishment further deferred, for God's greater Glory, that he might multiply his Signs upon Egypt, and so his Power be manifest, and Name declared throughout all the Earth; and this is all that place imports.  
But, not that Pharaoh was made on purpose for this End of Destruction, and no other; nor doth Temporal Destruction always imply Eternal, (the terms in the Argument) for instances, not a few, may be collected in Scripture, where God pardons the Sin, as to the Eternal Punishment of it, and yet inflicts an heavy Temporal Punishment.  
I come now to the second part of the Objection: Therefore hath he Mercy on whom he will have Mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.  
As to this, and such Passages, though our Opposers would have them carry their Sense; yet read but (as they should be read) this Apostle's Epistles through, and they explain themselves, and show in what manner and order, and for what cause God declares his Wrath on the Vessels of Wrath, and the Riches of his Glory on the Vessels of Mercy; and also teach us, That every one, who is a Vessel of Wrath, becomes such by slighting the Mercies of God, graciously tendered him in the Day of his Visitation: For there is such a Day to every one, in which they may be saved, and wherein God works upon them in order to this End. This is a Day of Days, an entrance into Life and Glory to them that know and improve it.  
And these are them God will have Mercy on; who, in the time of their Visitation, receive his Grace and Love, and through the Power and Work of the Divine Word, attain the New Birth.  
And those that God will Judicially harden, are they who despise the Riches of his Goodness, and Forbearance, and Long-suffering, (as did Pharaoh) not knowing that the Goodness of God leadeth to Repentance; these through their hardness and impenitent Heart's treasure up Wrath against the Day of Wrath. And the others do not harden their Hearts, but obey the Truth.  
Now these different States have different Rewards; and thus is Mankind distinguished into Vessels of Wrath, and Vessels of Mercy: Thus is it that some find Mercy, and some are Hardened.  
And as to such Expressions; as Whom he will he hardeneth; and God hardened Pharaoh 's Heart, etc. they are not to be understood, as if hardening Men were simply of God, until they have rejected the Tenders of his Love, or without long and great Provocation on their part. Nor are we to suppose, they might not have avoided the cause of such Provocation from any fore-designed Hardening on God's part. For during the time of any one's Visitation, God freely offers them Mercy; and what he doth afterwards, hath no influence upon this Argument, but even that, seems rather a leaving them to themselves, a giving them over to a Reprobate Mind, to Impenitency and Hardness of Heart, than active Hardening of them. And so concerning the Hardening of Pharaoh's Heart, it is said, Exod. 4.21. and 7.13. and 10.27. That God hardened it; and in the same Book, Exod. 8.32. and 9.35. it is said, That Pharaoh hardened his Heart.  
So in the Scriptures first quoted, the hardening Pharaoh's Heart, is spoken of as God's Act; and in the latter, the same is spoken of as Pharaoh's Act: Which seeming Difference is thus Reconciled.  
Hardening in Scripture-sense is to be understood, as a Searedness and Insensibility of things, concerning the Glory of God, and our Happiness; which Condition is an effect of a customary and habitual Sinning, according to that Saying, Consuetudo peccandi Peccati sensum tollit; The custom of Sinning takes away the Sense of Sin.  
So Pharaoh persisting in a course of Sin and Wickedness unto great Obdurateness, thus it is said, He hardened his Heart; and God ceasing to strive with him by his Spirit, and relinquishing him to that Obdurateness, thus it is said, God hardened his Heart: For, as his Provocation was the cause of his Plagues, so his Rebellion was the cause of his being Judicially Hardened.  
By all which we may learn, in what a Qualified Sense such Scriptures are to be understood, and the ill Consequence of a partial taking them; which may suffice to this Objection.  
Object. 4. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his Will?  
Nay, but O Man, Who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing form, say to him that form it, Why hast thou made me thus?  
Hath not the Potter power over the Clay, of the same Lump, to make one Vessel unto Honour, and another unto Dishonour?  
Answ. God doth not find fault where his Will is not resisted; that were to find fault where there is none; then he would not do right to Men. And shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right?  
This were to slay the Righteous with the Wicked; and if it were thus, the Righteous should be as the Wicked. But Abraham communing with God, 
Gen. 18.25.  saith, That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the Righteous with the Wicked; and that the Righteous should be as the Wicked, that be far from thee.  
If this were, God should not be a Righteous Judge, neither should he Judge the World with Righteousness, or the People with Equity.  
But the Lord is the Righteous Judge; with Righteousness shall he Judge the World, 
2 Tim. 4.8. Psalm 98.9.  and the People with Equity.  
Some may query, Doth not the Apostle call such Reasoning a Replying against God? Which Word is diversely rendered; as, Repliest, or Answerest again, or Disputest thou with God?  
Now there is a great Variety in God's Works, and there are Degrees of Honour; he hath put the Heavens above, and the Earth below; and in Heaven he hath made several Degrees and Orders of Angels, and hath caused one Star to differ from another in Glory, and in Magnitude; yet the less Glorious are Stars too, and all Stars are from brightness and shining, the least hath its lustre. And in the Earth there are different Ranks and Degrees of Men, Superiors and Inferiors, etc. even in the Natural Body; some parts are more, some less Comely; yet the less Comely parts (though not so Honourable) are of great use in the Body. And this is that thing we are not to dispute with God, why he hath made us thus: He is the Former, and We the thing form; who are but as the Clay to the Potter, in comparison of him. So, We unto him that striveth with his Maker; let the Potsherd strive with the Potsherds of the Earth: Shall the Clay say to him that fashioned it, 
Isa. 45.9, 10.  What makest thou? etc. Woe unto him that saith to his Father, What begettest thou? Or to the Woman, What hast thou brought forth? It's our place to be content with what God hath done, both as to what he hath Made us, and as to the Station and Capacity he hath placed us in; and not to murmur, or have Emulation, against such as are greater than we, or are more endued with Power and the Divine Wisdom, but be thankful for them, as Helps in the Church, etc. and to God, that we are related to him; and not the thing form say to him that form it, Why hast thou made me thus?  
Ay, but say some, hath not the Potter power over the Clay of the same lump, to make one Vessel unto Honour, and another unto Dishonour?  
We dispute not God's Power, but assert his Act, and aver, He hath not in our first Creation made any Man, in a strict and proper Sense, a Vessel of Dishonour, to break or destroy it; for all the Vessels of the Potter are, by designation, Vessels of Use; he makes none on purpose to break them in pieces again, and to no other end, but merely to show his Power over the Clay; and even this, if he did so, would not answer to God's making Men to an End of Eternal Destruction, because of the Torment of that State; whereas the other is but dead Clay. Though he hath the Potter's Power, he is not as that foolish Potter, who counted it his Glory to make counterfeit things. 
wisd. 15.9.   
The Prophet Jeremiah gives a Relation, of his going down to the Potter's House, and the Vessel that he made of Clay was marred in his hand; so he made it again another Vessel, as seemed good to him; and the Word of the Lord came to him, saying, O House of Israel, cannot I do with you as this Potter? Behold, as the Clay is in this Potter's hand, so are ye in my hand.  
Here God declares his Power, what he could do, and then his Act, what he would do; the order and manner of which is especially observable, and is thus:  
At what Instant I shall speak concerning a Nation, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; if that Nation, against whom I have pronounced, 
Jer. 18. ●  turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them: Is not this great Grace and Mercy? If, as to such then as Miscarry, God would amend their default; how much less would he make any to miscarry?  
Here are, in this Text, People denoted, who had swerved from their proper End, and who (saving God's Power) were marred for being Vessels of Honour; and God, according to his great Power and Justice, might have concluded them under Everlasting Dishonour▪ yet he forbore the Execution of this, being still ready to spare them, if they would turn from their Evil.  
And if he be thus sparing, concerning them that have sinned, to put the Seal of perpetual Dishonour upon them, (for Vengeance is his strange Act, which whenever he executes, he puts on his Armour) how much less hath he made any to be Vessels of Wrath and Dishonour?  
For whatsoever is Good, is Honourable; but God made all things Good, therefore he made all things Honourable.  
Whatsoever tends to slain God's Honour, is false and wicked; but it's a Dishonour to the Maker, to make any thing Dishonourable; therefore to hold that, is false and wicked.  
In short, it's contrary to Reason and Scripture, and to the Verity and Honour of God, the Maker and Creator of all things, to say, he made any thing Dishonourable in their first Structure, in a strict and proper Sense; but it is allowed comparatively, or with respect to Degrees of Honour.  
Now this is as to our first Make; but what God may do with us afterwards, because of our Sin, or we make ourselves, or the Enemy may make us, relates not to our first Creation or Being.  
The Potter wrought a Work on the Wheel; and the Vessel that he made of Clay was marred (or broken) in his hand; 
Jer. 18.3, 4.  so he made it again another Vessel, as it seemed good to the Potter to make it. Now Man is compared to this Vessel of Clay, which was marred in the hand of the Potter; and he made it again another Vessel, as seemed good to him; and though we cannot miscarry in God's hand, through any deficiency in him, as a Workman; yet we may miscarry in our own Conduct, after we are form and fashioned by him, as free Agents, at liberty to choose the Good, and eschew the Evil. And 'tis not God's Power, but Man's going into the Evil, is the cause many miscarry, and become Objects of God's Displeasure, and Vessels of Wrath. Thus Men's Destruction is of themselves, and not of God.  
And it's plain, when the Potter wrought his Work on the Wheel, it was first intended for another thing, but being marred in his hand, he made it another Vessel, as seemed good to the Potter to make it.  
Now it is a received Axiom, Nullum simile currit quatuor; therefore as no Work of God was marred in his hand, Mankind came forth from him, according to his designation, in his own Image, a Vessel of Honour, etc.  
Object. 5. The Children not being yet born, neither having done any good or evil (that the purpose of God according to Election might stand, not of Works, but of him that calleth) it was said, The Elder shall serve the Younger; as is written, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated, etc.  
Answ. The Scripture speaks sometimes of singular Persons, or Individuals, when it is to be understood, 1. Of Nations or People descending from them; or, 2. Of certain Spiritual States and Conditions.  
We have instance of the first in Canaan, the youngest Son of Ham, 
Gen. 9.25.  whom his Grandfather Noah cursed, and denounced him a Servant of Servants to Shem and Japhet.  
And in Esau and Jacob, of whom it was foretell, The Elder should serve the Younger. 
Gen. 25.23.   
And in Ephraim and Manasseh, of whom it was said, 
Gen. 48.19.  The Younger should be the greater.  
None of all which things were fulfilled in their Persons, but in their Posterities, etc.  
For instance, of the second, Abraham had his Son Ishmae! by Hagar, Sara's Handmaid, a Bondwoman of Egypt, of the Posterity of Ham; this is said to be born after the Flesh. And he had his Son Isaac by Sarah the Freewoman; and this is said to be by Promise.  
And these things, saith the Apostle, are an Allegory; for these are the two Covenants, the one from Mount Sinai, 
Gal. 4.26.  which is Hagar, answering to Jerusalem that now is; the other answering to Jerusalem from above.  
The like Instance we have in Isaac, Abraham's Heir, and the Heir of God's Promise; he had by his Wife Rebekah two Sons, Jacob and Esau, under whose Types are typified the Spiritual and Carnal Mind and Birth, the Degenerate and Regenerate, the Earthly and Heavenly, etc.  
So they are a double Instance to us, in treating of this Text, which is to be Mystically, and not Literally understood; as appears from the Blessing of Esau with the Fatness of the Earth, 
Gen. 27.39.  and the Dew of Heaven from above; which is the same in effect with Jacob's Blessing, only he had rule given over him, but 'twas only for a time; for in the said Blessing, the time is prophesied, in which Esau should break Jacob's Yoke from off his Neck.  
Now if God had hated Esau, than Isaac could not at all have Blessed him in the Faith; for whatsoever is done in the Faith, is done in concurrence, and accord with God; but if God hated Esau, and Isaac blessed him, they would be contrary and repugnant the one to the other, (for all Blessing is of Love) and so Isaac's Blessing of Esau had not been in the Faith; for in it only things pleasing and acceptable to God are done, and no works of jar and disagreement, or contrariety to him, these are not of Faith; but the Scripture is express in it, 
Heb. 11.20.  That by Faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, concerning things to come; so it must needs be, that these things are an Allegory, and that God did not hate Esau's Person, but spoke of what he hated under the Type or Figure of him.  
Take this Scripture literally, to relate unto Esau, in a strict and proper Sense, and it would be of absurd and blasphemous Consequence; for if it represents God as at Variance with himself, and in a great degree Unhappy, working without Pleasure, Grace, or Goodness, in the Production of wretched hated Being's, to Eternal Misery; even Nature shrinks, and is in horror at any dissimulate and monstrous Birth; much more it is contrary to the God of Nature; and to suppose otherwise of God, is no Christian, but an Heathenish Notion; it is so remote from Divine, it is not Humane; that God should be employed in the making so many Thousand of People for the Torments of Hell Fire. Such Notions had the Heathens of old, concerning their Moloch, and other false Deities; to appease whose imagined Fury, they caused their Children to pass through the Fire, and become Burnt Sacrifices.  
Having showed the Blasphemy and Error that attends a Literal Construction of this Text, and that it should be Mystically understood, I shall proceed to speak something of its Mystery, before I pass from hence.  
We read in Scripture of two Seeds, Mystically; the Seed of the Woman, which Seed is Christ, who is also the Seed of the true Church, and of the Kingdom of God; and the Serpent's Seed, or Seed of Antichrist; of which cometh the false Church, and Kingdom of Darkness.  
And as every Birth hath its beginning from some Seed, so of the first of these proceedeth the Birth of the Spirit, called in Scripture Regeneration, the New Birth, the New Man, etc. And without this be, there is no Salvation; and how pure and spiritual a Seed is this Seed of the Living God, of which Souls and Spirits are born!  
Of the other, proceedeth the Birth of the Flesh, called in Scripture, The Old Man with his Deeds, Degenerate, or the Uncircumcision, the Reprobate Birth, etc. And how filthy and polluted a Seed is this Seed of the Serpent, whereby Men become as Dogs, Swine, Serpents, Dung, Filth! etc.  
Now, as according to the first, we are in Christ, Branches of him, and Christ is God's Elect, in whom his Soul delighteth, blessed above all for ever.  
And according to the other, we are of the Devil, Children of him, Sprouts out of his Stock; and the Devil only is God's Enemy, cursed above all Cattle, and above every Beast of the Field. So of the first of these, Election is predicated, and Reprobation of the latter.  
We are in a State of Election or Reprobation, as we are related to the one or other of these Births; if we live according to the one, we shall die; or the other, we shall live.  
Note, For the prevention of mistakes in the weakest Reader, that this Birth, called the Birth of the Flesh, is not to be understood simply of the Natural Birth, but as fallen into Carnal-mindedness.  
And the Scripture teacheth, That to be Carnally-minded, 
Rom. 8.6, 7.  is Death; but to be Spiritually-minded, is Life and Peace; that the Carnal Mind is Enmity against God; it is not subject to the Law of God, nor indeed can be; so they that are in the Flesh cannot please God.  
This Mind is Dead, an Enemy, a Rebel, and can never be otherwise; it's not capable of being made better, to please God, or to be subject to him, or live; there is neither Life, Salvation or Blessing belongs to it; it is not Heir to, or capable of any good; it is none of God's Works, but is of the Evil One: This is the Reprobate's Description.  
On the other hand, That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit; this Birth is willing to all good, it is its Meat and Drink to do the Will of God; it is holy, pure, and loved of God; it lives in Obedience, keeps the Commandments, Sinneth not: Whosoever is born of God, 
1 John 3.9.  doth not commit sin; for his Seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God: This is the Description of the Elect.  
Thus is opened, in some measure, the Mystery of Election and Reprobation, the Loved and Hated Birth, spoken of under the Types of Jacob and Esau.  
And Christ is declared to be that Promised Seed, not in a divided, but in the most comprehensive Sense. But to proceed in these Mysteries, leads from the Matter before me, to which I must now return.  
Object. 6 There are certain Men crept in unawares, 
Judas 4.  who were of old Ordained unto this Condemnation, etc. From whence they conclude some positively Ordained to Condemnation, etc.  
Answ. The stress of this Argument lieth upon the word Ordained, and there is no such word in this Text, the Greek word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, compounded of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ante, & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 scribo; in Latin Prescripti, in English forewritten; and so it should be translated, and not Ordained; which altars the point mainly; for right read, it amounts to no more, than that such were before of old prophesied of, and those Prophecies committed to Writing; or that there were written Prophecies of them; for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Prophecy, comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 predico, compounded of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ante, & 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dico; that is, to foretell or fore-speak of a thing; so the one is a Written Prophecy, the other Verbal; that's all the difference.  
And what weakness is it from hence to conclude, some under a necessity of Sinning? This makes the Visions and Prophecies, the cause of the things so happening; then the fault would be upon the Prophets and Seers, and upon their Prophecies and Visions, and the Scriptures the cause of the Sins they foretell and reprehend.  
But if the Prediction of things so to happen, be not the cause of of their so happening, than neither is the Prescription, or putting what's foretell in Writing or Print, any cause thereof, and that's as far as this Scripture mentions; which, though our Opponents put great Stress upon it, yet being right read, it supports no part of their Argument. For, 

1st, Here is their great word Ordained, set aside; which the Greek hath nothing of, tho' it be put in the English Bibles.  
2dly, The words [Before of old] are not old enough to serve this turn, having reference unto the Writings of Enoch, Paul, Peter, 
Judas 14. 1 Tim. 4.1. 2 Tim. 3.1. 2 Pet. 3.3.  etc. but these have their Date in time, and are Prophetical, not Decretal; so are no proof of an Eternal Decree (or any Decree) of Personal Reprobation.  
3dly, The stile of these Prophecies, is not particular, of such and such Men, that they should do so, and be so wicked, and fall under such Condemnation, etc. but it is in general, as in the words of Enoch, the Seventh from Adam: Behold, the Lord cometh with Ten Thousands of his Saints, to execute Judgement upon all, and to reprove all that are  among them, of all their ungodly Deeds, which they have ungodly committed, etc. And so the words of the rest, which shows, that such wicked Men there should be, but not that they were under a fatal necessity of being so, or had never been in a capacity of Salvation, or were condemned without any respect to their good or evil Deeds, etc.    
For the Apostle Judas admits these Men to have been sometime in a capacity of Salvation, as appears by his comparing them: 

1. To the People whom God had saved out of Egypt, and afterwards destroyed them that believed not.  
2. To the Angels, which kept not their Principality, but left their own Habitation, etc.    
The first were at least in a capacity of Salvation and Glory; and the latter in the blessed Fruition on't.  
Then neither were these Men condemned without any respect to their good or Evil Deeds, as appears from their being compared: 

1. To the Israelites that believed not.  
2. To the Angels that kept not their Principality.  
3. To Sodom and Gomorah.  
4. To Cain, 5. to Balaam. 6. to Core.    
Now the first are charged with Unbelief.  
The second with Apostasy.  
The third with grievous Sin.  
The fourth with the Murder of his own Brother.  
The fifth with Covetousness and Iniquity.  
The sixth with Gainsaying and Rebellion.  
So allow but the Apostle Judas to explain the Apostle Judas, and 'tis plain, these Men's Evil subjectd them to Condemnation; to the which they were not Foreordained, nor was it inflicted on them without any respect to their good or evil Deeds.  
Object. 7. They distinguish the Grace of God into Common and Special, and allow, that every one hath Common Grace; but hold, that only the Elect have Special Grace; and that none are saved by Common Grace, or can be; but whosoever have Special Grace, can in no wise miss of Salvation, etc.  
Answ. There is no where mention in the Scripture, that I can find, of Special Grace; which is my first Exception to the distinction, as Unscriptural.  
Next comes to my thought that saying, A great Liar ought to have a good Memory; and indeed so ought any one that deals in false Doctrines and Errors: For generally, Ignorance and Error is incongruous, it's of the nature of a Lie; there's no Line of Coherence in't, to lead one along, as we have Instance here.  
One while they say, God hated the greater part of Mankind, and decreed their Reprobation, etc. Another while, All Men have Common Grace; and that implies the Favour and Love of God in some measure; for Grace is Favour, etc. But how God should love and hate the same Persons, and at the same time, is a difficulty they have to Unridle.  
Then the word Common, is either to be understood (according to them) as vile, importing a thing of mean or no value; in which Sense, to apply it to God's Grace, is Blasphemy. Or it must be understood to signify General, or Universal; a Sense in which 'tis commonly taken. And according to this most common understanding of the word Common, it appears, the Apostles themselves were saved by Common Grace, From their own Testimony:  
That the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation, hath appeared unto all Men; 
Tit. 2.11, 12.  teaching us (say they) that denying Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts, we should live Soberly, Righteously and Godly in this present World, etc.  
So they ascribe the inward Work of their Salvation to God's Universal Grace, that is, to common Grace; in such Sense, in which the Grace of God can be said to be Common.  
But these Engrossers, or Impropriators of Salvation, are a very particular sort of Men, and will not go to Heaven the common Way, nor prise the Grace God is pleased to vouchsafe to them, in common with other Men; but are for a Special Grace, peculiar to themselves, tho' the Scripture be silent as to any such thing.  
They agree exact to the Pattern of the old corrupt hypocritical Pharisees, 
Mat. 9.11. Luke 19.17.  who would not eat or drink with Publicans, but said, I am not as this Publican, etc. They will have none of the common Grace, common Faith, common Salvation, etc. but will have Grace, Faith and Salvation, all Special, and peculiar to themselves; excluding the rest of Mankind, as Creatures of no worth or value; they must not share in this Special Grace, must have no Portion in David, or Inheritance in the Son of Jesse; their Trumpet sounds like that of Sheba, their Language like his, which cost him his Head.  
However, Common Grace, Faith and Salvation, is Gospel Grace, Faith and Salvation, propounded in Scripture. So herein they differ from true Religion, from the Scripture, and from the Gospel, that bringeth good Tidings of great Joy, which shall be unto All People; and set up a particular special way of their own, which hath no footing in Scripture; a new and another Gospel of Christ, and of another and quite contrary Tenure; for it brings Good Tidings of great Joy but to a few; and bad Tidings of great Misery to many.  
But let us a little consider; let's try before we trust, and examine well the Matter, before we leave the good old Way, and the ancient Paths, for these byways.  
As to the Common Salvation, we have instance of some that have been saved in that way; of a Cloud of Witnesses that have passed that way; that the Nations of them that are saved shall walk in that way, etc.  
Then as to their way and manner of Salvation, by some special particular Privilege, peculiar to themselves, and exclusive of the rest of Mankind, as having no share or interest therein: 

1. Can they give us Instance of any one Man saved in that way?  
2. Are there any Witnesses of Fame gone on it, and who are they?  
3. Is there any Testimony to it in all the Scripture, and where?    
Till they show us this, we will rather be Scholars with Paul and Titus, of the Common Grace; and Sons with Timothy, 
Titus 1.4. 1 Tim. 1.2.  after the Common Faith; and with Judas, diligent concerning the Common Salvation, than trust to such imaginary Conceits of a company of Self-lovers, and Brainsick  People.  
Object. 8. That the Apostle, in the  Scripture, hath respect to the Elect; for he saith, Teaching us, etc. but doth not say, It taught all.  
Answ. The Reason is plain, why all were not taught of this Grace; some would not learn thereof. It was ever so, some would none of his Counsel, would none of his Instruction, but cast his Reproof behind their backs, etc. And the Lord compels not Men to be happy, he forceth Discipline upon none; so all are not taught.  
But tho' the Apostle doth not say, The Grace taught all; he saith, It appeared to all, it brings Salvation, etc. And to what other end does it appear, but for Salvation unto all, and to be a Teacher of good things? etc.  
Mankind is One, the Divine Grace One, the Giver of it One, and the End for which it is given, One and the same. So if it should not do the same for all that receive it, it should cease to be Grace; which can never be.  
Object. 9 We read of Paul 's Preaching at Antioch, and the People were glad; and as many as were Ordained to Eternal Life believed: 
Acts 13.48.  Whence they infer, Some were not Ordained to Eternal Life, 
Rom. 11.7.  because some believed not. And also the same Apostle, writing to the Romans, saith, The Election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded, etc.  
Answ. This mentions the Apostle's coming to Antioch, and the two Sermons he preached there, and their Service, etc. All which are Particulars; and to draw a General Conclusion from Particular Premises, is false Reasoning. And as to the Sentence, which seems most General, That as many as were Ordained to Eternal Life, believed; even this is to be understood Restrictively, or in a Particular Sense; for understand it in General, and its Consequences are such as renders the Preaching of the Gospel wholly void, in all other places, than at Antioch.  
In all other places wholly void, because none should be found in them Ordained unto Eternal Life.  
And void there, with respect to the begetting any more into the Faith; because, as many as were Ordained unto Eternal Life, believed already.  
And this makes void all the other Travels of the Apostles, their Preaching, and Planting other Churches, and the Conversion and Holiness of those, etc.  
But how extravagant would it be thus to think, or that there was not before or after, in that place, any one Ordained to Eternal Life, only the Proselytes of that day.  
Though there be a time to all, in which they have the Tenders of Salvation; yet time is not the same to all; some come in at the third, some at the ninth, and some at the eleventh hour: So that this is to be understood, of such only to whom it was then the season of Life, who were ripe for the Birth, fitted, or set in order for it; and so is the proper Signification of the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (which is the word used in this place in the Greek) and is in our English Bibles translated Ordained; the which it doth not properly signify, but to set in Order, or in a fit Posture of Mind, etc. And so is this Scripture explained, which is not exclusive of any such, whether there at Antioch, or elsewhere, who should afterwards receive the like precious Faith with those.  
And as to the other, the Election is said of the Spiritual, who have the true Spiritual Sight and Discerning, by which Christ is known and born Testimony to; that is, such who have made their Election sure, by adding to their Faith, Virtue, etc. For all Israel were God's Elect People, as the Scripture doth abundantly show; but of them, some gave not diligence to make their Election sure, by adding to their Faith Virtue, etc. and such became Blind; could discern the Face of the Sky, but not the Signs of the Times, nor the Coming of the Just One; and so obtained not what they sought for, but became forgetful of their Cleansing, and Reprobate; forfeiting, as well the End, as Name of their Election, as is further shown hereafter.  
Object. 10. That the purpose of God, according to Election, might stand; not of Works, but of him that Calleth.  
Answ. 'Tis owned, the purpose of God, according to Election, is such, That he loved us while we were yet Enemies; it hath been unto us, according to what the Apostle expresseth, As touching the Election, Beloved; while as concerning the Gospel, Enemies: 
Rom. 11.28. Rom. 5.10.  For if when we were Enemies, we were Reconciled to God by the Death of his Son; his Election then must stand on this bottom, Not of Works, but of him that Called; for this precedes Works. We did not first choose him, but he hath chosen us, at a time when there was no merit in our hands.  
Some would abuse these Truths, to the exclusion of all good Works; but without them we are not saved; though they have not the first place in our Salvation, yet they have their place, and come in, in their order.  
There is something to be done on our part, when we are Called and Elected; namely, To use diligence to make our Calling and Election sure, 
2 Pet. 1.5.  by adding to our Faith, Virtue, etc.  
Some say, It is sure; for the Gifts and Calling of God are without Repentance, etc. This indeed shows the sureness of it on God's part; but on our parts, it is conditional; all God's Deal with us being by way of Covenant: So that we are not saved, Nolens volens; whence it comes to pass, of the many that are Called, few are Chosen. 
Mat. 20.16   
For there it a great Work to be done, before we are made New Creatures; we are not to rest in the bare beginnings of an Election, and being Called, etc. as if our Work were done; but go on to Perfection: For through the help of Christ, joined with our diligence, a progress may be made unto that degree of God's Love, and State of Assurance in Christ Jesus, from whence there is no Apostasy: And these are God's Sealed Ones, 
Mat. 24.24.  called in Scripture, the very Elect; whom neither false Christ's, nor false Prophets, with their great Signs and Wonders, shall ever be able to deceive.  
For to this degree of Perseverance must this Scripture relate, or else it would interfere with those Scriptures, that show the possibility, and even danger, of falling from Grace, of forfeiting our Calling and Election, of making Shipwreck of Faith and a good Conscience, of denying the Lord that bought us, of Crucifying him afresh, and putting him to open Shame; as, 1 Cor. 9.27. Heb. 6.4, 5, 6. 1 Tim. 1.8. 2 Pet. 1.9, etc.  
Having done with that part of the Argument, which respects Reprobation; I come next to treat of Election.    

The Second Part. Treating more particularly of Election.  

CHAP. I.  
Containing some Short, but General Arguments: viz. 1. Showing some further ill Tendencies of the false Notion of Election and Reprobation. 2. The Necessity of Practical Religion. 3. The Mistake in Understanding some Words and Sentences in Scripture, always in the same Restricted Sense. 4. That God deals with Mankind in way of Covenant. 5. That God made Man a free Agent, capable to choose for himself either Good or Evil. 6. Of God's Wisdom, Love and Justice, in dealing with Mankind. 7. To what end the Grace of God hath appeared to all Men.  
§. 1. AS the false Notion of the first, leads to Despair; so the false Notion of the second, to Presumption: And both make void all Religious Exercise and Care, concerning the Performance of Divine Worship, and all Holy Duties.  
As the Tendency of the Arguments upon the first Part, is to remove all ground of Diffidence and Despair; so shall it, on the other hand, be endeavoured to remove that ground of Presumption and Self-security, which hath been hurtful to many.  
§. 2. And to show the necessity of Practical Religion unto Salvation; even the Obedience of the Faith and Gospel of Christ; that we may redeem the Time allotted us, working out our Salvation with Fear and Trembling; and so, through the Mercy and Power of Christ, raising us up, (in ourselves, and not without us) we may come to escape all the Evil of Reprobation, and to enjoy all the Good and Blessings of Election; but without this, we can neither avoid the one, nor attain the other.  
To save Transciption, I desire the Reader to look over the Scriptures in the Introduction; several of which are spoke to already, and it remains to say something of Foreknowledge, Predestination, Calling, Election and Justification, etc.  
§. 3. And as is shown in the other Part, concerning Hating, Hardening, Reprobation, Vessels of Wrath, etc. the inconvenience of taking them in a primary, strict, positive Sense; and as respecting particular Persons, without regard to their good or evil Deeds; so take these Terms in a strict positive Sense, to respect particular Persons, as words of the first intention, and simply without any regard to their good or evil Deeds, and exclusive of others, etc. and we shall run into great Error and Blindness, and lose the Truth.  
§. 4. For, as is in part observed before, all things between God and Man are transacted by way of Covenant, and every Covenant supposeth Terms or Conditions, and a Possibility of Performing or not Performing of those Conditions, and Loss or Benefit, Reward or Punishment, according as we keep or break Covenant.  
Those Terms God proposed to Cain, that Murderer of his Brother, and first Murderer amongst Men, 
Gen. 4.7.  If thou dost well, shalt thou not be accepted? But if thou dost evil, sin lieth at the door. And no Man ever had other Terms; all are accepted in well-doing, but none at all are accepted in evil-doing.  
God hath commanded no Man to do wickedly, neither hath he given any Man licence to sin; but being Righteous himself, he ordereth all things righteously; 
Ecclus. 15.20. Wis. 12.15.16.  thinking it not agreeable with his Power, to condemn him that hath not deserved to be punished; for his Power is the beginning of Righteousness, etc.  
§. 5. So having made Man a free Agent, capable of adhering either to Good or Evil, having power and understanding to will, distinguish, and choose for himself; and having first proposed the Good to him, with Promises of Life, and blessed Rewards; and cautioned him against the Evil, with Threats of Death, and Everlasting Punishment and Misery; he than leaves him capable to receive his Counsel. But he doth not forcibly determine him to Good or Evil Actions; for then there would be no Virtue or Vice, well-deserving or ill-deserving, Obedience or Disobedience, Good or Evil, Wisdom or Folly, no Will, Choice, Love or Hatred, etc. So no Rewards or Punishments; which makes void the State of Man, and the Gospel, and God's Oeconomy, and brings all his Works into Confusion, altering things from that Order of Wisdom he hath placed them in.  
Obj. Some object, Seeing God fore-knows all things, to what End is Grace given, and a Day of Visitation, in which they might be saved, to such as come not to be benefitted by it, but reject so great Mercy and Goodness?  
Ans. Many think, this and such like, are wise and puzzling Questions, though the very Query convicts a Man of Ignorance; showing that he neither knows God, nor yet himself, nor God's Oeconomy, (his Order in the Creation) for any of these being known, all such Scruples vanish.  
For as God is the most intelligent Being, and free Agent, above all other; so hath he made Man in his Image, an intelligent Being, a free Agent. A Marvellous Work of the great Worker of all things! With respect to which, David said, 
Psal. 139.14.104.24.  I am fearfully and wonderfully made, etc. And concerning the variety of God's Work, he saith, O Lord, how manisold are thy Works! In Wisdom hast thou made them all, etc.  
Now it behoves, That He who made all things in Wisdom, should exercise an Order of Wisdom amongst them all; should rule and govern them in Wisdom, every thing according to its Capacity and Creation. Should he do otherwise, it would be contrary to his Work of Creation, in framing Man's Heart, so as it is not ordinarily wrought upon but by Persuasions.  
Accordingly he draws Men with Cords of a Man, even with Lovingkindness; and saith, I will instruct thee, 
Hosea 11.4. Psalm 32.8.  and teach thee in the way thou shalt go; I will counsel thee with mine Eye, etc.  
§. 6. Here is God's Wisdom exalted, in that he deals with us, as is proper to Creatures of our Frame and Make; voluntary intelligent Being's, that may distinguish and choose for ourselves; and if we be changed to Good, through Obedience to the Grace of God; or to Evil, through yielding to the Enemy's Temptations; must receive Rewards or Punishments accordingly: But once pervert this Order of Heaven, and we should let in Confusion amongst God's Works, etc.  
Also, The Love and Justice of God is here exalted.  
His Love, Because he would have all Men come to the Knowledge of the Truth, and be saved; but Men cannot come to this Knowledge, nor cannot be saved, without this Grace.  
And his Justice, that (as saith the Psalmist) He might be Justified when he speaketh, and Clear when he judgeth; for if this Grace were not given, 
Psalm 51.4.  Men should have no Sin; because where there is no Law, 
Rom. 4.15.  there is no Transgression. And concerning the Persecuting World, 
john 15.22.  Christ saith, If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin; but now they have no cloak for their sins. So take away this Divine Light, and Grace of God, which is the Standard by which Good and Evil are measured, and there should be neither Virtue nor Vice, Rewards or Punishments.  
So this is the Wisdom and Manner of God, his Oeconomy (or Houshould-Order) his Way in the Creation; that having set Life and Death before us, with Exhortations to choose Life, he leaveth us, according to the wise Man, in the hand of his Counsel; (that is, so far as we are left to our own choice, and not forced; for this would be repugnant to our Constitution) For He himself made Man from the beginning, and left him in the hand of his Counsel; saying, If thou wilt keep the Commandments, 
Ecclus. 15.14, 15, 16, 17.  and perform Acceptable Faithfulness: He hath set Water and Fire before thee, stretch out thine hand unto whither thou wilt. Before Man is Life and Death, and whether him liketh, shall be given him. But there had been none of the Life here spoken of, if he had not had Grace, and a Day of Visitation, etc.  
§. 7. Having now past this Objection, I would query, To what purpose hath the Grace of God appeared to all Men? Which the Scripture calls Gratia illa Dei Salutifera, & benignitas Dei servatrix omnium, (the Salvation-bringing Grace of God, the Goodness of God, the Preserver of All) and which those Men call Common Grace. To what purpose, I say, hath it appeared to all Men? And why is it called, The Preserver of all, if no Man whatsoever obtain Salvation by it? Which is according to their Principle.  
Having hitherto, in this Second Part, cleared up my Passage, by these few more General Arguments: I shall come now to treat more particularly of those Terms under Examination.   

CHAP. II.  
Treating, 1. Of God's Foreknowledge. 2. Of Predestination; the Definition thereof, and how to be understood in the Scripture-Sense, which is Conditional; with Two Objections answered, to clear that Point. 3. That Predestination, Calling and Justification, may be forfeited, or fallen from. 4. That Predestination is employed in Calling, Election and Adoption; all which may be lost, or forfeited.  

Of God's Foreknowledge.  
§. 1. IT is granted, That known unto the Lord are all his Works, from the beginning; he knows all things, past, present, and to come; but there is no necessity of Sinning, proceeding from this Foreknowledge: This Knowledge in God, how and in what manner things will come to pass that are Evil, is not at all the cause of their coming so to pass; for then the fault would be upon God, when things are so, and issue ill.  
If we should charge any fault on God, and make him the Author of Sin, or else that there should be no Sin; we should let in great Blasphemy and Absurdities; as is in part already shown, in answer to the Objection taken from Judas, etc. in page 24. preceding.   

Of Predestination.  
§. 2. Predestination, is Fore-appointment, or Ordaining before, what shall come after; which some understand, according to the Praedestinatiani, a kind of Heretics, that held fatal Predestination of every particular Matter, Person or Action; and that all things came to pass, and fell out necessarily, especially touching the Salvation and Damnation of particular Men; and that Omnia suint salo, etc.  
And it is thus defined by Walter Raleigh, in his first Book, folio 16. We can (saith he) difference Predestination no otherwise from Providence and Prescience, than in this, That Prescience only foresees. Providence foresees and cares for, and hath respect to all Creatures, even from the brightest Angels of Heaven, to the unworthiest Worms of the Earth; and Predestination is only of Men, and yet not of all, to Men belonging, but of their Salvation properly, or Perdition, etc.  
So herein these differ; the first hold it, Of every particular Matter, Person or Action, etc. the latter, Of Man only, and yet not of all to Men belonging, etc. And yet in one thing, they both agree, which is nevertheless a great Error, That Predestination hath respect unto the Damnation and Perdition of Men; which is not where found in the whole Scriptures: But wherever we read of any being Predestinated, it is unto the Adoption of Sons, unto Salvation, unto Eternal Life, and unto Glory, etc. but never unto Destruction and Misery: So Predestination is not unto Perdition.  
And as it respects the Salvation of Men, it is not to be understood simply, or absolutely and positively; but is to be understood secundum quid, according to the Covenant betwixt God and Man, in a conditional Sense: For if otherwise, all would be saved, because all were made to an End of Salvation; which signifies their Fore-appointment unto Glory, or in other terms, their Predestination; for to be Predestinated, or Made, or Ordained, or Fore-appointed unto Glory; all import one and the same thing.  
Again, If Predestination were absolute, without any respect to the Man's being good or evil, Salvation were unavoidable to such Men, live as they will.  
But God's Saved Ones were plucked as Brands out of the Fire; 
Zach. 3.2. Job 33.  and delivered from going down to the Pit; and brought back from the Pit, to be enlightened with the Light of the Living; and were brought up out of an horrible Pit: And being straightened, and seeing this danger, prayed, Deliver me out of the Mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep Waters: 
Psalm 69.  Let not the Water-floods overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up; and let not the Pit shut her Mouth upon me.  
Object. 1. Ay, but say our Opponents, They that are Predestinated unto Salvation, as the end, are also Predestinated unto Righteousness and Holiness, as the means leading to that End.  
Answ. If it be thus, and this Predestination sovereign and absolute; then how is this Holiness, or Salvation of Men, effected? It must be either: 

1. By a Super pondium of the Will and Affection, etc.  
2. Or by Force.    
To the first of these, it would be contrary to God's Work of Creation, in making us free voluntary Agents, so as to will, distinguish, and choose for ourselves; and it unmans' us, depriving us of those Powers and Faculties so essential to a Rational Creature.  
And as to the second, than Men would be saved Nolens volens, whethey will or nay; which is contrary to Seeking, Searching, Inquiry, Supplication, Prayer, Faith, Obedience, Love, etc. And overthrows all Divine Testimonies; so that were it Truth, it would be the most obstinate repugnant Truth that ever was heard of; for it renders all the rest of the holy Scriptures not to be true, and gives the lie to all those inspired Writings; and therefore it is Self-erroneous in the Sense they urge it.  
Object. 2. Whom he did Foreknow, them he also did Predestinate; whom he did Predestinate, them he also Called; whom he Called, them he also Justified; and whom he Justified, them he also Glorified. But it doth not say, He Predestinated any, but whom he foreknew, etc.  
Answ. This place indeed speaks only of such as love God, and are foreknown of him as such; and it is, as the foregoing words show, a Declaration how all things work together for good, unto such a People; but it doth not say, That none else are ever Predestinated or Called, but such as are thus Fore-known. But the contrary appears: 

1. From Christ's weeping over Jerusalem, because in that her day, she had not known the things that appertained to her Peace, and then they were hid from her Eyes.  
2. From that, Of the many that are Called, few are Chosen.    
§. 3. And speaking on't in a general Sense, Predestination may be forfeited; for if Justification can be fallen from, and forfeited, then may Predestination and Calling, being lower Steps, and in order to it.  
But that Justification may be forfeited, appears from that all True Justification is by Grace and Faith, Rom. 3.24, 28. and 5.1. Gal. 2.16. and 3.24. Tit. 3.7. And we read of some, that turned the Grace of God into Lasciviousness; and some, 
Judas 4. 1 Tim. 1.19.6.10.  that made Shipwreck of Faith; and have erred from the Faith; and pierced themselves through with many Sorrows.  
So if Justification be by Grace and Faith; and if Grace and Faith, by which we are Justified, may be fallen from and lost; then may Justification also be fallen from and forfeited; and if Justification, than also Predestination and Calling.  
This is further manifest, from Ezek. 18.24. which saith, When a righteous Man turneth away from his Righteousness, and committeth Iniquity; in his Trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his Sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die: Which shows a possibility of falling from Righteousness, and even of a total and final Apostasy from it. And if from Righteousness, then from Justification; for they are equivalent. A righteous or justified Man is the same.  
§. 4. Then Predestination is employed in Calling, Election and Adoption; so if these can be lost and forfeited, Predestination may, being employed in them: And as it is shown before, concerning Calling, that it may be fallen from, and lost; the same I shall show concerning Election and Adoption.  
The first appears from 2 Pet. 1. where we are exhorted, To use all diligence, adding to our Faith, Virtue; to Virtue, Knowledge; to Knowledge, Temperance; to Temperance, Patience; to Patience, Godliness; to Godliness, Brotherly Kindness; to Brotherly Kindness, Charity; for he that lacketh these things, is blind, and cannot see afar off; and hath forgot that he was purged from his old Sins: Wherefore the rather, Brethren, give diligence to make your Calling and Election sure.  
Which shows, though they were Called, Elected, and Brethren, etc. yet there was a possibility of their losing that State again, and of forfeiting what God had done for them, in purging them from their old Sins. and of their falling into Blindness, etc.  
On the other hand, If we do these things, we shall never fail: Here's a Conditional Assurance, If we do them, we shall never fail; if we do them not, we shall fail: For what signifies Faith, without Virtue; Religion, without Holiness? And 'tis plain, this our not failing, or preservation, depends upon something we are to do; but yet not so as of ourselves, but by the Grace of God; by and through this Grace, we may do these things; upon which depends our Preservation. And for want of this doing, we fail; so our Destruction is of ourselves, and in God is our Help: But he helps us by ourselves, not without ourselves; if we do these things, it is left upon that, whether we fail, or never fail.  
The second is shown in the Instance of Israel, to whom appertained the Adoption, and the Glory, etc. and yet they would not receive Christ, but crucified him, and fell away, and lost the Holy Land, and became Fugitives in all the Earth; Esau answered, in the Type, unto this State, he fainted and lost his Birthright; and Fainting, spiritually, is understood of Unbelief; and it was through Unbelief those Israelites, whom the Apostle renders as the Natural Branches in Christ, the true Vine, were broken off from him, and fell from the Adoption. So in the Mystery, that which Fainteth is Esau, and this loseth the Adoption, and Spiritual Birthright.    

CHAP. III.  
Showing, 1. That Election and Reprobation are of the Two Seeds; and that Predestination, Election, Adoption, Justification, etc. are all in Christ. 2. That Election (according to Scripture) is not strictly to be understood of particular Persons, without respect to their being Good or Evil; and the same evinced by sundry Propositions (with their Affirmative Proofs) laid down, concerning the falling away of some, and not falling away of others, of the Elect, according to Scripture.  
§. 1. ELection and Reprobation are of the two Seeds, or Principles, before spoken of; whosoever is Elected, it is in Christ the heavenly Seed, and for his sake, and not otherwise: He is God's Elect, in whom his Soul delighteth; He is God's Oath and Covenant unto Mankind, and them that go out of him, break the Covenant, and lose their State; and none are in Christ otherwise, than as they keep God's Covenant, and perform their Duty to God, in and through his Spirit enabling them.  
So Predestination, Election, Adoption, justification, etc. are all in Christ; and import, on the one hand, the Acts of God towards Men; and on the other, Men's Spiritual States and Conditions in him, and are thus to be understood, because the contrary would run us into Confusion. For instance:  
§. 2. If we understand Election, strictly and properly, of Persons, without any other respect to Good or Evil, how shall we reconcile these following Passages, deduced from Scripture?  
1. That there is a State of Election, from which Men may fall away.  
It is clear from Scripture, all Mankind was made Good, was God's Chosen Creature, and his Delight; made to an end of his Glory, and to enjoy Him for ever; and yet through the Fall, all Mankind suffered loss; according to which, the Scripture saith, We have all sinned, and come short of the Glory of God: That in Adam all died; that Man that was in Honour, and abode not therein, became as the Beasts of the Field, that perished.  
Adam was thus Elect, and fell; the People of Israel were God's Elect People, and many of them fell.  
2. That this State of Election; though Men may fall from it, yet may be restored again.  
Israel was a peculiar and chosen People; an Election out of an Election, to whom appertained the Adoption, and the Glory, etc. And yet those, the Natural Branches, were some of them broken off through Unbelief; 
Rom. 11.  notwithstanding of them it was said, If they abode not in Unbelief, they should be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again. This the Apostle cleareth by the following Instance, If thou wert cut out of the Olive-Tree, which is wild by Nature, and wert graffed, contrary to Nature, into a good Olive Tree: How much more shall these, who be the Natural Branches, be graffed into their own Olive-Tree? So here is evinced, the possibility of some of the Elect's falling, and of their being restored again.  
3. And also, That some who are Elected, may fall away, and cannot be restored again.  
It is impossible for those, who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly Gift, 
Heb. 6.4, 5, 6.  and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good Word of God, and the Powers of the World to come; if they fall away, to renew them again unto Repentance: seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.  
4. That some Elected may finally and totally fall away.  
It is manifest from the  Scripture, and from Heb. 10. v. 26, 17. For if we sin wilfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the Truth, there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sins; but a certain fearful looking for of Judgement, and fiery Indignation, which shall devour the Adversaries. So here's a possibility of the Elect Ones (Graduates in Election) falling away, finally and totally; so as never to be restored again.  
5. That there is such a State, or Degree of Election, from which there is no falling away.  
Such a State of certainty and fixedness is attainable, from which there is no apostasy, or falling away; because we are exhorted unto it, To use all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure; wherein we shall never fall: And there is no Spiritual Exhortation in vain, or ill grounded; which this would be, if it could not be made sure. The Apostle Paul was persuaded, concerning himself and some others, That nothing should be able to separate them from the Love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
Rom 8.38, 39   
Now this Persuasion, being of the Truth, makes it evident, That he, and those concerning whom he was so persuaded, had attained this State.  
And of such he affirms, That they could do nothing against the Truth, but for the Truth. 
2 Cor. 13.8.   
And of himself, he saith, I have fought a good Fight, 
2 Tim. 4.7.  I have finished my Course, I have kept the Faith, henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness, which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, shall give me at that day, etc.  
So here's the Race run, the Rest entered into, the Fight fought, the Victory obtained, the Wicked One overcome; and so the Fixation, the durable State, the Assurance for ever.  
1. For Christ hath promised, He that overcometh, shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, 
Rev. 23.7.  and he shall be my Son; and if he shall inherit all things, he shall inherit this good State, from whence there is no falling.  
2. Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God, and he shall go no more out. 
Rev. 3.12.  So here's no more falling away from this degree; these are God's Sealed Ones, comed higher than the first Adam before the Fall, into a State in the second Adam, from whence there is no falling.  
These are called, The Election that hath obtained; and it's said, The rest were blinded: But the reason is evident, 
Rom. 11.7.  they gave not diligence to add to their Faith, Virtue, etc. and he that hath not these things is blind, etc.  
And those are called, by way of Pre-eminence, the Very Elect, whom neither false Christ's, nor false Prophets, with all their lying Wonders, shall ever be able to deceive: For to this State must these, and such like Scriptures relate; or else they would contradict those Scriptures which show the possibility of falling from Grace, Faith, Righteousness, etc.  
Thus all these Propositions are expounded and demonstrated from Scripture, and their co-incidence and agreement clearly shown; which otherwise taken, run into Confusion and Contradiction.  
And there is no more ground left, to presume of our being absolutely or unconditionally Elected, than there is to Despair, lest we be Reprobated; because there are things to be done by us, which if we do, we shall never fall; and if we do them not, we shall fall; and through the Spirit of Christ helping us, we are all enabled to do these things, during the time of our Visitation: So if we persevere, we are happy; If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me; and if thou take forth the Precious from the Vile, thou shalt be as my Mouth, 
Jer. 15.19.  etc. So take thy Number O Zion, and shut up those of thine that are clothed in white, which have fulfilled the Law of the Lord.   

CHAP. IU.  
Containing an Inquiry, touching the Two select and principal Tribes of Israel, to wit, 1. Levi. 2. Judah: Whom, of all the rest, had the Precedence, both in Honour and Favour with God; nevertheless, by their wilful Disobedience, and repeated Provocations, fell under God's great Displeasure and Rejection. 3. Showing from thence the Nullity of their (or any others) Election, when falling short of Honouring God, and Performing Covenant with Him.  
HAving spoken of Israel in general, that Elect People, whom the Apostle Paul differs from other People in his Comparisons; as, the true Olive-Tree, from the wild Olive-Tree; and as the Natural Branches, to them that are not Natural Branches of the true Olive-Tree; but, in a way above Nature, might be grafted in.  
I shall now say something of the Two Principal Tribes amongst them, and the most Select Families amongst those Tribes; because, if ever any were saved, without any respect to their Walking with God, etc. they would be found here, we should meet with them among these Beloved and Honoured People. And  
1. First, of Levi, that Priestly Tribe; in that same Night, in which God slew all the First Born of Egypt, he sanctified to himself all the First Born of Israel; and he made choice of, and accepted this Tribe, in lieu of them, and separated them unto the Priest's Office, and none were to bear the Tabernacle or Ark, or come near to touch the holy things, but them; and their incampment was round about the Tabernacle, etc.  
And of this Tribe, the Dignity and first Honour fell upon Aaron and his Sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, and they were distinguished in their Consecration, with Water, Oil, Hyssop, and Blood; in their Offerings made for them, in their Vestments, Food, Services, their Encamping next the Tabernacle, Eastward; where if any Stranger came, he was to be put to Death.  
Now Aaron, the first High Priest, confirmed in his holy Office, against the Contenders for that Dignity, by a great Miracle, the Budding of his Rod in one Night, its Blossoming, and bringing forth Almonds; he died in Mount Hor. And Moses put his Robes upon Eleazar, his Son and Successor, in the Honour of the high Priesthood, which was confirmed to him, and Phineas his Son (when he slew Zimri and Cosbi) by way of the Covenant of an Everlasting Priesthood; yet a period was put to the descent of this Honour, in Eleazer's Line, at the Death of the Fourth High Priest after him; and it appears, it had been of more duration, by the Promises made unto the next Family, had they kept God's Covenant.  
For the fourth High Priest from Eleazar being dead, that Dignity devolved upon Eli, the first High Priest of the Line of Ithamar, whose Sons were Sons of Belial, and knew not the Lord, but committed great Wickedness, and their Father restrained them not. And there came a Man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the House of thy Father, when they were in Egypt? 
1 Sam. 2.33.  etc.— And did choose him out of all the Tribes of Israel to be my Priest? etc.— Wherefore kick ye at my Sacrifices? etc.— And honour'st thy Sons above me, etc.— Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy House, and the House of thy Father, should walk before me for ever; but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me: For them that honour me, I will honour; and they that despise me, shall be lightly esteemed. Behold the days come, that I will cut off thine Arm, and the Arm of thy Father's House, etc.— And the Man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine Altar, shall be to consume thine Eyes, and to grieve thine Heart, etc. Soon after this, Israel was smitten by the Philistines, the Ark of God taken, the two wicked Priests (the Sons of Eli) Hophni and Phinehas, slain in one day; and Eli, upon the News thereof, falling from his Seat, broke his Neck, and died, etc. Hence it is plain, the exceeding Love of God to this Family, and how perpetually Happy they might have been, if they had Honoured God; and how Wretched and Miserable they made themselves, by provoking him with their Wickedness and Abominations: So as this high Honour was quite removed out of their Line, in the time of King Solomon, when he expelled Abiather from the Priesthood, 
1 Kings 2.26.  who was the last of the high Priests of the House of Ithamar; in whose place he constituted Zadock, and in him was again restored the Line of Eleazar, to the possession of that Dignity; to which (as that Prophecy, here fulfilled, teacheth) they now ascended by the steps of the Trespass of the other. From whence 'tis clear, that Sin is Sin in the most Beloved People; and that God may be provoked by it to forsake 'em, and instead of the purposed Blessing, to bring a Curse upon them: So there is no continuing Sanctuary in Election, if we make it not sure, after the  Gospel-manner; but in Virtue and keeping the Covenant, there is Sanctuary; in Faith and Holiness, is an Invincible Shield.  
To which agreeth the Prophecy of Malachy, who in his day, told the Priests on this manner, If you will not hear, if you will not lay it to heart, 
Mal. 2.1, 2.  to give Glory to my Name, saith the Lord of Hosts, I will even send a Curse upon you, and I will curse your Blessings; yea, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart; I will corrupt your Seed, and spread dung upon your Faces, etc. So here God will be Glorified in the House of Eleazar: For want of this, we see Ithamar's House long since rejected and cursed; and now the Curse entering upon the House of Eleazar, for the same cause, of not giving Glory to the mighty Name of God: And they were a select People, and had great Promises; concerning the first, God had said indeed, Thy House, and the House of thy Father, shall walk before me for ever; and to the latter, he had long since given his Covenant of Life and Peace, even the Covenant of an Everlasting Priesthood; but is now beginning to corrupt his Seed, and to spread Dung on his Face; and what's become of their Priesthood, their Tabernacle, their Temple, their Mercy-Seat, Ark, Altar, Sacrifices, and all their holy things? How is Levi this day cast off, scattered, rejected, & c? And as it is Glorious on the one hand, to consider their high Dignity and Honour; so is't on the other hand, Astonishing, to consider their Privation of it, their Debasedness and Misery.  
2. I come next to speak of Judah, the most Ennobled and Royal Tribe of the whole Earth; if distinction is to be made of Blood, it's to be found here, the most Royal Blood that ever run in Humane Veins; if of Lineage and Families, the World affords us instance of none so Great, so Renowned as this, Honoured with the Birth of Christ; his Name imports Praises, and his Excellency was held forth in his Blessing: Judah, thou art He whom thy Brethren shall Praise; thy Hand shall be on the Neck of thine Enemies, thy Father's Children shall bow down before thee, etc. Gen. 49.48.  
Whence, and from several other Scriptures, may appear, That Judah had the first place in the Love of God, before any other Tribe or Family then upon Earth; yet God would not bear their Wickedness, but was provoked by it, so as he slew Er, the First Born Son of this great Father of the Tribe, and from whom it took its Denomination.  
And in Aftertime, when their Kings did wickedly, God was provoked with it, as appears particularly in the Instance of Manasseh, who did evil, above all that the Amorites did, which were before him; for which cause, God said, He would bring such Evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever should hear of it, both his Ears should tingle: And further, I will forsake the Remnant of mine Inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their Enemies, and they shall become a Prey and a Spoil unto all their Enemies, because they have done that which is Evil in my sight, and provoked me to Anger, etc. And notwithstanding the great Reformation soon wrought in Judah, by that good King Josiah, (who was this wicked King's Grandchild) of whom 'tis Recorded, That like unto him was no King before him, that turned to the Lord with all his Heart; neither after him, arose there any like him: Yet so far was the Lord provoked, upon so great a defection of the People, that he turned not from the Fierceness of his Wrath, wherewith his Anger was kindled, etc. but said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel; and I will cast off this City Jerusalem, which I have chosen; and the House, of which I said, My Name shall be there, etc.  
§. 3. So 'tis clear, People in great Favour with God, could forsake him by Disobedience, and forfeit their share in his Love, and instead thereof, draw down his Displeasure and Wrath upon them; For no Man shall please the Lord, or continue long in his Favour, who does not Love, Honour and Serve him; and it hath been in many Instances observable, That the nearer God takes any People unto himself, the more need they have to be humble, reverend and holy, as they are nearer the Divine Presence: For the Lord hath said, He will be sanctified in them that come nigh him; which when Moses expounded of the sudden and miraculous Death of Nadab and Abihu, Aaron held his Peace; this high Priest could not deny the Exposition. Levit. 20.1, 2, 3.  
So for People to take a greater liberty in their Words, Actions, and Conversation, because of an Opinion of their being more Beloved of God, and his People in a more peculiar manner than others, is exceeding foolish and erroneous; this hath introduced that evil Licentiousness with some People, that they could think those things tolerable in themselves, which they condemn in others; and hath found out that hurtful distinction between the Sins of the Saints, and the Sins of the Wicked; and hath brought a strange Species of Sin (for they'll not allow it to be of the common fort) into the Prayers, and best Duties, of the Saints; which many will plead for, as though it were either necessary or unavoidable: Whereas the Man that is thus stated, with respect to the Divine Favour, should rather show it forth out of a good Conversation, with Holiness of Truth.  
Next, Amos the Prophet saith, in God's Name, unto this Select People, 
Amos 3.2.  You only have I known of all the Fumilies of the Earth; therefore I will punish you for all your Iniquities; which hath come to pass on this (once Honourable) Tribe, as well as on the rest of the Jews, whose Government is overturned, their Country inhabited by another People, and they under a more visible Dispersion into other Lands, than any other People or Nation under Heaven; and remain to this day, as a sort of Vagabonds and Fugitives scattered up and down upon the face of the Earth, having neither King or Nation of their their own; for as Levi hath lost his Dedicate things, so hath Judah his Regalia; the Sceptre is departed from him, & the Lawgiver from between his knees.   

CHAP. V.  
Being, 1. An Inquiry into the Infamous Race and Posterity of wicked Ham, whom their Father Noah Cursed, with great Bondage and Servitude; notwithstanding which Curse and Rejection, many good People were found amongst them. 2. That their General Restoration is held forth in Scripture.  
§. 1. HAving taken a view of the two most honoured and beloved Families upon Earth; let us next take a view of the most Accursed and Infamous Family upon Earth; that of Ham's, not Excluding even those that wear the black Badge of Darkness, in the surface of their Skin; the Posterity of him who blushed not at his Father's Nakedness, became as it were uncapable of a Blush. Our Saviour himself speaks of this People, in comparison of the aforementioned, as Dogs to Children. 
Mat. 15.   
So that if there had been such a special Election, according to which some had been saved, without any respect to their Faith, Obedience, etc. it would have been found among those; or if there had been such an absolute Reprobation, according to which some had been cast headlong into Perdition, without any respect to their good or evil Deeds, we should find it among these.  
But in the trace of the former, it's showed, how that notwithstanding their special Election, many of them were rejected, and fell away.  
So it may appear concerning these, that such of them as walked according to the Grace given them, were received and accepted for good. For Instance: 

1. Vriah the Hittite, one of David's Worthies, a Man of great Zeal and Virtue, who was with Israel in their Wars against Ammon; and his Zeal for God was such, as coming on an Errand from the Army, he refused the King's Order to go home unto his Wife; saying, The Ark and Israel, and Judah, abide in Tents; 
2 Sam. 11.11  and my lord Joab, and the Servants of my lord, are encamped in the open Field; shall I then go into mine House, to eat, and to drink, and to lie with my Wife? As thou livest, and as thy Soul liveth, I will not do this thing.  
2. The Widow of Zarepha, or Sarepta, to whom Elijah the Prophet was sent, after he had prophesied against Ahab, King of Israel; and she was a Woman of great Faith, as the following Passages show.    
At that time there was a sore Famine in the Land, and she was run to the last extremity, having left her but an handful of Meal in a Barrel, and a little Oil in a Cruise, and she was gathering Sticks to bake it, for her and her Son, being resigned unto Death, after that their last Cake was eaten. And yet, even in this extremity, she was persuaded to feed the Prophet with this her Food, and to believe him, contrary to the common course of things, that her Barrel of Meal should not waste, nor her Cruise of Oil fail, till the Lord should send Rain upon the Earth. Great was her Faith, and the Mercy shown her great; for her Meal and her Oil failed not, so that she with her Son were preserved through the Famine; and her Son being Dead, was restored to Life again by the Prophet. 
1 Kings 17.   
Christ recounteth this as a special Mercy, even above what was shown the Widows of Israel; for he saith, There were many Widows in Israel in the days of Elias, when the Heavens was shut up three Years and six Months, 
Luke 4.25, 26.  when great Famine was throughout all the Land; but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a City of Sidon, unto a Woman that was a Widow.  
3. That Woman of Canaan; who, when Jesus departed into the Coasts of Tyre and Sidon, came out of the same Coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have Mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David, my Daughter is grievously vexed with a Devil. 
Mat. 15.21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28.  But he answered her not a Word; and his Disciples besought him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us. But he answered, saying, I am not sent, but unto the lost Sheep of the House of Israel. Then she came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered, It is not meet to take the Child's Bread, and cast it to Dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord; yet the Dogs eat of the Crumbs which fall from their Master's Table. Then Jesus answered, O Woman, great is thy Faith; be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her Daughter was made whole from that very hour.  
4. The Ethiopian, an Eunuch of great Authority under Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, 
Acts 8.27.  read at large his miraculous Conversion, and Confession of Jesus Christ to be the Son of God.  
As in our view of those honourable Tribes, we find some wicked People of Levi and Judah; so in the search among these infamous People, we find some good of Ham; and as the evil People of those chosen Families were cast off and rejected, so were the good People of this cursed Family received of God, and accepted.  
From whence may appear, that we are not saved in a Life of Sin, by Virtue of any previous Election; nor destroyed in a Life of Holiness, by means of any previous Reprobation.  
Whoever perished being Innocent? or where were the Righteous cut off? 
Job 4.7.  Who ever found Life in Death? or being guilty, were saved? or perished being Righteous?  
That this People were of Ham's Race, is apparent; from that, one of them is called a Woman of Canaan, and the answer of Christ to her; and from that, Sarepta and Tyre belonging to Sidon; which City hath its Name from Sidon, the firstborn Son of Canaan, the youngest Son of Ham; who, as History gives account, invaded the Land of Promise, called then Phenicia; but from him it was called Canaan; of his Brother Mizraim came Philistine; and of himself came (besides the Sidonians) the Jebusite, the Amorite, the Girgashite, the Hittite, etc. and these planted themselves there, in part of Shem's Inheritance; for their Father Noah, as Antiquity mentions, gave Asia to Shem, Europe to Japhet, and Africa to Ham; whence David calls Egypt Ham's Land.  
Israel came also into Egypt, and Jacob sojourned in the Land of Ham. He sent Moses his Servant, and Aaron whom he had chosen; 
Psalm 105.23, 26, 27.  they shown his Signs among them, and Wonders in the Land of Ham, etc.  
§. 2. And tho' Noah their Father cursed this People, and pronounced him three times, a Servant, and Servant of Servants, etc. yet we see there arose some good People among them; and their general Restoration seems to be held forth in some Scripture-Prophecies, as these following, etc.  
Prince's shall come out of Egypt; 
Psal. 68.31.  Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.  
In that day shall five Cities in the Land of Egypt speak the Language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of Hosts, etc. And there shall be an Altar to the Lord in the midst of the Land of Egypt, 
Isai. 19.18, 19, 20, etc.  and a Pillar at the border thereof to the Lord; and it shall be for a sign, and for a witness unto the Lord of Hosts, in the Land of Egypt; for they shall cry unto the Lord, because of the Oppressors, and he shall send them a Saviour, and a great One, and he shall deliver them. And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do Sacrifice and Oblation; yea, they shall vow a Vow unto the Lord, and perform it. The Lord shall smite Egypt, yea, he shall smite and heal it, and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt, and with Assyria, even a Blessing in the midst of the Land; whom the Lord of Hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my People, and Assyria the Work of mine Hands, and Israel mine Inheritance.  
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great Trumpet shall be blown, 
Isai. 27.13.  and they shall come which were ready to perish in the Land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the Land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy Mountain of Jerusalem.  
So in the Lord's Way, here's Salvation for all People; but out of it, no Salvation: If we walk in the Light, even as he is Light; we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all unrighteousness. 
1 John 1.7.     

THE Corrector Corrected:  
BEING An Answer to George Keith 's Arguments, concerning the great Mystery of Election and Predestination, after a peculiar way, (as he terms it) in his Book he miscalls Truth Advanced, in the Correction of many gross and hurtful Errors, etc. Printed in the Year 1695. Page 9, & 10.  
1. GEORGE KEITH saith, Although he is well persuaded, there is no absolute Reprobation of any Souls of the Children of Adam, or Decree of Eternal Destruction passed upon them, that is Absolute; but only such as is Conditional, and relative to their final State, in Sin and Unbelief.  
2. Yet he is well, and fully persuaded, there is an Election of Souls, and Seeds that is certain; to wit,  
3. That God hath chosen all such Souls of Mankind, who shall be saved from the beginning of the World unto the end of it, both to Faith and Holiness, as the Means; and to Eternal Life and Happiness, as the End, to be obtained by the said Means.  
4. And that in all Souls that are to be saved, although both Holiness and Eternal Life, is to be their free Choice; yet that Choice is not a bare, indifferent, or contingent and accidental Choice; but God hath most certainly and absolutely purposed, to work that free Choice in them, both to Holiness, as the Means; and to Eternal Life and Happiness, as the End, to be (in due time) obtained by the said Means.  
Answer. Reprobation, he here makes conditional and relative; and Election, certain and absolute; and by Election, he understands God's Choice of all such Souls of Mankind who shall be saved, both to Faith and Holiness, as the Means; and to Eternal Life, as the End, etc. By which it appears, that in his account, there are some Souls of Mankind God hath not made choice of, not only who shall not be saved, but according to his next Paragraph (which I mark 4.) that are not to be saved.  
But God made all Souls of Mankind; so, according to Geo. Keith, God made some Souls of Mankind that are not to be saved, and some that are to be saved.  
Now, to be sure such Souls as are not to be saved, are not made to that End; nor hath God intended the Salvation of such: So then there must be an absolute Reprobation of them. But he saith, He is well persuaded there is no absolute Reprobation, etc. Contradiction 1.  
Then, according to G. K. God made not Choice of all Souls of Mankind from the beginning, but only all such as should be saved, etc.  
But the contrary is evident.  
For Adam, our first Parent, and the common Representative of Mankind, was made in God's Image, was Christ's Delight, was made Good, etc. And God hath ever chosen his own Image, he beholds and loves his own Image, above every Image: And Christ's delighting in Men, shows his Choice of them. Besides, he never made any Good thing to an Evil end; and he hath expressly said, All Souls are mine. Ezek. 18.4.  
And after the Fall, God made a Promise unto Adam, That the Seed of the Woman should bruise the Serpent's Head; which afterwards he renewed with Abraham, etc. And all Mankind had their share and interest in this Promise, and Covenant of God, made with Adam, their common Parent and Representative; so all Mankind were again made capable of Salvation, after the Fall.  
So I would query of G. K. whether after the Fall, there was not the means of Restauration free, and offered unto all Mankind?  
But if Faith and Holiness be included in this Election pleaded for, as the Means of their Salvation so Elected, and as the Effect of their Election before the World began, then either all Men are Elected unto Salvation, or else none can be saved but who are so Elected; and all the rest of Mankind must of necessity be Damned, because not Elected unto Faith and Holiness, as the Means; and Salvation and Happiness, as the End. And then what's become of Universal Grace, so much pleaded for by G. K. heretofore, and with his now being well persuaded, there is no absolute Reprobation of any of the Souls of the Children of Adam, & c? Contrad. 2.  
He saith, That in all Souls that are to be saved, both Holiness and Eternal Life is to be their free Choice. But upon the matter, he makes this free Choice, no Choice at all; but rather a Sovereign Act of God upon the Creature: Then the Creatures Act like the Ranters, who say, If God would have me to be good, he can make me good, etc. We own, that it is of Grace that we choose the Good, etc.  
But if it were by such a sovereign Act of God, as he seems to hold forth, than it would not be Choice; for Choice is our Act, and God persuades us to make that good Choice; but it must be our free Choice. He compels none; for that would be contrary to his Wisdom in framing our Hearts, so as they are not ordinarily wrought upon, but by persuasion.  
He brings some Scriptures to prove his Doctrine; as, Whom he did foreknow, 
Rom. 8.29.  he also did predestinate, etc. But I wholly pass by these here, they being particularly spoken to in the foregoing Treatise, of Election and Reprobation.  
His next Scripture is, He hath chosen us in Christ Jesus, before the Foundation of the World, 
Ephes. 1.4.  to be holy and without blame before him in love.  
To this, All things were made by Jesus Christ, and for him; and all Mankind was made after his order, as he is the Son of Man; so all Men chosen in him before the Foundation of the World, etc.  
But he saith, (in p. 10.) Augustine well observed, about Twelve Hundred Years ago, That it is not said, God hath chosen us for our foreseen Faith and Holiness, but he hath chosen us to be Holy: So that our Faith and Holiness is wholly the Effect of God's Election, not at all the Cause or Condition of it.  
Notwithstanding the Antiquity of this Observation, its famous Author, and G. K's Commendations of it, yet to me it seems rather an Amusement than an Argument: For here's an Election, which he saith, our Faith and Holiness is not the cause of; whoever pretended it so to be? Nor is it (he saith) the Condition on't, but wholly the Effect on't; but says, This Effect is not forcibly produced, it is a Work of God's Grace.  
And this Grace is Universal, and for the same end to all; so that in whom it produceth not this Effect, the cause is, Thair resisting the Grace; and not their nonelection. And there is a Fallacy in seeking to separate the Condition from the Effect; the Condition and Effect of a thing may in sundry respects be the same, and often (as here) are as it were interwoven in each other. But  
If, as G. K. saith, Faith and Holiness be wholly the Effect of God's choosing us in Christ Jesus before the Foundation of the World; from thence it follows, That none can have Faith and Holiness, unless they be chosen of God in Christ Jesus before the Foundation of the World.  
And if Faith and Holiness be wholly the Effect of this Choice; then, to all Men who are not thus chosen, Faith and Holiness are impossible.  
But to them, to whom Faith and Holiness is impossible, Eternal Life and Happiness is also impossible; for no Man cometh unto the End, but by the Means. And if to some Men, Eternal Life and Happiness is impossible, then there is an absolute Reprobation of them. But G. K. saith, He is well persuaded there is no absolute Reprobation, etc. Contr. 3. And if, as he saith, God hath chosen all such Souls of Mankind, who shall be saved, from the beginning of the World, etc. Then this Election either comprehends all the Souls of Mankind, or it takes in but a part of them: If but a part of them, the other part cannot be saved.  
G. K. saith further (in p. 11.) If such a Conditional Election were, it would be General or Universal, and comprehend all Mankind; for why are one part more than another, seeing Eternal Life and Salvation are held forth Conditionally to all? But the Scripture no where holdeth forth a General Election, but only of some; and therefore Christ taught, That though many are Called, yet few are Chosen.  
To which I answer, Calling is an effect of God's Love, and Election is from the same. From God's Love to us, springs his Choice of us: So Calling and Election are equivalent, or the same in kind. But there is a degree of Election, which is only said of the Faithful; they were Called, and Chosen, and Faithful and True; but though all are Called, yet only a Remnant prove Faithful and True: Thence it comes to pass, of the many that are Called, few are Chosen.  
Wisdom, saith the wise Man, exalteth her Children, etc. If a Man commit himself unto her, he shall inherit her, etc. At the first she will walk with him by crooked ways, and bring fear and dread upon him, and torment him with her Discipline, until she may trust his Soul, and try him by her Laws; then will she return the straight way unto him, and comfort him, and show him her secrets; but if he go wrong, she will forsake him, and give him over to his own Ruin. I could wish this were not G. K's own case, but I am afraid on't.  
However, it appears hence, that God's Dealing with us is Conditional; and what were these many called to, if not to Faith, and Holiness, and Eternal Life? And whence comes it, that so few of them are chosen, but from their Disobedience and Unfaithfulness? Who, not committing themselves to the holy Spirit of Discipline, nor abiding the Trial of her Laws, have gone wrong, and so been forsaken, and given up to their own Ruin.  
But G. K. will neither have Election to be Conditional nor General; though he must either grant this, or allow a possibility of Salvation to such as are not chosen of God, or Elected to Faith and Holiness, as the Means; nor to Eternal Life and Happiness, as the End, (to be in due time obtained by the said Means) or else agree to an absolute Reprobation of some: But he saith, He is well persuaded there is no absolute Reprobation, etc. Contr. 4.  
And if he allows a possibility of Salvation to such as are not Chosen, etc. then he will make two ways of Salvation; the one by Election, the other some other way, (he is yet to tell us of.) According to the first, the Elect only are saved; according to the latter, some other People. If he allow it not, he must concede an absolute Reprobation of them; and so take home his Contradiction. Besides, if he deny an Universal Salvation, as free for Mankind, he must also deny Universal Grace, the Universality of Christ's Death (who tasted Death for every Man) and of the Gospel; all which imply Universal Salvation tendered.  
G. K. argues (in p. 11.) If Election were only Conditional, why did Paul (he should have said Peter) exhort Believers, To give all diligence to make their Calling and Election sure? For how can that which is only Conditional, be made sure to some more than to others? Now he presseth them to make it sure; to wit, That they may have the assured knowledge of it; Not that it was not sure unto God; for as Paul declared, The Foundation of God standeth sure, having this Seal, etc.  
This Text stood directly in his way, and therefore he endeavours the more to darken it, by the Smoke of his Pit. But this Fallacious and Sophistical Exposition will not do.  
For Peter's exhorting Believers, To give all diligence to make their Calling and Election sure, showeth something on their part to be done, for the ascertaining it unto themselves; they had it, the Election belonged unto them, but they could not hold it, nor be assured of their continuance in it unto the end, nor bind it, nor seal it to themselves, but by a diligent perseverance in the Fear and Grace of God, adding to their Faith, Virtue, etc. which shows the performance of some Duty incumbent upon the Elect; something to be done, some Condition to be observed on their part; the neglect whereof hinders them from having their Election made sure to them: For we see the Text calls it, their Calling and Election, to whom it is directed; and though it was theirs [your Calling and Election] yet something was still to be done to make it sure; which shows it was theirs, yet not so sure but that it might be forfeited and lost: For if it had been so sure, when he so exhorted them, there had been no need to give diligence to make it sure; for that which is already so, needs not still to be made so; nor can it thereby be made sure, if it were sure before. Therefore if their Election, to whom Peter writ, had at that time been sure, his Exhortation had been ill grounded, and in vain.  
But he presseth them to make it sure, saith G. K. to wit, That they might have the assured knowledge on't. But he might as well have said any thing else; for there's no more evidence of this being the Apostle's meaning, than that he meant any other thing; nor can he persuade us, Peter was so incapable or insincere in his Expression, as to say one thing, and mean another; or that he meant not as himself saith, but as G. K. saith for him.  
And to this Query, How that which is only Conditional, may be made sure by some more than others?  
I answer, By Performance of the Condition; as if a faithful true Master promiseth a certain Reward to each Man, who will do so much Work in such a time. He that useth diligence, and finisheth his Work in the time allowed, makes the Reward sure; and such as neglect, and finish not their Work in the time, lose their Reward. Thus that which is conditional may be made sure, or may be forfeited.  
Further G. K. saith, (in p. 12.) The Foundation of God standeth sure, etc. And that this Foundation is God's Everlasting Love in his Son Christ Jesus, who hath loved and chosen them in Him, as his Members, before the World began: And though they lapsed and fell from Him, their Head, yet he is sent of the Father to recover and save them all, and every one of them, etc. (to wit, the Elect.)  
Here 'tis plain, G. K. makes only a certain Number, he calls the Elect, to be loved and chosen in Christ, as his Members, before the World began; and restricts the Mission and Death of Christ to them; saying, That he is sent of the Father to recover and save them all, and every one of them, etc. So, according to this Doctrine, Christ was not sent of the Father to be the Saviour of the World, but to save them, (the Elect) then of consequence he died not for all People; for he died for none but them he was sent to save; and so, as he was sent to save but a particular Number, he died but for that particular Number.  
But if Christ died for all Mankind, then either all Mankind were capable of Salvation, and of being chosen of God in Christ Jesus; or Christ died for some who were not thus choen of God, etc.  
Then I would query, 

1. Whether Christ was sent of God, to die for them God had not chosen?  
2. And if Christ died for them, whether it was in order to their Salvation?  
3. And if it was not on that account, on what account died he for them?  
4. And if on that account, then whether, tho' God have not so chosen them, they can be Reconciled or saved by Virtue of Christ's Death?    
G. K. saith (in p. 14, 15.) If God had left Men to their mere indifferent Choice, to be good or bad, holy or unholy, it might have happened that none had been good, or holy, and so the Church had ceased in the World.  
And he saith (in p. 12.) As Christ is the Elect Head, so he hath an Elect Body, and Elect Members, that were given to him before the foundation of this World; and that many Thousands belong to God's Election, and are his Chosen and Elect, Elect Stones, Elect Members, etc. who are unconverted, and in a state of Sin, and Impenitency, and Unbelief.  
See here the difference he makes between the Church of God, and his Elect and Chosen People, Christ's Elect Body, Elect Members, etc.  
The Church he saith, must be Good and Holy, or it ceaseth to be; but the Elect, etc. may be of the unconverted, impenitent Sinners, and Infidels, and such like. Thus he divides Christ Body from Christ's Church, and makes as if Christ's Body and Members may be Unholy, Sinful, etc. tho' his Church must be Good and Holy, or else it ceaseth to be.  
Now as concerning his Sinful, Unbebelieving, Impenitent Elect Chosen People, it's hard to believe they should be Members of Christ, and not of his Church; and if he'll allow them to be of the Church, than it follows not, that tho' there had been none Good or Holy, the Church had ceased in the Earth; for it might have still consisted of those Chosen Impenitent Sinners, and Elect Unbelievers, who have (in his sense) a preference before any other Infidels whatsoever.  
These his wild Notions, he would prove from Rom. 11. where the Apostle Paul saith of some of the Unbelieving Jews, as concerning the Gospel, they are Enemies, etc. but as touching the Election, they are Beloved, etc.  
There is something particular in that case of these Jews, which cannot be made a common Plea; their Election in Abraham's Seed touching which they were beloved, was figurative of that Election which is in Christ the Heavenly Seed. And as the Promises of the First Covenant were to them that were of Abraham's Seed, so the New Covenant Gospel-Promises are to them that are of Christ's Seed, in which is the Blessing of all Nations; and it appears not, that all these Jews, of whom it was here said, As concerning the Gospel, they are Enemies; that they ever became the Gospel's Friend's, or were Reconciled to God, through the Gospel of his Son.  
His next proof is from 2 Tim. 2. where the same Apostle saith, He endured all things for the sake of the Elect, that they might be saved; upon which he argues, that this proves plainly they are God's Elect before they are saved, even when they are in a state of Unbelief and Impenitency.  
As to Unbelievers, and the Impenitent; I have affirmed, the Universal Love of God hath appeared to all Mankind, as they are his Creatures, and a Day of Visitation, etc. and I keep to it; and himself owns, God loves all his Creatures, as they are his Workmanship; but by his Election here, he means something further than that; to wit, the Selection and Preference of those Chosen Sinners. And in this Sense I oppose him, that these Impenitent Sinners should any more belong unto God's Election, than other Impenitent Sinners; and I find not in the Scriptures, Unbelievers and Impenitent Sinners, called God's Chosen and Elect People, Christ's Elect Body, Elect Members, Elect Stones, etc. So for him to call them so, is Unscriptural, and is to raise a Mist.  
And if we grant his Argument on this Text, That they are God's Elect before they are saved; it doth not thence follow, as he would have it, that they are so in a state of Unbelief and Impenitency; for there are many Steps betwixt this and Salvation with Eternal Glory. Ibid. Vers. 10. They might be in the Faith, and way of their Salvation, and yet the Apostle endure much Spiritual Travel and Exercise, on their account, that they might strive lawfully, and be crowned. Ibid. ver. 5. And it's apparent, that it's of such as were in the Work of their Salvation, the Apostle here speaks, when he said, He endured all things for their sakes; and of the other he saith, If God peradventure will give them Repentance, to the acknowledging the Truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the Snare of the Devil. Ibid. Verses 25, 26.  
G. K. (in p. 12, 13.) speaks of Souls belonging to Christ, that shall be saved from the beginning of the World unto the end on't.  
And (in p. 14.) of Souls that shall not be saved at any time in this World, not being given to Christ, as his Members, from the beginning.  
So in this Man's Opinion, they that were not given Christ, as his Members, from the beginning, shall not be saved at any time in this World; and that none were thus given to Christ, but the Elect only.  
And (in p. 18.) that Election signifies a Selection, or Preference of some before others. But as to those others, that shall not be saved, that had not this Preference, nor were given to Christ from the beginning, To whom were they given? Or what was the matter with these poor Souls? 'Tis sure they had done no offence to their Maker; for the Beginning was before the Fall, before ever Sin or Transgression entered, etc. Besides, God hath said, All Souls are mine; and if God's, than Christ's. But this Man tells of Souls that are not Christ's, and yet that he is well persuaded there is no absolute Reprobation. Contr. 5.  
I have sundry times noted to him this Persuasion, i● seeming to contradict his Doctrine, and his Doctrine his Persuasion.  
But he useth a strange Shift here; for it is of the Children of Adam (or any Souls of them) he is persuaded there is no absolute Reprobation.  
But now he tells us (in p. 14.) That such who shall not be saved, etc. are of another Stock and Root than that Adam, or Man whom God created in the beginning, Male and Female, and were not contained in him, nor are his Branches, Parts, or Members; but are of Adam Belial, and the Seed of the Serpent, that was fallen from his State of Creation, before Man fell.  
This is a strange Discovery of People, not descended from Adam, the common Parent, and Root of all Mankind; and of an Adam of another Root and Stock, than Adam of whom Moses tells us; and him to be the common Parent to all the Reprobate People; a great, tho' a wicked and wretched Father, etc. and makes him as old as the World, because of some contained in him that shall not be saved from the beginning thereof. So it's queryable, whether he makes his Adam-Belial before the Scripture Adam, as he makes his Fall before his, and what in the State of Creation he differed from him, the Scripture calls the first Adam, and not being made Male and Female, how he propagates Posterity, & c? If as he saith (in p. 14.) of the Reprobates, they are of Adam-Belial, and the Seed of the Serpent; the best Construction I can suppose upon it, tho' very improper, is, That they are of Adam, according to Generation; and Belial, or the Serpent's Seed, according to Degeneration; of Adam, as Men and Women; and of Belial, as to the Carnal Mind, the Fleshly Birth, etc.  
But this sense spoils his design, and brings all Men under the same Category (in that all have sinned) which he hath marked out for the Reprobates only; and entangles him into this Contradiction, That whereas he affirmed before, of these Reprobates, that they were of another Stock and Root, than that Adam, or Man, whom God created in the beginning, Male and Female, etc. and were not contained in him, nor are his Branches, Parts, or Members, etc. This makes it, that they are of the same Root and Stock with that Adam whom God created in the beginning, Male and Female, and were contained in him, and are his Branches, Parts, or Members, etc.  
And if he will have it thus, we must take it in the gross sense as it liess; and it tells us of another Adam, than the Scripture- Adam, one Adam-Belial, of another Stock and Root, and yet from the beginning, and who fell before that Adam of whom Moses writes, and was not created, or made Male and Female; but of him, and the Seed of the Serpent, after some manner, are the Reprobate People propagated, and they are of this Stock and Root, etc. And so opens a Door to a parcel of filthy, polluted Notions, such as Incubism and Succubism, etc. savouring more of Witchcraft than Philosophy. And this sense may be fairly enforced upon him, from his words; but I have tried to bring it under another Construction, and I think the best it would bear, having a mind to help him.  
He hath told us before of an unhappy mixture betwixt the two Seeds; and now of the Separation he saith, In order to separate the one from the other, (viz.) the Seed of Man, from the Seed of the Serpent: Christ the Seed of the Woman was promised, etc. is come, etc. and will perfectly effect that Separation of the one from the other, before the end of the World.  
Observe, The Seed of Man, The Seed of the Woman, The Seed of the Serpent; these are his Th●●● 〈◊〉 By the Seed of the Woman, is meant Christ; by the Seed of te Serpent, is meant the Serpent; and so I suppose by the Seed of Man, must be meant the Posterity of Adam, which he makes the right Seed; Wheat, Gold, etc. The Seed of the Serpent, the bad Seed, Tares, Dross, etc. The unhappy mixture to be of these two; the bad with the good, the Tares with the Wheat, the Dross with the Gold; Christ, the Seed of the Woman, to be the separator, that separates the bad from the good, the Tares from the Wheat, the Dross from the Gold; and that he will perfectly effect that Separation, before the end of the World.  
Then shall all Men be saved, before the end of the World: He'll gather the Wheat into his Garner, etc. But he intimates, (in p. 14.) Souls that were not given to Christ from the beginning of the World, and which shall not be saved; nay, Souls neither belonging to the First or Second Adam; and tells of some, who at the end of the World, shall be cast into the lake of Fire, which is the Second Death, etc. Of some, who after this Separation, are wholly bad, having nothing of the good remaining in them, being mere Tares, Dross, Dregs, and Excrement; and some that have nothing of the bad cleaving to them, but are wholly the right Seed; and this Separation is of the Serpent, from Man. Then how should some Men be wholly bad, after all that's bad is separated from them? Is the Man in this case absorbed, and the Serpent put in the Man's Skin? Can the Wheat be all Tares, after the Tares are all separated from it? Or the Gold all Dross, having nothing of Gold in it, after all the Dross is pu●●●d from it? Or shall the right Seed, the Wheat, the Gold, be cast into the lake of Fire? Shall all Men, before the end of the World, be thus purged, and sanctified, and washed, as this Separation imports, and yet some Men not be saved?  
The preceding Mystery remembers me of a passage met with in a Book, said to be his, near the beginning of his out-going from the Truth; it was the Passage of the Cave of Mackpelah allegorized.  
The Cave was bought for Four Hundred pieces of Silver, which he saith, signifies so many Virtues; then giving the signification of the Hebrew Words, he saith, mackpelah signifies a double Burial-place, and speaks of the Blessedness of it, or the Blessed State thereby signified: It was bought of Ephron the Hittite; and Ephron he saith, signifies the Dust-eater; and the Dust-eater in the Scripture, is the Serpent; it was his doom to go upon his Belly, and eat Dust. Now what of a Mystery is this? Is it not to send as to see 〈…〉 Happiness of the Serpent, to persuade us the custody of it is 〈…〉 with him? or that being so, he would set no other price 〈…〉 Virtue, to make the ursed Serpent, or Ephron the Hittite 〈…〉 Race, the Dispenser's of Blessings, and the 〈…〉 to put Antichrist in the place of Christ. This is an odd 〈…〉, and I thought as crazed a one, and that of Adam-Belial, as were to be met with, and which might well enough stand together; though they're simple, they're sorting.  
And now having done with him, I leave it to every Reader to consider, whether this his Doctrine of Election is so high and mysterious, so precious and comfortable, affording unspeakable matter of Praise unto God for his great Love; 
p. 14.  and whether it serves to clear to us his Justice, and Divine Wisdom and Power, to the stopping the Mouths of Atheists, Blasphemers, and perverse Infidels; and to the affording unto all God's dear Children, most abundant cause of Divine Consolation, & c? All which, and more, he saith of it. Or it is an heap of broken, inconsistent, irregular, unchristian Notions, contrary to the Gospel? And whether his Book deservedly bears the Title of Truth Advanced, in the Correction of many gross and hurtful Errors, which is its self so full of vile and gross Errors and Contradictions, as are here observed in the Examining about one Sheet on't?  
FINIS.