in it? So that what he doth threaten to him only, (v) who being often reproved hardeneth his heart, fhould be the ftate and cafe of almost all men before they came into the world, viz. to be deftroyed without remedy.

2dly. It reprefents that God, who is continually declared in fcripture to be a God rich in goodness, plenteous in mercy, and of great pity towards all his creatures, as having no bowels of compaffion, no drop of mercy, no inclination to do good to the generality of his moft noble creatures, obnoxious to death and endless mifery; and therefore as proper objects of his mercy and compaffion, as those whom in his love and pity he redeemed; but rather an unmoveable refolution before they had a being, to withhold from them his lovingkindness and mercy, and to fhut his bowels of compaffion up against them. And is not this to represent our God and Savior more uncompaffionate to the fouls of men, than were that priest and Levite to their brother's body, who seeing him ready to perifh by his wounds, (w) paffed unconcerned by another way? When this great lord faith to his fervant, to whom he had forgiven the great debt, (x) oughteft not thou to have had compaffion on thy fellow fervant, even as I had pity upon thee ? Would not this doctrine teach him to answer, Lord, I have chofen to deal with him as thou dealeft with the greatest part of mankind, to whom thou never intendeft to forgive the leaft mite, and on whom thou wilt never have the leaft compaffion? And when the apostle inquires, (y) if any man fee his brother in need, and hutteth up his bowels of compaffion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? Would not this doctrine teach him to reply, even as it dwells in God himfelf towards the generality of mankind? To make this more apparent, let us confider thefe four things:

1ft. That God by fending his Son to be the Savior of the world, or in giving him up to the death, had no other primary end than the glorifying himself in the falvation of men; (z) he fent his Son to be the propitiation for our fins, that we might live through him; (a) that the world through him might be faved; had therefore defigned his death for the falvation of all men upon conditions poffible to be performed by them, he must have glorified himself more, than by restraining the defign of it only to the falvation of a few.

2dly. That the death of Chrift was a fufficient facrifice for the fins of the whole world, and fo might have procured a conditional pardon for all men as well as for the elect, had God been pleafed to give him up to the death for us all.

(v) Prov. xxix. 1.- -(w) Luke x. 31, 32.- -(x) Matth. xviii. 33.--(y) ↑ John iii. 17.) 1 Jehn iv. 9. 10.(a) John iii. 17.

3dly. That it could be no ways more difhonorable to God, or more inconfiftent with his juftice, wisdom, hatred of fin, or any other of his attributes, to have defigned Chrift's death for the falvation of all men, than to intend it only for the falvation of those few whom they ftyle the elect.

4thly. That they who are fuppofed to be excluded by God from any benefit by Chrift's death, were as much the offspring of the Father of Spirits, and the fouls that he had made, as much pertakers of the fame nature in which our Savior suffered, and every whit as miferable, and as much wanting an intereft in our Lord's falutary paffion, as they who are uppofed to be the objects of the pardon and falvation purchased by our Savior's blood. Can it be then confiftent with the grace, goodness and mercy of the divine nature, and of the lover of fouls, and the relation which this father of Spirits beareth to them, to confign the death of Chrift to procure pardon and falvation only to a few, and to fuffer the far greater part of fouls which were equally his offspring, as capable of falvation by the very fame means, as miferable, and fo in the fame need of pardon and falvation with the reft; to remain inevitably miferable only for want of God's defigning the fame facrifice for the procuring mercy to them as well as others ?

If it be faid God doth this to declare his fovereignty, or prerogative over his creatures, in fhewing and denying mercy to whom he pleaseth :

I anfwer, God never exercifeth any fovereignty, or prerogative over his creatures, which is repugnant to his rich grace, goodness, love, mercy and compaflion to the fouls which he hath made; and therefore never fo as to leave the greatest part of them obnoxious to eternal and inevitable ruin, when he hath a.remedy provided fufficient to prevent it, if he did not arbitrarily exclude them from it. When under the Roman and the Grecian government the Father had an abfolute power over his children, and in the Eastern nations the Prince had abfolute power over his fubjects; would this prerogative and fovereignty excufe them from a feverity and rigor unworthy of a Father or a Sovereign, in leaving moft of their fubjects and their children under the extremest mifery, when by the very fame means that a few of them haye been rescued from it, they might all have been fo? And shall we then impute that rigor, want of natural affection and compaffion to the lover of fouls, and the benign.government of our heavenly Father, which we could not but condemn and abhor in earthly governors, and in the fathers of our flesh? And 3dly. This opinion renders the God of truth and of fincerity, and who hath magnified his truth above all his name,

fo full of guile, deceit and infincerity, diffimulation and hy-
pocrify, that he who doth conceive God may addrefs himself
to his creatures without diltinction, as in the crapture he
continually doth, and yet hath left them deftitute of a capacity
of mercy, and of all ability to help themfelves, may doubt of
his fincerity and truth in all the declarations contained in his
facred word. For,

ift. It reprefents that God who declares exprefsly and af-
firmatively, that he would have all men to be faved, all men
to come to repentance, and fwears that the converfion of a fin-
ner from that iniquity in which he may die would be highly
pleafing to him; and negatively, that he would not that any
one fhould perifh, that he delighteth not in, would not the
death of him that dies; denying to fend his Son to die for
their falvation, or to vouchfafe them means fufficient to re-
pent and turn to him; and fo rendering it impoffible they
Thould repent, or avoid perifhing in their iniquity.

2dly. It reprefents him who declares, he would have purged them who would not be purged, he would have gathered them who would not be gathered; and inquires what could he have done more to enable them to bring forth good grapes, who

four only brought forth fetter grapes; denying them any interest

in the blood of cleanfing, or any fufficient means to enable
them to bring forth good grapes.

3dly. It introduceth that God, who, according to the whole
tenor of the fcripture, calls upon men without exception to
repent and be converted, that their fins may be blotted out,
and they may not die in them, fending all his prophets to re-
duce his people from their finful courfes, because he had com-
paffion on them, inquiring of them, Why will you die? Will
you not be made clean? When fhall it once be? Yea, waiting
that he might be gracious, and ftretching out his hand all the
day long to a rebellious people, and exercising the richness of
his goodness, patience, and long fuffering, to bring them to re-
pentance; denying to the most of them to whom he thus af-
fectionately fpeaks, any poffibility of being made clean, of
turning to him, or repenting, or escaping death.

4thly. It reprefents him who faith with the greateft paffion, (b) Oh that they were wife, that they would confider their latter end! (c) Oh that my people had hearkened to me, and Ifrael had walked in my way! (d) Oh that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! (e) Oh that thou hadst known in this thy day the things which belong to thy peace; and inquireth in the most affecting manner, (f) How Shall I give

(b) Deut. v. 29.(c) Pfal, lxxxi. 13.-(d) Ifa. xlviii, 18.(e) Luke xix. 42.—---- (f) Hof. xi. 8.

T

thee up, Ephraim? How Shall I deliver thee, Ifrael? How Shall I make thee as Admah? How fhall I fet thee as Zeboim ? My heart is turned in me, my repentings are kindled; after all these feeming transports of affection and defire of their welfare, and yearning bowels of compaffion, refufing to have the least compaffion for them, and decreeing to leave them without a Savior, without means of being fpiritually wife, truly obedient, or having any faving knowledge of the things belonging to their peace.

5thly. It reprefents him as one encouraging the foolish, and the fcorner, (g) to turn at his reproof, by a promife of pouring his fpirit on him; the fimple (h) to forfake the foolish and live the wicked man (i) to forfake his way, and turn to the Lord that he may be abundantly pardoned; (k) to ceafe from evil, and learn to do well, that though his fins were as crimfon he might be white as wool; yea, more concerned to find the loft fheep, than for the ninetynine that went not aftray, and rejoicing more at the return of his prodigal Son, than in him who never wandered from him; yet leaving the generality of men under an incapacity to return from their fimplicity and folly, or to ceafe to do evil; leaving the prodigal to famifh on his hufks, and the loft fheep without ability to return to the fhepherd of his foul.

SECTION 10.-Laftly. This doctrine is vifibly deftructive of almost all the acts of piety and virtue. And,

ift. All prayer and fupplication is the duty of all chrif tians; (1) it is to be performed by them in every place, and at all times (m) without ceafing; it is to be offered up for all chriftians, and all men, and this in faith, believing that we fhall receive our petitions; (n) and all thefe prayers are to be put up in the name of Chrift, imploring all mercies and bleffings for his fake, and through his meritorious paffion, which how can we do feriously, and in faith, if we may reafonably queftion whether Chrift's merits do refpect us, or are available in our behalf? How can we do this for all men, provided God himself hath taught us that his Son never died for all, nor did he defign his paffion for the benefit of all, but only for the benefit of his elect; for whom alone we cannot pray, because we cannot know them? Moreover, we have no access to God the Father but by him by whom (o) we are brought nigh to God; it is through faith in (p) him we have this freedom of access with confidence; it is only through the blood of Jefus that we can come to God with full affurance of faith; how therefore

(g) Prov. i. 23.(b) Prov. ix. 6.- -(i) Ifa. v. 7. 16, 18.(1) Eph. vi. 18.

(m) 1 Theff. v. 17.

8.

-(0) Eph. ii. 13, 18.

-(p) Heb. x. 19, 20.

-(k) Chap. i.

Tim. ii.

men.

can we have accefs to him in our prayers for pardon, or for any other fpiritual bleffings for all men through him, or through the blood of Chrift, if he did not fhed his blood for all? (q) I exhort, faith the apostle, that prayers and intercef fons for fpiritual bleffings, deprecations for the averting of thofe judgments which our fins deferve, and giving of thanks for the bleffings which they have received, be made for all Now if, as there we read, God would have all men to be Javed, and Chrift hath given himself a ransom for all; it is eafy to difcern how we may pray in faith for all these.bleffings to all men; but if, according to the doctrine maintained in exprefs contradiction to thefe words, Chrift did not give himself a ransom for all, but for the elect only, who are known to God alone; and if God intended not the falvation of all men, but of his elect only, it is hard to conceive how we fhould thus pray for all in faith, fince it must then be certain that we cannot put up our petitions for them in the name, and through the merits of that Jefus who never died for the most of them, or have a freedom of accefs to the Father for them through that blood which by him never was intended to be fhed to procure pardon, or any other spiritual bleffing for them. (r) I will, faith the fame apoftle, that men pray every where, lifting up pure hands without doubting: Which precept how can any man obferve ? i. e. How can he pray with confidence, who is not affured that Chrift is his and their Savior for whom he prays? Or that God, for Christ's fake, is difpofed to grant his requeft? It is a great encouragement to pray for pardon, and for the faving grace of God, to believe that God is truly willing and defirous to afford them to all that do thus afk and feek them, and are ready to use the means prescribed by him to enjoy them; and that his Savior died to procure this pardon, and these bleffings to all men thus defirous of them, thus willing to do all they can to have them. Whereas the contrary apprehenfion must needs damp devotion, and render us unable to come to God with that faith he fo exprefsly doth require, and without that doubtfulness and doublemindednefs he as exprefsly doth forbid; for when a man must thus conceive within himself, perhaps God hath loved me; perhaps he from eternity hath paffed an act of preterition on me, and fo can never have any regard to my welfare; perhaps Chrift died to procure pardon and falvation for the upon poffible and reasonable terms, if I be willing to perform them; perhaps he never intended to procure any ble fling for me by his death; furely he can apply himself to God for any of thefe bleflings but faintly and diftruftfully,

(9) 1 Tim. ii. 1.- -(r) Ver. &.