III. OBJECTION THIRD. Is that objection, that "if Christ died for all men, and all are not saved, the wisdom of God must be defective and imperfect; for to fall short of what a mair intends, argues a deficiency in point of wisdom."

ANSWER. If this be so, then every prince that cannot make his subjects as good as he intends they should be, every parent that cannot make his children so, every good master that cannot prevail with his servants to be so, every man that cannot persuade his friend or neighbour to be as good as he would have him to be, and every schoolmaster who cannot make his scholar as learned as he intends he should be, must be deficient in wisdom: which yet it is ridiculous to affirm, seeing to make a person who hath a freedom over his own will, to be what any good and wise man doth intend he should be, depends not wholly on his wisdom or persuasion, but on the disposition and inclination of him with whom he hath to do, to hearken to, and to comply with, his persuasions. The supposition therefore of this objection must be false: And,

2. If a God perfect in wisdom can intend nothing but what he actually doth compass and perform, it plainly follows that he intended not by his prohibition of sin that any person should avoid or abstain from it, who doth not actually do so: or by his exhortations to repentance, holiness, obedience, that any person should repent, be holy, or obedient, who is not actually so. And why then doth he blame, or punish them, for that iniquity he never did intend they should avoid, or for the want of that repentance and obedience he never did intend they should perform? Like to this is a

IV. FOURTH OBJECTION, which saith, "if Christ died for all men, and all men are not saved, then is not God omnipotent, since he could not apply to them that benefit which he was willing should be procured for them."

ANSWER FIRST. When it is said in scripture that "God could not do this or that," this doth not signify a want of power in him to do it, but a want of will and a perverseness or evil dişposition in others obstructing his kind influences on, or intentions towards, them. As when God enquires, What could I have done more for my vineyard which I have not done?" When he

Isaiah v. 4.

w

saith, though Moses and Samuel stood before me, my mind could not be towards this people; and the prophet, that the Lord could no longer forbear, because of their abominations; as then Christ could do no mighty works' in his own country, because of their unbelief; so here the benefit which by the death of Christ is procured for all who do believe in him, cannot by God be applied to men obstinately rejecting Christ, and refusing to own him as their Saviour, because of their unbelief.

ANSWER SECOND. According to this way of arguing, it follows, that if all men do not actually enjoy what God is willing they should have, or be partakers of all the benefits conditionally intended by him, or by his Son procured for them, he cannot be omnipotent; and why then doth he say, 'We would have healed Babylon, and she would not be healed;* I would have purged Jerusalem, but she would not be purged? Why doth Christ say unto the same Jerusalem, "How oft would I have gathered thy children as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not?" In a word, do all men actually enjoy those blessings temporal, spiritual, or eternal, which God conditionally hath promised, or did ever promise, to them? Or is it for want of ability in God that they do not enjoy them, or want of will in God that they should have what he thus promiseth? Or is it not wholly from the unwillingness of men, to perform the conditions upon which only they are promised? How oft doth God declare, that "he sent to them all his servants the prophets, rising up early, and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other Gods, and you shall dwell in the land which I have given you, and I will do you no hurt?" This he did, (1.) Because he had compassion on his people,'a and was very unwilling they should perish in their sins. (2.) This he did with the greatest solicitude and care, to prevent their ruin, as that phrase, "he sent his prophets rising up early, and sending them," plainly imports. (3.) The reason why all these exhortations of God by his prophets, became ineffectual, and had not the desired effect, was this; because "they inclined not the ear, and hearkened not to his word," but said, 'We will walk

t Jeremiah xv. 1.

y Ezekiel xxiv. 13.

u Chapter xliv. 22.

2 Jeremiah li. 9. a 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 15, 16.

w Mark vi. 5, 6. × Jeremiah xxxy. 15. Chapter xxv, 5. 6.

after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart." (4.) Observe that therefore the wrath of God arose against his people, so that there was no remedy;' (HEBREW, 'no healing,') not, sure, because an omnipotent God was not able to heal them, or a good God, who out of compassion to them, and solicitude for their welfare sent all his prophets to reclaim them, would not heal them; but because they despised his word, and would not be healed, but "would every one do the imagination of his evil heart."

V. The FIFTH OBJECTION is but the FIRST in other words, viz. That "if Christ died for all men, and all men come not to be saved; then the great love of God in giving his Son to men is useless and unprofitable. For to what purpose, or of what use, is the love of God, and the gift of his Son to men, if he doth not withal give them faith in his Son?"

ANSWER. As if all God's acts of grace and favour to men, which are not effectual, through men's perverseness and the stubbornness of their wills, to obtain his gracious purposes, must be vain and fruitless on his part, if he also giveth not that grace which will make them effectual to his ends; and we might reasonably enquire, To what purpose was that riches of God's goodness, patience, and long-suffering to the Jews, which did not lead them to repentauce? Or of what use was it, if he did not give them repentance unto life? To what purpose was it that the " grace of God, which brings salvation, hath appeared to all men," if all men were not actually taught and engaged by it, denying "all ungodliness and worldly lusts, to live righteously, soberly, and godly in this present world?" To what purpose are all God's prohibitions and revelations from heaven "against all unrighteousness and ungodliness," if he doth not by his grace effectually restrain them from these things? Or of what use are his commands, if he doth not by his grace constrain men to obey them; or all his gracious calls, if he doth not effectually engage men to answer them?

VI. OBJECTION SIXTH. "No man wittingly pays a price of redemption for a captive, which he certainly knows this miserable man will never be the better for; Christ therefore paid no price of redemption for any man who will never be the better for it."

b Jeremiah xviii. 12.

LIBR

ANSWER FIRST. To shew the absurdity of this objection, let it be considered, that it depends entirely on this foundation,—that God and Christ never did or could do that to any persons which they knew they would never be the better for;-which that it is extremely false, all his dispensations from the beginning of the world do testify. For,

Did he not send his Spirit to strive with the old world? Did he not allow them the space of a hundred and twenty years to repent in, though he knew they would not be the better for it?

Did he not send to the Jews his 'prophets, rising up early, and sending them' to admonish them to turn from their evil way, that they might not be carried away captive? Did he not chastise them when they refused to receive correction? Did he not use the greatest diligence to make his vineyard bring forth good grapes, when it brought forth only sour grapes? Did he not use means to purge them when they would not be purged? Were not all his promises made to encourage them to the performance of their duty, that it might be well with them, and all his threats to deter them from their iniquity? And shall we deny, that God did these things to these ends, because his wisdom knew they would not have these salutary effects upon them?

Again, doth not God reveal his gospel, offer his grace, and send his ambassadors to call them to faith and repentance, whom he knew would never be the better for these things? Did not Christ come to his own, who received him not? Did he not speak to them that they might be saved, who would not come to him that they might have life? Did he not say to them who would not be gathered, How oft would I have gathered you? &c. And did he not know what would be the issue of his coming, his speaking to, and his endeavours to do them good?-Wherefore in all exhortations and persuasions, and all moral means whose effect depends upon the will of man, it is sufficient that they are proper means for producing the designed end, and that God knows they may be, and if they act according to that reason and discretion he hath given them, they will be, better for them: otherwise we may argue, as this objection doth, no good man would put another into a state in which he knows he will be miserable, and therefore a good God would never make those men he knows will finally be so. No good prince would have any sub

P

jects he should be forced to cut off; and therefore a good God would not give being to those men of the old world, which his vindictive justice forced him to destroy.

ANSWER SECOND. I answer, that this objection is built upon a false supposition, viz. that Christ paid no such price for them that perish, as for them that will be saved. The price for both was one and the same,--his sufferings on the cross, his blood shed for the remission of sins: And thus he equally must have suffered for the redemption of ANY sinner from death, as for the redemption of ALL, as under the old law the same sacrifice was offered to make atonement for a SINGLE PERSON, and for the WHOLE NATION of the Jews. That any receive remission of sins by virtue of his death, is, because they, through faith in his blood, are justified, and so have peace with God: And that all do not so, is not for want of an atonement made for them by the same blood, but for want of that faith and those conditions of the new covenant, which can alone give them an interest in that atonement.

Discourse XIX.

OF SUFFICIENT AND EFFECTUAL, COMMON AND
SPECIAL GRACE.

The state of the question.

CHAP. I.

FOR the right stating of this question it will be requisite to shew,

I. What is the scripture import of the word "grace." II. What is the manner of the operation of this grace upon the soul, to convert, or to dispose it to what is spiritually good.

III. What renders it efficacious in some, and not in others, to produce faith, repentance, and conversion of the soul to God; and what is the account the scripture and our blessed Saviour giveth of this matter.