PART. I. He will.

THat the will of God is the principall efficient cause of all those workes which he doth externally from himselfe, so that there is no superiour or precedent cause mouing and impelling it, shines to vs no lesse from the eternity of his will, than the omnipotency; for with that double attribute Augustin doth inuest it in his 2. booke contra Manichaeos, cap. 2. And seeing there is nothing be­fore his will, as being eternall; nothing greater, as being omnipotent; we inferre with that learned Father, that Neque extra, vel vltra illam causa inquirenda; There is no cause either without, or beyond it, that being the source and fountaine of all causes, as by a more particular suruey of Gods workes we shall discusse hereafter. For il­lustration. In his eternall decree, why are some marked out as inheritours of his Sion? others againe expulsed, and banished those blessed Territories? they as vessels of mercy, for the manifestation of his goodnesse; these of furie, for the promulgation of his iustice? Doubtlesse the wil, & the bene-placitū of the Almighty as the prima­ry & immediate cause, whereof if there be any more sub­ordinate, they haue all alliance and dependancy on it, Tanquam à principali intentione primi agentis. Like inferi­our Orbes which haue their influence & motion from a higher mouer. I need not trauaile far either for proofe or instance; our Chapter is bountifull in both. What was the cause that God did chuse Iacob and reiect Esau? The mediate and secondary cause, was, because he loued Ia­cob, and not Esau. But why is his loue incommunica­ble, and as it seemes, in a partiall reseruation, peculiar to that more than this? I know not a more plausible and higher motiue than his will. Insistendum ergò in parti­culas, [Page 4]cuius vult, & quem vult. Our enquiry here must be cautelous, and slow of foot, lest wee run violently in­to errour. Here is a cuius vult onely for him that hee hath mercy on, and but a quem vult for him he hardens; vltra quas procedere non l [...]cèt, saith Caluin. Here is the vtmost Verge & Pillar where reason durst to coast; what is beyond is either vnknowne, or dangerous; how e­uer some vain-glorious braines (ambitious of mysteri­ous and abstruser knowledge) haue inscribed here their Multa pertransiéunt, & augibitur scientia. But in so stickle & dangerous a tortēt, how are they o'rewhelmed at last? and whilst they so ventrously climbe this steeper turrer, throwned desperately into heresie? For mine owne part, I haue euer thought curiosity in diuine affaires but a quaint distraction, rather applauding an humble (yet faithful) ignorance, than a proud and temerarious know­ledge. And had some of the Fathers beene shot-free of this curious insolence, they needed not haue retreated from former Tenents, & so much in deared posterity, no lesse in the reuiew than retractation of laborious errors: Amongst whom S. Augustine (though since entituled Malleus Haereticorum) shared not a little in the 83. of his Questions, and 68. Where expounding our place of the Apostle, would thus vindicate the Almighty from iniu­stice; that God foresaw that in some, Quo digni sunt iu­stificatione; that in others, Quo digni sunt obtusione; so making God, will to depend on a foreseene merit. A position that doth not onely repugne the discipline of holy storie, but thwarts the maine tide & current of or­thodox antiquity, as in a fuller discourse we shall display anon: and therefore in his 7. Booke de Praedestinatione Sanctorū, cap. 4. he doth chastise his former tenents with 2 Deus non elegit opera, sed sidem in praescientiâ; That God did not elect lacob for foreseene workes, but faith. But because in saith there is as well a merit, as in workes, he once more rectifies his opinion in the first of his Retra­ctations [Page 5]and 23, where he doth peach his sometimes ig­norance, and ingeniously declares himselfe, that — Non­dum diligentius quaesiuit, nec inuenit mysteria, he had not yet throughly sifted that of the Apostle, Rom. 11.5. That there was a remnant according to the election of grace, which, if it did flow from a foreseene merit, was rather restored than giuen, and therefore (at last) he informes his owne judgement, and his Readers thus; Datur qui­dem fideli sed data est etiam prius ut esset fidelis; Grace is given to the faithfull, but it is first given that he should be faithfull. Hence Lumbard in his 1 booke, 41 distincti­on, pathetically, Elegit quos voluit Deus gratuitâ miseri­cordiâ, non quia fideles futuri erant, sed ut essent, nec quià crediderant, sed ut fierent credentes. God out of the prero­gatiue of his will, and bounty of his goodnesse, hath cho­sen whom he pleased, not because they were faithfull, but because they should be, and not of themselues beleeuing, but made so. And therefore, that Ʋt sim sidelis, 1 Cor. 7.25. beares a remarkable emphasis. I haue obtained mercie that I might be faithfull, not that I was. Here the Pelagian startles, & lately backt with a troope of Armini­ans, takes head against this truth, fancying and dreaming of certain causes without God, which are not subsisting in God himselfe, but externally mouing the will of God to dispose and determine of seuerall euents, laying this as an unshaken principle, Fidem esse conditionem in obiecto eli­gibili ante electionem; That faith and obedience (fore­seene of God in the Elect) was the necessary condition and cause of their election. I intend not here a pitcht field against the vpstart Sectarie, for I shall meet him anon in a single combat: my purpose now is to be but as a scour, or spie, which discouers the weaknesse of his aduer­sary, not stands to encounter. And indeed both the time and place suggest me rather to resolue, than debate; and convince, than dispute an errour. That faith then, or any praeexisting merit in the person to be elected; was [Page 6]the cause of his election, is neither warrantable by reason nor primitiue Authoritie. For God could not foresee in the elect any faith at all, but that which in after times he was to crowne them with, and therefore not conside­rable as any precedent cause of election, but as the effect and fruit, and consequent thereof.

The primary and chiefe motive then is that [...], Ephes. 1.5. the good pleasure of Gods will, which, prompted of it selfe, without any reference to praeexisting faith, obedience, merit, as the qualities, cause, or conditi­on of it, hath powred grace on this man more than that; Non solum in Christo, Synod. Dort. sed per Christum. And therefore (as that late venerable Synode hath awarded it) Non ex illis conditionibus facta est, sed ad illas; That election was not fram'd of these conditions, but to them, as to their effect and issue. And if we commerce a little with passa­ges of holy story, we shall find that our election points rather to the free will of God in his eternall councell, than to any goodnesse in vs which God foresaw: so Acts 13.48. where we read of the Gentiles, that many beleeued because they were ordained to eternal life, and not there­fore ordained because they formerly beleeued. And if we will not suffer our minds to bee transported either with scruple or noueltie, the text is open, Ephes. 1.4. He hath chosen vs before the foundations of the world were laid, that we might be holy, not that we were. And in this very Chapter, verse 23. The vessels of mercy are first said to be prepared to mercy, then cald: and therefore Saint Austin in his 86. Tract upon Iohn, out of a holy indigna­tion, doth check the insolence of those, Qui praescientiam Dei defendunt contra gratiam Dei; Which in matters of saluation, obscure and extenuate the grace of God with the foreknowledge of God: for if God did therefore chuse vs, because he did know, and foresee that wee would be good, he did not chuse vs to make vs good, but wee rather chose him, in purposing to be good, [Page 7]which if it did carry any shew either of probabilitie, or truth, we might question our Apostle, who in his 8 here, and 29. no lesse perswades, than proues, that those which God foreknew he did predestinate to be con­form'd to the image of his sonne, and therefore God did not chuse vs, because before election there was a con­formitie in vs, but because from all eternitie he did elect vs, in time he made us conform'd to the image of his Sonne. Whereupon S ^t. Augustine in his fift booke, con­tra Iulianum. 3. chapt. thus, Nullum elegit dignum, sea eligendo effecit dignum. God in the choise of his Elect, found none worthy, but in the chusing made them worthy. Moreover, our election, which is of grace (as I yonder proued) could not stand if workes and merits went before it. Haec quippè non inuenit meri­ta, sed facit; Grace doth not find works in vs, but fashi­ons them, according to that of the Apostle, 2 Thes. 2.13. God hath from the beginning chosen you through sanctifica­tion of the spirit, and not of works. Nay, some here so much abolish and wipe off all claime of merit, that they admit not Christ as the meritorious cause of our election. In­deed, say they, the Scripture is thus farre our Schoole­master, That we are iustified by the blood of Christ, Synod. Dort. and reconciled to God by the death of his Sonne: but where are we informed that we are elected through his bloud, or praedestinated by his death? Indeed, in the 3 of Iohn 16. we finde a — sic Dous dilexit,—God so loued the world that he gaue his Sonne. So that, not because Christ died for vs, God loued, and chose vs, but because God loued and chose us, therefore Christ died for vs. For so Rom. 5.8. God setteth out his loue towards vs, that whilst we were yet sinners, Christ died for vs. In matters therefore of election, we acknowledge not a cause more classicke than the Cuius vult here specified, He will haue mercy on whom he will. Insomuch that in the parable of the housholder, Matth. 20. I finde but a sic volo, as a suffici­ent [Page 8]and iust cause of his designes. I will giue to this last as much as to thee; & yet this Will so clothed with a diuine iustice, that God is not said to will a thing to be done, be­cause it is good, but rather to make it good, because God would haue it to be done. For proofe whereof, a sweet singer of our Israel instances in those wonderfull passa­ges of creation, where 'tis first said that Deus cre [...]uit, God created all things, and the Valdè bonum comes aloofe, he saw that they were all good, and the morall portends but this, That euery thing is therefore good, because it was created, and nor therefore created because it was good; which doth wash, and purge the will of the Almighty from any staine, or tincture of iniustice; for though that be the chiefe mover and director of all his proiects, as the prime and peremptory cause, doing this, because hee will, yet we finde not onely sanctitatem in operibus, but justitiam in vijs. The Lord is righteous in all his wayes, and holy in all his workes. Hereupon that great treasurer of Learning and Religion, Zanchius in his 3 booke, de Natura Dei. and 4 chapter, diuides betweene the cause of Gods will, and the reason of his will: That though there be no superiour cause of it, yet there is a iust reason, and a right end and purpose in it. Morl. Clean. Lep. Hence S. Ierome, De­us nihil fecit quia vult, sed quia est ratio sic fieri; God doth nothing because hee will, but because there is a reason of so doing, in regard whereof it is not simply called [...], the will of God, but [...], the good willof God, Ephes. 1.11. So that in his sacred resolutions and designements, though we meet (sometimes) with passages, wound vp in darkened terrour, the cause whereof wee may admire not scan; yet the drift and maine ends of the Al­mighty haue been so backt with strength of a iust reason, that we may rather magnifie his goodnesse than tax his power; and applaud the calmnesse of an indulgent mer­cie, than repine at the lashes of an incensed iustice. Equi­tie and goodnesse are children of one burden, both [Page 9]the lawfull issue of his will, which though foule mouthes of libertines haue strangely bastardized, making that the throne of tyranny, which is the rule of iustice, yet let them know that of Augustine to his Sixtus; Iniustum esse non po­test, quod placuit Iusto. To be God, and to be vniust, is to be God and not God. So faire a goodnesse, was neuer capable of so foule a contradiction, and therefore (as the same father prosequutes) Iniquitatem damnare nouit, non facere: God knows how to iudge, not to commit a crime, and to dispose, not mould it, and is often the father of the punishment, not the fact. Hence 'tis, that the dimnesse of humane apprehension conceaues that (oftentimes) a de­linquency in God, which is the monster of our own frail­ty; making God not onely to foreknow, but predestinate an euill, when the euill is both by growth, and concepti­on ours, and if ought sauour of goodnesse in vs, Gods, not ours, yet ours too, as deriuatiue from God, who is no lesse the Patron of all goodnesse, than the Creatour, and 'tis as truly impossible for him to commit euill, as 'twas truly miraculous to make all that hee had made good. And therefore Tertullian, in his first booke de Trinitate, makes it a Non potest fieri, a matter beyond the list and reach of possibilitie, that he should be Artifex mali operis, the pro­moter & enginer of a depraued act, who challengeth to himselfe the title no lesse of an vnblemished Father, than of a Iudge. Our thoughts then should not carry too loftie a saile, but take heed how they cut the narrow straights, and passages of his will. A busie prying into this Arke of secrets, as 'tis accompanied with a full blowne info­lence, so with danger; Humilitie (here) is the first staire to safetie; and a modest knowledge stands constantly wondering, whilst the proud apprehension staggers, and tumbles too. Here's a Sea vnnauigable, and a gulfe so scorning fathom, that our Apostle himselfe was driuen to his [...], O depth, and in a rapture, more of astonish­ment, than contemplation, he stiles it, [...]: [Page 10] voluntatis suae mysterium, or (as Beza translates it,) Sacramentum, the Sacrament, and mysterie of his will, being so full of vnknowne turnings, and Meanders, that if a naked reason hold the clue, we are rather inuol­ued, than guided in so strange a Labyrinth.

To enquire then the cause of Gods will, were an Act of Lunacie, not of Iudgement; for every efficient cause is greater than the effect, now there's nothing grea­ter than the will of God, and therefore no cause thereof. For if there were, there should something praeoccupate that will, w ^ch to conceiue were sinfull, to beleeue blas­phemous. If any then (suggested by a vaine-glorious en­quirie) should aske why God did elect this man, and not that? we haue not onely to resolue, but to forestall so bea­ten an obiection: Because he would. But why would God doe it? Here's a question as guiltie of reproofe, as the author, who seekes a cause of that, beyond, or with­out which there is no cause found, where the apprehen­sion wheeles, and reason runs giddy in a doubtfull gire: Composcat se ergo humana temeritas, August. & id quod non est non quaerat, ne id quod est non inueniat. Here a scrupulous and humane rashnesse should be husht, and not search for that which is not, lest it finde not that which is. For as the same Father, in his 105 Epist. Cur illum potiùs, quàm illum, liberet, aui non, scrutetur (qui potest) iudiciorum eius tam magnum profundum, sed caueat praecipitium—. Let him hat can, descry the wonders of the Lord in this great deep, but let him take heed he sinke not; and in his answer to the second question of Simplician: Quare huic ita, & huic non ita, home tu quis es qui respondeas Deo? & cur isti sic, illi aliter? Absit vt dicamus Iudicium luti esse, sed figuli. Why God doth to this man so, and to that not so, who dare expostulate? and why to this man, thus, to that, otherwise? farre be it, that we should thinke it in the iudgement of the clay, but of the potter. Downe then with this aspiring thought, this ambitious desire of hid­den [Page 11]knowledge, and make not curiositie the picklocke of diuine secrets; know that such mysteries are doubly bar­red vp in the coffers of the Almighty, which thou maist striue to violate, not open. And therefore if thou wilt needs trespasse vpon deity, dig not in its bosome; a more humble aduenture sutes better with the condition of a worme, scarce a man, or if so, exposed to frailtie.

'Tis a fit taske and imployment for mortalitie, to con­template Gods workes, not sift his mysteries, and admite his goodnesse, not blurre his iustice; And it hath beene euer the practice of primitiue discipline, rather to defend a disparaged equitie, than to question it, for so that reue­rend Father (who euer mixt his learning with a deuout awe) in his 3 booke, cont. Iulianum, and 18 chapter, Bo­nus est Deus, instus est Deus, potest aliquos sine bonis meri­tis liberare, quia bonus est, non potest quemquam sine malis damnare, quia iustus est. God is equally good and iust, he can saue some without reference to desert, because he is good, he cannot damne any man without a due deme­rit, because he is iust: Nay had God deliuered all man­kinde into the iawes of destruction, we could not touch him with iniustice, but rather admire so darke and inue­stigable an equitie, which we may illustrate by worldly passages and humane contracts. If I were bankrupt of instance, S. Augustine could relieue me. A great man (saith he) lends two summes of money, to two seuerall men, who can tax him of obduratenesse, or iniustice, if at time of repayment he forgiue this man his debt, and re­quire satisfaction of that? for this liues not in the will and disposall of the debtor, but of the creditor. So stands the case betweene frailty and omnipotencie. All men (which through Adam became tributaries to sin and death) are one masse of corruption, subiect to the stroake of di­uine iustice, which, whether it be required or giuen, there is no iniquitie in God, but of whom required, and to whom giuen, 'tis in such debtors insolence to iudge, [Page 12]lest God returne their saucinesse with a — Non licet mihi quod volo facere? as the housholder did the murmuring labourers in his vineyard. Is thine eie euill, because I am good? And indeed I display not a higher cause of electi­on, and reprobation than diuine goodnesse, which that learned Schoole-man, Part. 1. quaest. 23. art. 5. doth not onely illustrate but proue no lesse by similitude, than ar­gument. For God (saith he) made all things for his goodnesse sake, that in things by him made, his good­nesse might appeare, but because that goodnesse is in it selfe, one, and simple: and things created cannot attaine to so diuine a perfection, it was necessary that that good­nesse should be diuersly represented in those things, and hence 'tis that to the complement and full glory of the vniuerse, there is in them a diuersitie of degrees requi­red, of which some possesse a lower, and some a higher roome; and that such a multiformitie may be preserued in nature, God permits some euils to be done, lest much good should be anticipated: — Voluit itaque Deus in ho­minibus, quantum ad aliquos, quos praestestinet, suam reprae­sentare bonitatem, per modum misericordiae, parcendo illis, quantum verò ad alios, quos reprobet, suam ostendi bonita­tem per modum iustioiae, puniendo eos. God in those hee elects, would shew his goodnesse by way of mercie in spa­ring these, in others he reprobates, his goodnesse too, by way of iustice in punishing them. And therefore our A­postle here not onely magnifies the riches of his glory vpon vessels of mercie, vers. 23. but his long parience too, to vessels of wrath, vers. 22. So that in his house there are not onely those of gold and siluer, but of wood and earth too, and some to honor, some to dishonor, 2 Tim. 2.20. Of w ^ch if any mutinous or sawcy ignorant desires a rea­son beyond Gods will, I haue no answer but that of Au­gustine, in his 22 Sermon, de verb Apost. Turatiocinare, ego mirer, in disputa, ego credam: altitudinem video, ad profundum non peruenio; Dispute and reason he that durst, [Page 13]while my thought and beleefe stand at a bay, and won­der; I see there is a height, but cannot reach it, and know this gulfe, not fathome it. For as in things naturall (it is Aquinas similitude) when all the first matter is vni­forme, why one part of it should be vnder the forme of fire, another vnder the forme of earth, there may be a rea­son assigned, that there might be a diuersity of species in things naturall: but why this part of matter should be rather vnder the forme of fire, and that vnder the forme of earth, depends only on the simplicity of Gods will; & as it hangs too on the wil of the Architect, that this stone should be rather in this part of the wall, and that in ano­ther, although reason and art require that other stones should be in one part of the Edifice, & others in another. Neither is there for this iniquity in God, that he doth not proportion his gifts in a strict equality, for it were a­gainst the reason and truth of iustice, if the effect of Pre­destination should be of debt, and not of grace; for in those thing which are of an vnrestrained freedome, eue­ry man (out of the iurisdiction of his owne will) may giue to whome he will, more or lesse, without the least disparagement of iustice: And therefore to those recoi­ling dispositions w ^ch mutter at a free hounty, heaped on others without referēce to desert, I wil vsurpe that of the Parable, Tolle quod tuum est, & vade. And yet notwith­standing though the will of God be the independent prime cause of all things, so that beyond it there is no o­ther cause, and without it there is no reason of Gods acti­ons; yet it is not the sole and particular cause, for there are many secondary concurring with the first, by the media­tion whereof, the will of God brings his intendments to an issue. As in matters of our saluation the will and wor­king of man shakes hands with that of God, for though without him we finde a Nil potestis facere, Ioh. 15.52. Ye can doe nothing; yet assisted by his will, and the power­full and effectuall operations of his grace, our will co­operates [Page 14]with Gods. Else how could Dauid pray to him to be his helper, vnlesse he himselfe did endeauour some­thing? or how could God command vs to doe his will, except the will of man did worke in the performance of it? Lum [...]. lib. 1. [...] 42. It is true (saith S. Augustine) we finde a Deus operatur omnia in omnibus, but we no where finde a Deus credit omnia in omnibus. Nostrum itaque est credere, & velle, il­lius autem dare credentibus, & volentibus facultatem ope­randi: To will, and to beleeue is ours, but to giue the fa­culty of operation to them that will and bleeue, is Gods. I haue laboured more than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God with me, 1 Cor. 15.10. Why God therefore doth saue some men, there is more to be alleaged than this, God would haue them to be saued; for if this laurell doe beautifie our triumph we must encounter, hee that will haue this Crowne must tug for it, and this prize, must wrestle, Qui creauit te sine te, non saluat te sine te. He that hath created thee without thy selfe, will not saue thee without thy selfe. And therefore those whom God from all eternity hath destined to saluation, hee hath in a like priuiledge destined to the meanes: But why those meanes, not communicable to all, many a busie endea­uour hath strugled for a reason, not compast it. Out of more than a double Iurie of Interpreters, which I haue (not with a little distraction) obserued, wauing here in doubtfull opinion, Hugo de Sancto Ʋictore giues thus his verdict. Gods grace is indifferently exhibited to all men, to the elect and reprobate, but all doe not e­qually lay hold on it. Some no lesse neglect, than re­pulse Gods grace, and when its comfortable beames shall shine vpon them, they shut their eies against it, and will not behold it, and God in iustice with-drawes his grace from these men, because they with-draw themselues from his grace. Est enim in gratiâ quemadmodum in solis radio (saith he) There is a proportion betwixt the raies of the Sunne, and the eie, and betwixt the soule of man, and [Page 15]the grace of God. The eie is ordoined by nature to be the organ of the sight, and yet the eie cannot see except the Sunne enlighten it; neither can the Sunne make any thing else see but the eie in man, for it may shine vpon our hand or foot, neuerthelesse the hand or foot shall see nothing: so the soule hath a possibility to merit by her naturall abilities, but that possibility shall be vaine and fruitlesse, vnlesse it be quickned by the powerfull opera­tion of Gods grace, which grace, if it shall once actuate it, then the soule will be able to attaine to that double life of grace here, of glory hereafter. Ʋnde totum est ex gratiâ, sic tamen vt non excludatur meritum. Whence he would haue all to hang on grace, yet so that wee exclude not merit. But this inference is many stories aboue my reach, and in the greennesse of my iudgement, there is little truth in the consequence, and palpable contradicti­on in the consequent. For how can the merits of man challenge any thing, if all flow from the grace of God? Yes (saith Hugo) euen as a weake child which cannot yet goe alone, should be led by the Nurse, a man cannot say that the childe goeth of himselfe, but by the assistance of the Nurse; and yet the Nurse could not make the childe goe, vnlesse he were naturally inclinde to that motion: so the soule of man is said to merit by the aid of grace, and by her owne naturall inbred ability, but all the glory of the merit must be ascribed to God, because the soule can doe nothing without the support and grace of God. Whencel can gather no truth but this, that in solo homine sit peten̄tia logica ad salutē. That a man only maybe saued without apparant contradiction; no vnreasonable crea­ture is capable of that euerlasting blessednesse and beati­ficall vision; and the soule of a beast is no more able to see God, than a sencelesse stocke to behold a visible ob­iect. For man onely hath a passiue power to saluation, and man before his conuersion hath a passiue power on­ly. And therefore the similies afore proposed, if they be [Page 16]referred to the soule before the conuersion, are false, and beare no proportion, for then the soule is starke blinde, and dead in trespasses, and cannot looke on the grace of­fered, or moue one iot in the course of Christianity: But after the conuersiō when God speaks Ephata to the soule, be opened, when the vnderstanding is illuminated, and scales of errour once drop from the eies, then it may hold some correspondency with truth. As therefore in mat­ters of our conuersion, so of election too, all hangs on Grace, and this grace in a holy reseruation limited to a narrow Tribe, for the cuius vult here insinuates no more, and He will haue mercy on whom he will, sounds in a direct aequiualence with this, He will haue mercy onely on some; of which some there is a definite and set num­ber, vncapable of augmentation, or diminution, how­euer those new sprung Sectaries, Arminians. out of a turbulent braine and thirst of cauillation, blaspheme the eternity of Gods decree, making our election mutable, incompleat, con­ditionate, subiect to change and reuocation, and what other stranger birth and prodigie of opinion, which I conceiue not without a holy impatience and indignati­on. And whereas our Fathers of old haue maintained, euen to the sword and fagot, the decree of election to be no lesse eternall than irreuocable, these would faine lull our beleefe with innouation of vpstart discipline, al­tering no lesse the number than the condition of the e­lect into the state of reprobate, and of the reprobate into the elect. And (as the Deuill did to Christ) they vrge Text and reason for it. For God (say they) cannot giue grace to whom he doth giue grace, which if hee should doe an elect may be damned; and hee can giue grace to him he doth not giue grace too, which if he doe, a repro­bate may be saued, and so a reprobate may become an e­lect, and an elect a reprobate. Thus they shoot by an indirect aime, and saile by a wrong Compasse, for wee enquire not here of Gods power, but of his will, not what [Page 17]he can doe, but what he hath resolued to doe. Againe, it seemes no consequence, God can saue or damne a man, therefore this man can be saued or damned, Huge de Saxcto Victore in cap. 9. ad Rom. Non enim posse Dei sequitur posse nostrum, Gods power stands not in relation to ours: as if God would otherwise re­deeme mankinde than by the death of his Sonne. (As there was another meanes possible (saith Austin) but not more conuenient.) That therefore mankinde could o­therwise be redeemed; and if God had this in his power, that it should be therefore in mans too? Could not God (if he would) haue saued Iudas? doth it therefore fol­low that Iudas could be saued? No, for though this be too ragged and stonie for a popular capacity to digge through; yet if wee looke backe a little into the myste­ries of Gods decree, wee shall finde that which will no lesse relieue our vnderstanding, than remoue our scruple; where things from euerlasting haue such a doome, which is not malleable either by change or reuocation, For the Lord of hosts hath determined, and who can disanull it? and his hand is stretched out, and who can turne it away? Isay 14.27. Seeing then that election is from eternity, and that not obnoxious to mutability or corruption, we nei­ther curtaile the elect of their primatiue glory, nor of their number. Which though they be a little flocke, (in re­spect of that herd and large droue of the damned) yet in those sacred volumes of Gods diuiner Oracles, we finde them numberlesse. So Apoc. 7.9. These things I beheld, and loe, a great multitude which none could number of all nations and kinreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lambe, cloathed with long white robes, and palmes in their hands. Whence those Fa­ctors for the Romish See, would hew out a way to vniuersall grace; making our election generall, mani­folde, indefinite, and would haue Christs death no lesse meritorious, than propitiatory for the sinnes of the whole world. A quaere long since on foot betweene Augustine [Page 18]and Pelagius, and since in a fiery skirmish betweene the Calumist and the Lutheran, out of whose mud and cor­ruption there hath beene lately bred the Arminian, a Sect as poisonous as subtill, and will no Iesse allure than betray a flexible and yeelding iudgement. For our own safety then, and the easier oppugning of so dangerous a suggestion, let vs examine a little of the extent & bounds of this grace, which Diuines cut into these three squa­drons, in Gratiam Praedestinationis, vocationis, & iusti­ficationis. Gratia Praedestinationis, is that of eternity, the wombe and Nursery of all graces, whereby God loued his elect, [...]. Gratia vocationis, a seconda­ry grace, by which God cals vs, and by calling prescribes the meanes of our saluation. And this grace hath a dou­ble prospect, Either to that which is externall, in libro Scripturae, or creaturae, where God did manifest himselfe as well by what he had made, as by what he had written, or to that which is internall, of illumination, or renoua­tion, of that in the intellect only, which a reprobate may lay claime to, of this in the heart, which by a holy reser­uation and incommunicablenesse is peculiar to the elect, Gratia instificationis, which is not a grace inherent, but bestowed, and stands as a direct. Antipode to humane merit. Yet not that [...] which the Schooles christen with a gratia gratis data, any gift which God out of his free bounty hath bestowed vpon vs beyond our desert, as Prudence, Temperance, and the like; for in these the heathen had their share, whose singular endowmēts haue made posterity both an admirer, and a debter; but [...], Gratia gratum faciens, a gift perfect, and fanctified, which doth so qualifie the receiuer, that hee is not onely accep­table, but glorious in the eyes of the bestower, a [...] Faith, Hope, & the third sister, Charity, which no lesse recon­cile than iustifie vs before God.

We conclude then, that the externall grace which the creature affordeth vs, is not limited to a priuate number, [Page 19]but to all; yet we denie the power and vertue of saluati­on in it. We allow a sufficiencie of redargution for con­uicting the heathen, who when they knew God, wor­shipped him not as God, and therefore are both desperate and inexcusable. Moreover the grace which the Scrip­ture affor deth vs, as it is not vniuersall, so not of absolute sufficiency for faluation, but onely in genere mediorum externorum, (as the Schooles speake) because it doth pre­scribe vs the meanes how we may be saued, but it doth not apply the meanes that we are saued. Againe, that grace of Illumination is more peculiarly confined, and if by the beames of that glorious Sunne which enlightneth euery man that comes into the world, we attaine to the knowledge of the Scripture, yet the bare knowledge doth not saue vs, but the application. But the grace of regeneration is not onely a sufficient, but an effectuall grace, and as 'tis more powerfull, so 'tis more restrained; they onely partake of this blessednes, whom God hath no lesse enlightned, than sanctified, and pointed out, then sealed, men inuested in white robes of sinceritie, whose delinquencies, though sometimes of a deepe tincture, are now both dispēsed with, & obliterated, not because they were not sinfull, but because, not imputed: so inuolu­crous, and hidden are Gods eternall proiects, that in those he relinquisheth, or saues, his reason, is his will; yet that as farre discoasted from tyranny, as iniustice. The Quare we may contemplate, not scan, lest our misprision grow equall with our wonder. And here in a double ambush dangerously lurke the Romanist and the Armi­nian, men equally swolne with rancor of malice, and position: and with no lesse violence of reason, than impor­tunitie, presse the vertue of Christs death for the whole world. Alas! we combat not of the price and worth of Christs death, but acknowledge That an able ransome of a thousand worlds; but the ground of our duell tends to this, whether Christ dying proposed to himselfe the [Page 20]saluation of the whole world. We distinguish then— in­ter [...] Christi, & gratiam Christi. The merits of Christ and the gracious application of those merits. His merits are able to allay the fury of his incensed Father, and recon­cile vnto him the very reprobates: but the application of those merits are restrained to the Elect, for they onely are capeable of so great a blessednesse. For proofe wherof we haue not only that venerable Bench and Councell of Fa­thers and Schoole-men, but also a higher court of Parlia­ment to appeale vnto, the Registers and penmen of sacred Chronicles, Euangelists, & Apostles, w ^ch punctually in­sinuate Christs death onely for his own, for his Church, for his Brethren, for those whose head hee was, laying down his life for some, and shedding his blood for some, for his sheepe, his little flock, his peculiar Priesthood, his tabernacle, body, spouse, his Canaan, Sion, Ierusalem, his Ambassadors, Saints, Angels, in a word this Cuius vult, The Elect. I'le not beat your eares with a voluminous ci­tation of text and Fathers, I'le draw only one shaft out of this holy quiuer, and direct it to the Roman aduersary, w ^ch if he shall repell or put by, I'le proclaime hereafter a perpetuall truce. The maine and chiefe cause that impeld Christ to die, was his loue, Iohn 15. But Christ loued not all, but his own Eph. 5. Therefore Christ died not for all, but for his owne. The Iesuite here retraicts, and we haue none now left to encounter vs but the Arminian; who (like a cunning Fencer) hath many a quaint flourish, and with a false blow sometimes staggers, not wounds his ad­uersary. The part most in dangered, is the eie of our Intel­lect, and iudgement which he thus dazzels with a subtile nicety. That Christ hath obtained reconciliation for all, for Saul and Iudas, Moulin in his Anatomy of Arminianisme but not as they were reprobates, but as they were sinners; For God (saith he) did equally intend, and desire the saluation of all, and the reason why they were not saued was their incredulitie, and mis­applying of this gracious reconciliation and attonement. [Page 21]Thus they would betray weaknesse into the hands of er­rour; and for a fairer glosse, and gilding of this their treachery, they distinguish — inter Impetrationem, & ap­plicationem; Pretending that Christ did impetrate re­conciliation for all, but the application of that leanes wholly to the elect. How crazy and ill tempered this position is, wee'le declare briefly. First, wee deny that Christ by his death hath impetrated reconciliation for all, for Saul, or Iudas: Neither can our thought, much lesse our beleefe giue way to so strange a Paradox, Idem ibidem. That remission of sinnes is obtained for those whose sinnes are not remitted, or that saluation was purchased for those whom God from all eternity had decreed to condemne. Againe, we acknowledge Christs death sufficient for all, all beleeuers, nay all, if they did beleeue. But that Saul or Iudas or the residue of that cursed Hierarchy should reap the benefit of his Passion, we vtterly disclaime as erroni­ous and hereticall. For if Christ by his death hath re­conciled Iudas, how i'st that Iudas suffers for his sinnes? for we cannot without impeachment both of his mercy, and iustice too, say that Christ suffered for Iudas his sins, yet Iudas is damned for those sinnes; And since Christ as he is God, hath from euerlasting destined Iudas to damnation, how i'st that the same Christ, as he is man, and mediator betweene God and man, should reconcile Iu­das, whom from eternity he had reprobated? Againe, if Christ hath obtained reconciliation for all men, then none shall be borne without the couenant of Christ, so that of the Apostle will be false: That, By nature we are all borne the children of wrath, Ephes. 2. And can we true­ly be stiled the children of wrath, if reconciliation be ob­tained for all men without exception? And if all infants borne without the couenant are reconciled, Cur non cle­menti crudelitate in cunis iugulauimus? (saith the learned Moulin) why doe we not in a mercifull cruelty murther them in their cradles? for then their saluation were sea­led; [Page 22]but if they suruiue, they are nourished in Paganisme, infidelitie, which are the beaten roades and highwayes to destruction. And if we scan (saith he) the nicety of these words, the obtaining of reconciliation to be applied, and the application of reconciliation obtained, wee shall finde it a meere curiositie to harrow and perples the braine, and torture the vnderstanding, since Christ hath neuer obtained that which he hath not applied, nei­ther hath he applied that which he hath not obtained. Yet these men either of a head-strong opinion, or learned madnesse, are so violent in the prosecution of their te­nents, that no strength of answer will satisfie their obie­ction, nor modestie of language suppresse their clamour, but a foule mouthed Forsterus will bray out his witty spleene with an — Error, & furor Zuinglianorum. His reasons are as slender as they are many (the vertigoes and impostures of agiddie braine) fitter for silence, than rehearsall, and for scorne than consutation. Wee apply then; Is grace vniuersally bountifull, and mercy open­brested vnto all? What meane then those Epithites of outcast, cursed, damned, and that triple inscription of death, hell, and damnation? are they either of pollicie or truth? Are they things reall, or fancied onely to bug­beare and awe mortalitie? What would the Throne por­tend? Iudge, aduersarie, Sergeant, prison, or those horrid tones of worme, fire, brimstone, howling, gnashing? Is the Scripture the Anuill of vntruth, or are these things no more than faigned and imaginary? What will those flames of your threatned purgarory proue at last, but the Chimaera and coinage of a phantasticke braine? And a 500 yeares indulgence, but the sharke and legerdemaine or your Lord God the Pope? Either your opinion is san­dy, or your prison, both which must fleet with your holy Fathers honour, if the armes of mercie be expanded to all. Againe, are the merits of Christ appliable to all? Sweare, whore, drinke, prophane, blaspheme, and (if there [Page 23]be in that Alcharon, and cursed rolle, a sinne of a fairer growth) baffle the Almighty at his face. Thinkest thou that heauen was euer guiltie of such treason against her Soueraigne? or that it will euer entertaine a guest so ex­posed to the height of dissolutenesse and debaushment? No, thou must know that one day there will be a dread full summons, either at those particular accounts, at the houre of Death, or at the generall audit of the last trumpe, when thou shalt meet with a new Acheldema and vale of Hinnom, places no lesse of terror than of torment, the fi­ery dungeon, and the burning Tophet, where the fury of the great Iudge realls in a floud of brimstone, and his reuenge boiles in a firy torrent, limitlesse, and vnquench­able. On the other side happily maist thou slumber, without howle; or skreeke of conscience, thou wounded and deiected spirit; Thou whose glorious ornaments are but sack cloth and ashes, and thy choisest fare but the bread of sorrow and contrition. Know there is balme of Gilead for the broken-hearted sinner, and oile of com­fort for those which mourne in Sion. Behold how thy Sauiour comes flying downe with the wings of his loue, and sweepts away thy sinnes that they shall neither tem­porally shame thee, nor eternally condemne thee: Who shall wipe off all teares from your eyes, and lodge you in the bosome of old Abraham, where there is blisse vn­speakeable for euer. And thus I haue shewed you the happinesse of sheepe vnder the state of mercie; Time bids me now to reflect on the misery of Goats, as they are vnder the condition of hardening.

PART. II. He hardeneth.

WHat? he that is rich in goodnesse, and his mer­cies aboue all his workes? he that mournes in se­cret for our offences, and vowes that he desireth not the death of a sinner, will he harden? How can this stand either with his promise, or mercy, or iustice? Gods vn­reuealed proiects are full of wonder, which if our appre­hension cannot diue to, our beliefes must sound. Occul­ta esse possunt, iniusta non possunt, fraught they may be with sullen and darker riddles, neuer with iniustice. Let vs first then take a suruey of Mans heart, and see to what miseries the hardnesse of it hath exposde our irregular predecessors, and after try whether we can make proui­dence the mother of so deformed an issue. And here a­while let vs obserue S. Bernard tutoring his Eugenius, Cor durum, a heart, which the softer temper of Gods working spirit leaues to mollifie, and its owne corrupt affections begins once to mould. Like that of Naball, to be all stone, becomes at last so cauterized, Vt semetipsum non exhorreat quià nec sentit, that it is so farre from starting at its owne vglinesse, that it is non-sensible of deformity. And hence Theodoret defines it to be pranam animi affe­ctionem, a corrupt and depraued affection of the minde, which if man once giue way to, hee is so screen'd both from Gods mercy and truth; that though it be about him, and in the masterdome and dominion of his best sense, Non cernit tamen, nec intelligit, yet his eyes are as blinde intelligencers to belieue, as his vnderstanding. And against such that sweet singer of Israel breakes out into his passionate complaint, Ʋsquè quò filij hominum, vsquè quò? O ye sonnes of men, how long will ye turne my honour into shame, how long? and that of the Pro­tomartyr [Page 25] Stephen, in his Oration to the refractary Iewes. Durâ ceruice, O ye stiffe-necked and vncircumcized of heart and eares, yee doe alwaies resist the holy Ghost. And indeed such hearts are but the Wardrobes and Ex­chequers of future mischiefe, whose keyes are not in the custodie of the Almighty, but thine owne bosome. For so that great Doctor of the Gentiles, Secundum impoeni­tens cor tuum thesaurisas iram: According to the im­penitency of thine owne heart, thou treasurest vp wrath (to thy selfe) against the day of wrath. How then can that eye which should be fixed either on the tendernesse or mercy of his Creator, glance so much on his iniu­stice, as to make that the Midwife of so foule a progenie? Obduration was neuer the childe of goodnesse, neither can a sinne of so base a descent lay claime to omnipoten­cie. It stands not (I dare say) with Gods power, I am sure, his will, to reconcile two enemies in such an extremity of opposition. Doe sweet water and puddle flow immediatly from one and the selfe-same spring? light and darknesse from the selfe-same Sunne? I know there is a stiffe-necked and bliud-fold Tribe, which God hath left, not made the storie of his vengeance; whose affe­ctions are too dull and drousie in his seruice. Men crest­fallen in deuotion, whose hearts are so dead in their alle­geance to him, that they seeme spiritlesse, hauing all the powers & faculties of their soule benummed, and their conscience without pulse or motion. And of these the Prophet, Incrassatum est cor populi, Their heart is as fat as brawne. These sticke not to belch open defiance in the face of the Almighty, and with those Miscreants in Iob. are ready to expostulate with eternity. Quis est omnipo­tens vt seruiemus ei? Who is the Lord that we should serue him? Such haue forehead [...] of brasse, which no shame can bore through: and (as the Prophet spake of Iuda) a face of whoredome which refuseth modesty. But Saint Gregory in his 10. Homily vpon Ezechiel, hath proclaimed their [Page 26]doome. Frontem cordis in impudentiam aperit culpa fre­quens, vt quo crebrius committitur, eò minus de illa com­mittentis animus verecundetur: Frequency of sinning doth flesh vs in immodesty, assiduity, in impudence. Of­fences that are customarie are not easie of dimission, and if thou once entertaine them as thy followers, they will quickly intrude as thy companions. Sinnes that are sed with delight, with vse, are as dangerous as those of Ap­petite: which oftentimes proue no lesse inseparable, than hereditary; to doe well is as impossible to these, as not to doe ill; So can assiduity make a sinne both delight­full, and naturall. Can the Aethiop change his skinne, and the Leopard his spots? then may yee also doe well which are accustomed to doe euill. That sinne then is irrazable which is so steeled with custome, and may vnder goe the censure of that sometime Citie of God; Insanabilis est dolor tuus: Thy sinne is written with a pen of iron, and with a claw of a Diamond is engrauen on the table of thy heart. How then can wee without sacriledge, and rob­bing of diuine honour, make God the father of so foule and vnwashed a crime? Obduration is the issue of thine owne transgression. Perditio tua ex te, ô Israel: If de­struction dog thee, thanke thy corrupt affections, not blame thy maker, for he doth but leaue thee, and they harden. To lay then (with some depraued libertines) the weight and burden of our sinnes on the shoulder of Predestination, and make that the wombe of those soule enormities, may well passe for an infirmity, not for ex­cuse, and indeed thus to shuffle with diuine goodnesse, is no lesse fearefull, than blasphemous. For, though God from eternity knew how to reward euery man, either by crown, or punishment—. Nemini tamē aut necessitatē, aut voluntatem intulit delinquendi, yet he neuer enioyned any man either a necessity, or a will to sinne. If any then fall off from goodnesse, hee is hurried no lesse with the vio­lence of his owne perswasion, than concupiscence; and [Page 27]in those desperate affaires, Gods will is neither an inter­medler, hor compartner, Cuius ope scimus multos, ne la­berentur, retentos, nullos, vt laberentur, impulsos (saith Augustine.) By whose hand of prouidence wee know many to be supported that they might not fall, none im­peld that they should. And in his answer to that 14. Ar­ticle falsly supposed to be his, Fieri non potest, vt per quem à peccatis surgitur, per eum ad peccata decidatur: for one and the selfe-same goodnesse, to be the life and death of the selfe-same sinne, is so much beyond improbability, that it is impossible. If any then goe onward in the true rode of diuine graces, no doubt but the finger of the Al­mighty points out his way to happinesse; but if he wan­der in the by pathes of a vicious and depraued dissolute­nesse, his owne corrupt affections beckens him to ruine. To loue then his children, and neglect his enemies, doth neither impaire Gods mercy, nor impeach his iustice. But why God should loue this as his childe, neglect that as his enemy, Nec possible est comprehendere, nec licitum inuesti­gara—, is beyond all lawfulnesse of enquirie, all ken of apprehension. Let this then satisfie our desire of know­ledge, Et ab illo esse, quod statur, & non esse ab illo, quod ruitur: That his prouidence is the staffe and crutch on which we so leane that we yet stand; our corrupt affecti­ons, the bruzed and broken reed on which, if wee doe leane, we fall. If any flagger at those vnfathomed my­steries, and his reason and apprehension be strooke dead at the contemplation of Gods eternall, but hidden pro­iects, let him season a little his amazement with adora­tion, and at last solace his distempered thoughts with that of Gregory, Qui infactis Dei, &c. In the abstruse and darker mysteries of God, he that sees not a reason, if he sees his own infirmity, he sees a sufficient reason why he should not see. Me thinkes this should cloy the appe­tite of a greedy inquisition, and satisfie the distrust of a­ny, but of too querulous a disposition, which, with the [Page 28]eye of curiositie prying too nicely into the closet of Gods secrets, are no lesse dazeled than blinded; if not with profanation, heresie. Diuine secrets should rather transport vs with wonder, than prompt vs to enquiry, and bring vs on our knees to acknowledge the infinite­nesse both of Gods power and will, than ransacke the bosome of the Almighty, for the reuealing of his intents. Is it not blessednesse enough that God hath made thee his Steward, though not his Secretarie? Will no Mansi­on in heauen content thee, but that which is the throne and chaire for omnipotency to sit on? No treasury, but that which is the Cabinet and store-house of his own se­crets? Worme, and no man, take heed [...]ow thou strug­lest with thy Maker; expostulation with God imports no lesse peremptorinesse, than danger; and if Angels fell for pride of emulation, where wilt thou tumble for this pride of inquiry? As in matters therefore of vnusu­all doubt, where truth hath no verdict, probability finds audience, So in those obstruct and narrow passages of his will, where reason cannot informe thee, beleefe is thy best intelligencer, and if that want a tongue, make this thy interpreter; so thou maist euade with lesse distrust, I am sure, with more safe.

And at last when thou hast sca [...]'d all, what either scru­ple or inquisition can prompe thee to, in a dei [...]cted hu­miliation, thou must cry out with that Iewish penitent; Lord I beleeue, helpe thou my vnbeleefe. Yea, but how shall we here cleare God from this aspersion, when the Apostle is the Herauld to his guilt? whom he will he har­dens: Induras is an actiue, and doth alwayes presuppose a passiue; And if there be a subiect that must suffer, there must be a hand too that must inflict. How then can we quit the Almighty of the supicion either of tyranny or iniustice, since he is said to send on some the spirit of errour, 2 Thess. 2. and that great Trumpet of Gods dis­pleasure, Esay in his 63. brings in the Iewes, no lesse mut­tering [Page 29]than expostulating with God, Quare errar [...] nos fe­cist [...] Domine? Lord why hest thou made vs to erre from thy wayes, and hardened our hearts from thy feare? These instances (at the first furu [...]y,) beare terrour in their looks, and like sophisticated lights in a darke roome, make things seeme more vgly than they are; and are but false bils, preferred against a spotlesse innocent, which, with­out search, may conuince of publique erime, but narrow­ly scan'd, absolue him, no lesse from the act, than the thought of guilt. How God therefore in this is liable to censure and misprision, and how both a beholder, an in­termedier of depraued actions; vouchsafe me a little your attentiue parience; and I doubt not, but I shall in­forme the vnderstanding of the shallow, and to the por­tion of my weake Talent, will striue to satisfie the waue­ringly iudicious. Whom he will he hardens. Some (too nicely tender of the honour of their maker) haue giuen way to an interpretation more modest, than authenticke, and interpret, — indur [...]— for [...]uritia [...] manifestare, so that God is not properly said to harden the heart, but rather to manifest how hard it is, And to this opinion Saint Augustine is a [...]lo [...]e adherent in his 18 Question vpon Exodus. But this holds not with the purpose of God, nor with the scope and meaning of the Text, which if we compare with others of that nature, wee shall finde that Gods will hath rather a singer in this, than his pro­mulgation: for so in the 10 of Iosua we reade, that'twas the will and the sentence of the Almighty, that the Ca­naanites should be hardened; that they might deserue no mercie, but perish. Others there are (whose opinions bor­der neerer vpon truth) which would haue God to be said to harden — non effectiue, sed permissiuè; Not by way of Action, but permission, and so Damascen in his third booke de fide Orthodoxa, cap. 20. Where his words run thus. Operaepretium est agnoscere—. 'Tis a matter no lesse worthy of knowledge, than obseruance, that 'tis the [Page 30]custome of the Scripture to call Gods permission, his action. So we reade that God sent his enemies the Ipi­rit of slumber, which is not to be ascribed to God as an agent, but as a permitter. This glosse sutes well with the approbation of Saint Chrysostome; who speaking occa­sionally of that of the first of the Romanes, Deus tradidit [...]llos— God gaue them vp vnto vile affections, hee there expounds — tradidit, by permisit, which he thus illustraces by a similitude— As the Generall of an Armie, in the sweat and brunt of a bloudy day, if he withdraw his per­sonall directions from his souldiers, what doth he but expose them to the mercie of their enemies? not that he led them into the iawes of danger, but because they were not back't by his encouragement: So God in this spiritu­all conflict, he deliuers vs not into the hands of our arch­enemie he leaues vs to our owne strength, and our cor­rupt affections drag vs thither with a witnesse. And hence that dicotomy of Caietan claimes his prerogatiue, that God doth harden Negatiuely, but not Positiuely, w ^th distinction though it be sound & Orthodox, yet it doth not exempt vs from scruple, for God hath more in the stiffeneckt and peruerse, than a maked and bare permissi­on, otherwise we should too weakly distance obduration from a lesser sinne, for euery sinne God permits and as Saint Augustine in his Enchir. 96. cap. Nihil sit nisi om­nipotens fieri velit, vel finend [...] vt fiat, v [...]l ipse fa [...]iend [...]. There's nothing done without the consent and appro­bation of the Almightie, and that either by his person or substitute. If God therfore be only said to harden man be­cause he permits him to be hardened, why should he not be likewise said to steale, because he permits man to steale? No doubt therefore but God hath a greater ore in this sinne of hardneing, than in offences of a lesser bulke. And therefore Saint Augustine in his 3. lib. con [...]. Iulianum, 3. cap. with many a sinewed allegation proues; that God doth concurre to the excaeca [...]ion and hardening both of [Page 31]the minde and heart,— Non solum, secundum paetientiam, & permissionem, sed potentiam, & actionem. Not ac­cording to his patience and permission onely, but his power and action: Which position hee thus (after) qualifies with a distinction. Obduration is not onely a sinne, but a punishment of a sinne. Now, that which is in obduration meerely of sinne hath it's pedegree and originall from man onely; but that which is of punish­ment for that sinne, from God. And therefore I cannot but approue of that of Isiodore, Qui iusti sunt, à Deo non impelluntur, vt malifiant; sed dùm mali iam sunt, indu­rantur, vt deteriores existant,— According to that of Paul, 2 Thes. 2. For this cause God shall send them strong delusions, that they might beleeue a lie, that all might be damned that beleeue not the truth, but haue pleasure in vnrighteousnesse. I haue as yet but toucht the barke and skinne of the controuersie, the pith and the kernell is yet vnchewed, and that is,— Whether God here (as hee is said to harden) be the cause of our transgressions. Which quaere admits a three-fore distraction, and difference of opinion. Two of them are extremes, and by hot oppo­sition each of other, they haue both lost the truth, the third runnes in a midway, and euer directs to safety. Florinus (whose opinion posterity records as the monu­ment of a seduced errour) with no lesse peremptorinesse than blaspemy hath arraigned the Almighry, and made him not onely the permitter, but the Author of our sins. The Seleuciani, after him, were poisoned with that here­sie, & the Libertines laboured in the defence therof. Ma­nes, and his disciples, dreampt of a summum malum, and vpon that phantasie grounded their assertion, that God the summum bonum, is to be seene onely in our good acti­ons, but euery depraued Act had its deriuation from their summum malum. But those of a more solid and well tempered iudgement, whom the influence of the Spirit had taught a moderation, or the danger of Inquisition [Page 32]forbad curiosity, dare not with Florinus impute (here) sinne vnto God, yet maintaine against the Manichees, that God is not a bare and idle spectator, but powerfull ouer, although no actor in the sinne, Not in the sinne, as it is meerely a sinne, but in the sinne as 'tis a punishment of sinne. And therefore in euery transgression of ours, there are foure thing, remarkeable, 1 Subiectum, seu materiale, he subiect in which sinne subsists, and that is two-fold. 1 Substantia, the substance, or rather the faculties of the reasonable soule, in which originall sinne is so riueted, that the naturall man can by no meanes purge himselfe of that hereditary contagion; or Actio bona, on, which all our actuall sinnes are grounded. 2 Formale, the for­malitie, or obliquity of the action. For euery sinne is [...], the transgression of the Law, and in the sinner there's nothing sinne but this. 3 Reatus, The guilt of this enormitie, which makes. vs liable to eternall death. 4 Poena, the punishment inflicted vpon the guilty, whe­ther temporall, or eternall, or both. Now wee may not charge God with the obliquitie of the action, for that proceedes from a peruerse, and a seduced will, but the substance of the action (as the Schoolemen speake) that hath its originall from God. And therefore we consider sinne, either vt malum culpae. as 'tis a violation of Gods law, or vt malum poenae. as a punishment laid vpon vs for the violation of that Law: So Rom. 1.25. The Gentiles tur­ned the truth of God into a lye, There's malum culpae. And it followes immediatly at the 26 verse. For this cause God gaue them vp into vile affections, There's malum poenae. Now God is author of the second, not the first. If mists still hang on the eyes of clouded errour, I thus dispell them with that of Hugo de Sancto Victore— Deus malis potestatem solam tribuit, non voluntatem, quià licet ex ipsi­us permissione sit, quod malum possunt, ex inspiratione tamen non est quod malum volunt. God onely giues power to the wicked, not will, that although it be by his permission [Page 33]that we can doe euill, yet it is not by his inspiration that we will doe euill. And therefore as the Schooles doe commonly distinguish of the decree of God, so must wee of the execution of that decree, which is either per effici­eutiam, when the diuine power doth worke any thing with, or without the creature, or secundum permissionem, when the creature hath leaue to worke without the gui­dance of that power. Neither will it sauour of imperti­nence, if we insert here that distinction of Gods proui­dence in efficientem & deserentem: Into a releeuing and forsaking prouidence, for whensoeuer God withdrawes his especiall aid and assistance from vs, man is hurried where his owne corrupter appetite, not Gods grace car­rieth him. Adam fell as soone as the influence of Gods grace ceased, and without the supportance of the same grace we all fall, with no lesse certainty of perill, than danger of restitution. When the Sunne sets, we see dark­nesse followes immediatly vpon the face of the earth, and yet the Sunne is not the efficient cause of darknesse, but the deficient; so when the Sunne of righteousnesse shall forsake vs, the darknesse of errour, must needs possesse the vnderstanding, and the will must mistake in her choice and execution. She must necessitate consequentiae, non consequentis. The necessitie is grounded on a conse­quent in Logicke, not any influence in Nature. And here we may borrow a true glosse for that in the 2 Acts, where it is said that Christ was deliuered into the hands of the wicked, by the determinate counsell & fore-know­ledge of God. We must not thinken hat God was the setter in this villany, that he conspired with Iudas in his treason, or with Pilate in his bloudy sentence: But that he only gaue way to their attempts, and suffered them to crucifie the Lord of glory. Yea, but why did not God curbe them in their cruell proceedings? Why should his conniuence betray the [...]ou [...] of Innovence? Saint Au­stine shall answer for me. Quia melius iudicauit de [...] malis [Page 34]bene-facere, quàm mala nullae esse permittere. To extract good out of euill was peculiar onely to omnipotency and goodnesse; and therefore no lesse solid than charitable is that caucat of Du-Plesses—Malè quaeritur, vnde malum essiciatur. It is an ill curiosity to seeke an efficient cause of ill. Let this then satisfie modesten quiry that it is with the sinner as with an vntuned Instrument, and the Musi­tian, the sound is from the finger of him that toucheth it, but the iarring from the Instrument.

That our discourse then with the time may draw to wards a Period, we inuolue and wrap vp in this one di­stinction the very iuice and substance of the controuer­sie. Sinne is considerable two waies, ante commissionem, before the Commission, Sic se Deus habet negatiuè, tum respectu voluntatis, tum productionis. God doth neither worke with vs, nor countenance vs in the act of sinning. Post commissionem, after the Commission, sic Deus deter­minat, & ordinat peccatum. God sets bounds to the ma­lice of wicked men, and so mannages the disorder in sin, that contrary to the nature of sinne, and the intent of the sinner, it shall redound [...]o his glory.

We inculcate then, that God is not the author, but the orderer of sinne. Hee causeth the worke, not the fault; the effect, not the delinquencie, working by, not in mischiefe. Wherein, according to the rules of Logicke, the finall and impulsiue causes euer so distinguish the actions, that two doing the same thing to a diuers intent, are notwithstanding said not to doe the same. So God gaue his Sonne, and Christ himselfe, and Iudas Christ, (saith Augustine) why is God here holy, and man guil­ty? Nis [...] in re vnâ quam fecerunt, non est causa vna ob quam fecerunt. I shut vp all with that state of Fulgentius in his first booke ad M [...]cinum cap. 13. Where hauing long houered ouer this question, An peccata siant ex prae­destinatione? He at last thus resolues it. Potuit Deus, si­cut voluit, praedestiuare quosdam ad gloriam, quosdam ad [Page 35]poenam, sed quos praedestinauit ad gloriam, praedestinauit ad iustitiam, quos autem praedestinauit ad poenam, non praede­stinauit ad culpam. God when hee saues any man doth predestinate him as well to the meanes, as to the end. But in the reprobation of a sinner, God destines the sinner onely to the punishment; foreseeing, but not determi­ning those sinnes which shall in time draw Gods punish­ments downe vpon him.

Doe our corruptions harden then, and God puni­sheth? Take heed you Pharaohs of the world, you which persecute the poore Israelite in his way to Canaan, spurre not the goodnesse of the Almighty to reuenge, or iustice. Laesa patientia fit suror—, trample too much on the necke of patience, you will turne it to fury. It is true, God hath feet of Lead (clemency intermixt with slownesse of reuenge) but he hath hands of iron, they will grinde and bruise into powder, when they are dared to combat.

Procrastination of diuine iustice is euer waited on no lesse with a certainty of punishment than ruine. What shall wee doe then (wretched, miserable that we are) or to whom shall we flie for succour? The good S. Augu­stine tells vs, — à Deo irato, ad Deum placatum—, from the tribunall of his iustice, to his throne of mercy, and compassion. That of Anselmus was most admirable — Et si Domine ego commisi vnde me damnare potes, tu ta­men non amisisti, vnde me saluare potes—. O blessed Iesus, though I haue committed those transgressions for which thou maist condemne mee, yet thou hast not lost those compassions by which thou maist saue me. If our soules were in such a straight, that wee saw hell opening her mouth vpon vs, like the red sea before the Israelites; the damned and vgly fiends, pursuing vs behinde, like the Egyptians, on the right hand, an on the left; death and sea ready to ingulse vs, yet vpon a broken heart, and vn­disguised [Page 36]sorrow, would I speake to you in the confi­dence of Moses,—Stand still, stand still, behold the saluati­on of the Lord. Thou then which art opprest with the vi­olence and clamour of thy sinnes, and wantestan aduo­cate either to intercede, or pitty, heare the voice of the Lambe, —Cry vnto me, I will heare thee out of my holy hill. Is any heauily loaden with the weight of his offences, or groanes vnder the yoke and tyrannie of manifold temp­tations? — Come vnto me, I will refresh thee—. Doth a­ny hunger after righteousnesse? behold, I am the bread of life, take, eat, here is my body. Doth any thirst after the waies of grace? loe, I am a liuing spring, come, drinke, here is my bloud: my bloud that was shed for many for the re­mission of sinnes; for many, not for all. Hath sinne do­minion ouer thee? or doth it reigne in thy mortall heart? are the wounds of thy transgressions so deepe that they cannot be searched? or so old, that they corrupt and pu­trifie? where is the Samaritan that will either binde them vp, or powre in oyle? But art thou not yet dead in tres­passes? are not thy vlcers past cure? are there any seeds of true life remaining? is there any motion of repentance in thy soule? will thy pulse of remorse beate a little? haste thou but a touch of sorrow? a sparke of contriti­on? a graine of saith? know there is oyle of comfort for him which mournes in Sion. Not a teare drops from thee with sincerity which is either vnpittied, or vnpreser­ued,— God puts it into his bottle. On the other side, is there a Pharaoh in thee? an heart vnmollified? a stone that will not be bruized? a flint vnmalleable? I both mourne for it, and leaue it: But is this heart of stone ta­ken away, and is there giuen thee a heart of flesh? is it soft and tender with remorse? truly sacrificed to sorrow? know there is balme of Gilead for the broken heart, balme that will both refresh and cure it. Thou then which groanest in the spirit, and art drawne out (as it were) in­to contrition for thy sinnes; thou which hast washt thy [Page 37]hands in innocence, goe cheerefully to the altar of thy God, vnbinde thy sacrifice, lay it on. But hast thou done it sin­cerely? from thy heart? lurkes there no falshood there? is all swept cleane and garnished? doth the countenance of that smile as cheerefully, as the other seemes to doe of the outward man? if so. thy fire is well kindled, the Al­tar burnes clearly, the sauour of thy incense shall pierce the clowds. But is this repentance disguized? hath it a touch of dissimulation in it? is not thy olde rankor cleane dis­gorged, but must thou againe to thy former vomit? hy­pocrite, thy Altar is without fire, thy incense without smoke, it shall neuer touch the nostrils of the Almighty, thy prayers in his eares sound like brasse, and tinkle like an ill-tuned Cimball; all this formality of zeale is but a disease of the lip: giue me thy heart my sonne, I will haue that, or none, and that cleane too, washt both from de­ceit, and guilt. That subtill fallacy of the eye pointing to­wards heauen, that base hypocrisie of the knee kissing the earth, that seeming austerity of the hand martyring thy breast, gaines from me neither applause, nor blessing; the example of a Pharisee could haue chid thee to such an outside of deuotion,— Qui pectus suum tundit, & se non corrigit, aggrauat peccata, non tollit, saith Augustine, where there is an outward percussion of the breast, without re­morse of the inward man, there is rather an aggrauation of sinne, than a release; these blanchings, and guildings, and varnishings of externall zeale, are as odious in the eie of God, as those of body in a true Christian; this glosse, this paint of demurenesse speakes but our whoredomes in religion, & the integrity of that man is open both to censure and suspition, that is exposed either to the pra­ctise of it, or the approbation. A villaine is a villaine howsoever his garbe or habite speake him otherwise, and an hypocrite is no lesse, though sleeked ouer with an externall sanctity, & drest in the affectations of a preciser cut. Let vs be truely that what we seeme to be, and not [Page 38] seeme what we are not; let there be dores & casements in our breasts that men may see the loyaley twixt our heart and tongue, and how our thoughts whisper to our tongue, and how our tongue speakes them to the world. A way with those Meteors and false-fires of Religion, which not onely by-path vs in a blinded zeale, but mis­leade others in our steps of errour. Let vs put off the old man in our pride, vaine-glorie, hypocrisie, enuy, ha­tred, malice, and (that foule disease of the times, and vs) vncharitablenesse; and let vs put on the new man in sinceritie, faith, repentance, sobrietie, brotherly kind­nesses, loue, and (what without it disparages the tongue both, of men, and Angels) charitie; then at length all teares shall be wiped away from our eyes, and we shall re­ceiue that euerlasting benediction. — Come yee children, inherit the kingdome prepared for you from the beginning of the world.— To which, the Lord bring vs for Christ Iesus sake, to whom be praise and power ascri­bed now, and for euermore. Amen.