Chapter VI: Introduction (6)

§. VIII. [Sidenote: _Proof 1._] This is very positively affirmed, _Heb._ ii. 9. in these Words, _But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the Angels, for the suffering of Death, crowned with Glory and Honour, that he by the Grace of God might taste Death for every Man_. He that will but open his Eyes, may see this Truth here asserted: If he _tasted Death for every Man_, then certainly there is no Man for whom he did not taste Death; then there is no Man who may not be made a Sharer of the Benefit of it: For _he came not to condemn the World, but that the World through him might be saved_, John iii. 17. _He came not to judge the World, but to save the World_, John xii. 47. [Sidenote: _Our Adversaries false Doctrine of a great Part of Mankind being pre-ordained for Damnation, refuted._] Whereas, according to the Doctrine of our Adversaries, he rather came to condemn the World, and judge it; and not that it might be saved by him, or to save it. For if he never came to bring Salvation to the greater Part of Mankind, but that his Coming, though it could never do them good, yet shall augment their Condemnation, from thence it necessarily follows, that he came not of Intention to save, but to judge and condemn the greater Part of the World, contrary to his own express Testimony; and as the Apostle _Paul_, in the Words above cited, doth assert affirmatively, _That God willeth the Salvation of all_, [Sidenote: _Proof 2._] so doth the Apostle _Peter_ assert negatively, _That he willeth not the perishing of any_, 2 Pet. iii. 9. _The Lord is not slack concerning his Promise, as some Men count Slackness, but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to Repentance._ And this is correspondent to that of the Prophet _Ezekiel_, xxxiii. 11. _As I live, saith the Lord, I have no Pleasure in the Death of the Wicked, but that the Wicked turn from his Way and live._ If it be safe to believe God, and trust in him, we must not think that he intends to cheat us by all these Expressions through his Servants, but that he was in good earnest. And that this Will and Desire of his hath not taken effect, the Blame is on our Parts, as shall be after spoken of; which could not be, if we never were in any Capacity of Salvation, or that Christ had never died for us, but left us under an Impossibility of Salvation. What mean all those earnest Invitations, all those serious Expostulations, all those regretting Contemplations, wherewith the Holy Scriptures are full? As, _Why will you die, O House of _Israel!_ Why will ye not come unto me, that ye might have Life? I have waited to be gracious unto you: I have sought to gather you: I have knocked at the Door of your Hearts: Is not your Destruction of yourselves? I have called all the Day long._ If Men who are so invited be under no Capacity of being saved, if Salvation be impossible unto them, shall we suppose God in this to be no other but like the Author of a _Romance_, or Master of a _Comedy_, who amuses and raises the various Affections and Passions of his Spectators by divers and strange Accidents; sometimes leading them into Hope, and sometimes into Despair; all those Actions, in effect, being but a mere Illusion, while he hath appointed what the Conclusion of all shall be?

[Sidenote: _Proof 3._] _Thirdly_, This Doctrine is abundantly confirmed by that of the Apostle, 1 _John_ ii. 1, 2. _And if any Man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. And he is the Propitiation for our Sins; and not for ours only, but also for the Sins of the whole World._ [Sidenote: _Adversaries comment on the Words the_ whole World.] The Way which our Adversaries take to evite this Testimony, is most foolish and ridiculous: _The [World] here, _say they,_ is the World of Believers_: For this _Commentary_ we have nothing but their own Assertion, and so while it manifestly destroys the Text, may be justly rejected. For, _First_, let them shew me, if they can, in all the Scripture, where the [_whole World_] is taken for _Believers_ only; I shall shew them where it is many Times taken for the quite Contrary; as, _The World knows me not_: _The World receives me not, I am not of this World_: Besides all these Scriptures, _Psalm_ xvii. 14. _Isai._ xiii. 11. _Mat._ xviii. 7. _John_ vii. 7. and viii. 26. and xii. 19. and xiv. 17. and xv. 18, 19. and xvii. 14. and xviii. 20. 1 _Cor._ i. 21. and ii. 12. and vi. 2. _Gal._ vi. 14. _James_ i. 27. 2 _Pet._ ii. 20. 1 _John_ ii. 15. and iii. 1. and iv. 4, 5, and many more. _Secondly_, The Apostle in this very Place contra-distinguished the _World_ from the _Saints_ thus; _And not for ours only, but for the Sins of the whole World_: What means the Apostle by [_Ours_] here? Is not that the Sins of Believers? Was not he one of those Believers? And was not this an universal Epistle, written to all the Saints that then were? So that according to these Men’s Comment, there should be a very unnecessary and foolish Redundancy in the Apostle’s Words; as if he had said, _He is a Propitiation not only for the Sins of all Believers, but for the Sins of all Believers_: Is not this to make the Apostle’s Words void of good Sense? Let them shew us wherever there is such a Manner of speaking in all the Scripture, where any of the Penmen first name the _Believers_ in _Concreto_ with themselves, and then contra-distinguish them from some other whole World of Believers? That [_whole World_] if it be of Believers, must not be the World we live in. But we need no better Interpreter for the Apostle than himself, who uses the very same Expression and Phrase in the same Epistle, Ch. v. 19. saying, _We know that we are of God, and the whole World lieth in Wickedness_. There cannot be found in all the Scripture two Places which run more parallel; seeing in both the same Apostle, in the same Epistle to the same Persons, contra-distinguisheth himself, and the Saints to whom he writes, from the whole World; which, according to these Men’s Commentary, ought to be understood of _Believers_: As if _John_ had said, _We know particular Believers are of God; but the whole World of Believers lieth in Wickedness_. What absurd wresting of Scripture were this? And yet it may be as well pleaded for as the other; for they differ not at all. Seeing then that the Apostle _John_ tells us plainly, That Christ not only died for him, and for the Saints and Members of the Church of God, to whom he wrote, but for the _whole World_, let us then hold it for a certain and undoubted Truth, notwithstanding the Cavils of such as oppose.

This might also be proved from many more Scripture-Testimonies, if it were at this Season needful. All the _Fathers_, so called, and _Doctors_ of the Church, for the first four Centuries, preached this Doctrine; according to which they boldly held forth the Gospel of Christ, and Efficacy of his Death; [Sidenote: _The _Heathens_ invited to Salvation; none predestinated to Damnation._] inviting and intreating the _Heathens_ to come and be Partakers of the Benefits of it, shewing them how there was a _Door_ open for them _all_ to be saved through Jesus Christ; not telling them that God had predestinated any of them to Damnation, or had made Salvation impossible to them, by with-holding Power and Grace, necessary to believe, from them. But of many of their Sayings, which might be alleged, I shall only instance a few.

[Sidenote: _Proof 4. The Testimonies of the _Doctors_ and _Fathers_ of the first Church, that Christ died for all._] _Augustine_ on the xcvth _Psalm_ saith, “The Blood of Christ is of so great Worth, that it is of no less Value than the whole World.” _Prosper ad Gall._ c. 9. “The Redeemer of the World gave his Blood for the World, and the World would not be Redeemed, because the Darkness did not receive the Light. He that saith, the Saviour was not crucified for the Redemption of the whole World, looks not to the Virtue of the Sacrament, but to the Part of Infidels; since the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ is the Price of the whole World; from which Redemption they are Strangers, who either delighting in their Captivity would not be Redeemed, or after they were Redeemed returned to the same Servitude.”

The same _Prosper_, in his Answer to _Vincentius_’s first Objection: “Seeing therefore because of one common Nature and Cause in Truth, undertaken by our Lord, all are rightly said to be Redeemed, and nevertheless all are not brought out of Captivity; the Property of Redemption without doubt belongeth to those from whom the Prince of this World is shut out, and now are not Vessels of the Devil, but Members of Christ; whole Death was so bestowed upon Mankind, that it belonged to the Redemption of such who were not to be regenerated. But so, that that which was done by the Example of one for all, might, by a singular Mystery, be celebrated in every one. For the Cup of Immortality, which is made up of our Infirmity and the Divine Power, hath indeed that in it which may Profit all; but if it be not drank, it doth not heal.”

The Author _de Vocat. Gentium_, Lib. 11. Cap. 6. “There is no Cause to doubt but that our Lord Jesus Christ died for Sinners and wicked Men. And if there can be any found, who may be said not to be of this Number, Christ hath not died for all; he made himself a Redeemer for the whole World.”

_Chrysostom_ on _John_ i. “If he enlightens every Man coming into the World, how comes it that so many Men remain without Light? For all do not so much as acknowledge Christ. How then doth he enlighten every Man? He illuminates indeed so far as in him is; but if any of their own accord, closing the Eyes of their Mind, will not direct their Eyes unto the Beams of this Light, [Sidenote: _The Cause they remain in Darkness._] the Cause that they remain in Darkness is not from the Nature of the Light, but through their own Malignity, who willingly have rendered themselves unworthy of so great a Gift. But why believed they not? Because they would not: Christ did his Part.”

The _Arelatensian_ Synod, held about the Year 490, “Pronounced him accursed, who should say that Christ hath not died for all, or that he would not have all Men to be saved.”

_Ambr._ on _Psalm_ cxviii. _Serm. 8._ “The mystical Sun of Righteousness is arisen to all; he came to all; he suffered for all; and rose again for all: And therefore he suffered, that he might take away the Sin of the World. But if any one believe not in Christ, he robs himself of this general Benefit, [Sidenote: _The Sun-Beams shut out, heat not._] even as if one by closing the Windows should hold out the Sun-Beams. The Sun is not therefore not arisen to all, because such an one hath so robbed himself of its Heat: But the Sun keeps its Prerogative; it is such an one’s Imprudence that he shuts himself out from the common Benefit of the Light.”

The same Man, in his 11th Book of _Cain_ and _Abel_, Cap. 13. saith, “Therefore he brought unto all the Means of Health, that whosoever should perish, may ascribe to himself the Causes of his Death, who would not be cured when he had the Remedy by which he might have escaped.”

§. IX. Seeing then that this Doctrine of the Universality of Christ’s Death is so certain and agreeable to the Scripture-Testimony, and to the Sense of the purest Antiquity, it may be wondered how so many, some whereof have been esteemed not only Learned, but also Pious, have been capable to fall into so gross and strange an Error. But the Cause of this doth evidently appear, in that the Way and Method by which the Virtue and Efficacy of his Death is communicated to all Men, hath not been rightly understood, or indeed hath been erroneously taught. [Sidenote: Pelagian _Errors._] The _Pelagians_, ascribing all to Man’s Will and Nature, denied Man to have any Seed of Sin conveyed to him from _Adam_. And the _Semi-Pelagians_, making Grace as a Gift following upon Man’s Merit, or right improving of his Nature, according to the known Principle, _Facienti quod in se est, Deus non denegat gratiam_.

[Sidenote: _Extremes fallen into by some, making God the Author of Sin._] This gave _Augustine_, _Prosper_, and some others Occasion, labouring, in Opposition to these Opinions, to magnify the Grace of God, and paint out the Corruptions of Man’s Nature (as the Proverb is of those that seek to make straight a crooked Stick) to incline to the other Extreme. So also the Reformers, _Luther_ and others, finding among other Errors the strange Expressions used by some of the Popish Scholasticks concerning Free-Will, and how much the Tendency of their Principles is to exalt Man’s Nature and lessen God’s Grace, having all those Sayings of _Augustine_ and others for a Pattern, through the like Mistake run upon the same Extreme: Though afterwards the _Lutherans_, seeing how far _Calvin_ and his Followers drove this Matter, (who, as a Man of subtle and profound judgment, foreseeing where it would land, resolved above-board to assert that God had decreed the Means as well as the End, and therefore had ordained Men to sin, and excites them thereto, which he labours earnestly to defend) and that there was no avoiding the making of God the Author of Sin, thereby received Occasion to discern the Falsity of this Doctrine, and disclaimed it, as appears by the latter Writings of _Melancthon_, and the _Mompelgartensian_ Conference, [65]where _Lucas Osiander_, one of the Collocutors, terms it _Impious_; calls it a making _God the Author of Sin_, and an _horrid and horrible Blasphemy_. Yet because none of those who have asserted this universal Redemption since the Reformation have given a clear, distinct, and satisfactory Testimony how it is communicated to all, and so have fallen short of fully declaring the Perfection of the Gospel Dispensation, others have been thereby the more strengthened in their Errors; which I shall illustrate by one singular Example.

[65] _Epit. Hist. Eccl. _Lucæ Osiand. Cent. 16._ l. 4. Cap. 32._

The _Arminians_, and other Assertors of universal Grace, use this as a chief Argument.

_That which every Man is bound to believe, is true_:

_But every Man is bound to believe that Christ died for him_:

_Therefore_, &c.

[Sidenote: Remonstrants _Opinion strengthens the precise Decree of Reprobation_.] Of this Argument the other Party deny the Assumption, saying; That _they who never heard of Christ, are not obliged to believe in him_; _and seeing the Remonstrants _(as they are commonly called)_ do generally themselves acknowledge, that without the outward Knowledge of Christ there is no Salvation_, that gives the other Party yet a stronger Argument for their precise Decree of Reprobation. _For, _say they,_ seeing we all see really, and in effect, that God hath with-held from many Generations, and yet from Nations, that Knowledge which is absolutely needful to Salvation, and so hath rendered it simply impossible unto them; Why may he not as well with-hold the Grace necessary to make a saving Application of that Knowledge, where it is preached? For there is no Ground to say, That this were Injustice in God, or Partiality, more than his leaving those others in utter Ignorance; the one being but a with-holding Grace to apprehend the Object of Faith, the other a withdrawing the Object itself._ For answer to this, they are forced to draw a Conclusion from their former _Hypothesis_ of Christ’s dying for all, and God’s Mercy and Justice, saying, That _if these _Heathens,_ who live in those remote Places, where the outward Knowledge of Christ is not, did improve that common Knowledge they have, to whom the outward Creation is for an Object of Faith, by which they may gather that there is a God, then the Lord would by some Providence, either send an Angel to tell them of Christ, or convey the Scriptures to them, or bring them some Way an Opportunity to meet with such as might inform them._ Which, as it gives always too much to the Power and Strength of Man’s Will and Nature, and favours a little of _Socinianism_ and _Pelagianism_, or at least of _Semi-Pelagianism_, so, since it is only built upon probable Conjectures, neither hath it Evidence enough to convince any strongly tainted with the other Doctrine; nor yet doth it make the Equity and wonderful Harmony of God’s Mercy and Justice towards _ALL_ so manifest to the Understanding. So that I have often observed, that these Assertors of Universal Grace did far more pithily and strongly overturn the false Doctrine of their Adversaries, than they did establish and confirm the Truth and Certainty of their own. [Sidenote: _None, by an irrevocable Decree, excluded from Salvation._] And though they have Proof sufficient from the Holy Scriptures to confirm the Universality of Christ’s Death, and that none are precisely, by any irrevocable Decree, excluded from Salvation, yet I find when they are pressed in the Respects above-mentioned, to shew how God hath so far equally extended the Capacity to partake of the Benefit of Christ’s Death unto all, as to communicate unto them a sufficient Way of so doing, they are somewhat in a Strait, and are put more to give us their Conjectures from the Certainty of the former pre-supposed Truth, to wit, that because Christ hath certainly died for all, and God hath not rendered Salvation impossible to any, therefore there must be some Way or other by which they may be saved; which must be by improving some common Grace, or by gathering from the Works of Creation and Providence, than by really demonstrating, by convincing and spiritual Arguments, what that Way is.

§. X. It falls out then, that as Darkness, and the great Apostasy, came not upon the Christian World all at once, but by several Degrees, one Thing making way for another; until that thick and gross Veil came to be overspread, wherewith the Nations were so blindly covered, from the _seventh_ and _eighth_, until the _sixteenth Century_; even as the Darkness of the Night comes not upon the outward Creation at once, but by Degrees, according as the Sun declines in each Horizon; so neither did that full and clear Light and Knowledge of the glorious Dispensation of the Gospel of Christ appear all at once; the Work of the first Witnesses being more to testify against and discover the Abuses of the Apostasy, than to establish the Truth in Purity. He that comes to build a new City, must first remove the old Rubbish, before he can see to lay a new Foundation; and he that comes to an House greatly polluted and full of Dirt, will first sweep away and remove the Filth, before he put up his own good and new Furniture. The dawning of the Day dispels the Darkness, and makes us see the Things that are most conspicuous: But the distinct discovering and discerning of Things, so as to make a certain and perfect Observation, is reserved for the arising of the Sun, and its shining in full Brightness. And we can, from a certain Experience, boldly affirm, that the not waiting for this, but building among, yea, and with, the _Old Popish Rubbish_, and setting up before a full Purgation, hath been to most Protestants the Foundation of many a Mistake, and an Occasion of unspeakable Hurt. [Sidenote: _The more full Discovery of the Gospel reserved to this our Age._] Therefore the Lord God, who as he seeth meet doth communicate and make known to Man the more full, evident, and perfect Knowledge of his everlasting Truth, hath been pleased to reserve the more full Discovery of this Glorious and Evangelical Dispensation to this our Age; albeit divers Testimonies have thereunto been borne by some noted Men in several Ages, as shall hereafter appear. And for the greater Augmentation of the Glory of his Grace, that no Man might have whereof to boast, he hath raised up a few _despicable and illiterate Men_, and for the most Part _Mechanicks_, to be the Dispensers of it; by which Gospel all the Scruples, Doubts, Hesitations and Objections above-mentioned are easily and evidently answered, and the Justice as well as Mercy of God, according to their divine and heavenly Harmony, are exhibited, established, and confirmed. According to which certain Light and Gospel, as the Knowledge thereof has been manifested to us by the Revelation of Jesus Christ _in us_, fortified by our own sensible Experience, and sealed by the Testimony of the Spirit in our Hearts, we can confidently affirm, and clearly evince, according to the Testimony of the Holy Scriptures, the following Points:

§. XI. [Sidenote: Prop. I.] First, _That God_, who out of his infinite Love sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the World, [Sidenote: _A day of Visitation to all._] who tasted Death for every Man, _hath given to every Man_, whether _Jew_ or _Gentile_, _Turk_ or _Scythian_, _Indian_ or _Barbarian_, of whatsoever Nation, Country, or Place, _a certain Day or Time of Visitation; during which Day or Time it is possible for them to be saved, and to partake of the Fruit of Christ’s Death_.

[Sidenote: Prop. II.] [Sidenote: _A Measure of Light in all._] Secondly, _That for this End God hath communicated and given unto every Man a Measure of the Light of his own Son, a Measure of Grace, or a Measure of the Spirit_, which the Scripture expresses by several Names, as sometimes of the _Seed of the Kingdom_, Mat. xiii. 18, 19. _the Light that makes all Things manifest_, Ephes. v. 13. _the Word of God_, Rom. x. 17. or _Manifestation of the Spirit given to profit withal_, 1 Cor. xii. 7. _A Talent_, Mat. xxv. 15. _A little Leaven_, Mat. xiii. 33. the _Gospel preached in every Creature_, Col. i. 23.

[Sidenote: Prop. III.] Thirdly, _That God, in and by this Light and Seed, invites, calls, exhorts, and strives with every Man, in order to save him_; [Sidenote: _God’s Salvation wrought by the Light in all._] which, as it is received and not resisted, works the Salvation of _all_, even of those who are ignorant of the Death and Sufferings of Christ, and of _Adam_’s Fall, both by bringing them to a Sense of their own _Misery_, and to be Sharers in the Sufferings of Christ inwardly, and by making them Partakers of his Resurrection, in becoming Holy, Pure, and Righteous, and recovered out of their Sins. By which also are saved they that have the Knowledge of Christ outwardly, in that it opens their Understanding rightly to use and apply the Things delivered in the Scriptures, and to receive the saving Use of them: But _that this may be resisted and rejected in both, in which then God is said to be resisted and pressed down, and Christ to be again crucified, and put to open Shame in and among Men_. And to those who thus resist and refuse him, he becomes their Condemnation.

[Sidenote: _Conseq. 1._] First then, According to this Doctrine _the Mercy of God is excellently well exhibited_, in that none are necessarily shut out from Salvation; and his Justice is demonstrated, in that he condemns none but such to whom he really made offer of Salvation, affording them the Means sufficient thereunto.

[Sidenote: _Conseq. 2._] Secondly, This Doctrine, if well weighed, will be found to be the _Foundation of Christianity, Salvation, and Assurance._

[Sidenote: _Conseq. 3._] Thirdly, It agrees and answers _with the whole Tenor of the Gospel Promises and Threats, and with the Nature of the Ministry of Christ_; according to which, the Gospel, Salvation, and Repentance are commanded to be preached to every Creature, without Respect of Nations, Kindred, Families or Tongues.

[Sidenote: _Conseq. 4._] Fourthly, _It magnifies and commends the Merits and Death of Christ_, in that it not only accounts them sufficient to save all, but declares them to be brought so nigh unto all, as thereby to be put into the nearest Capacity of Salvation.

[Sidenote: _Conseq. 5._] Fifthly, _It exalts above all the Grace of God_, to which it attributeth all Good, even the least and smallest Actions that are so; ascribing thereunto not only the first Beginnings and Motions of Good, but also the whole Conversion and Salvation of the Soul.

[Sidenote: _Conseq. 6._] Sixthly, _It contradicts, overturns, and enervates the false Doctrine of the_ Pelagians, Semi-Pelagians, Socinians, _and others_, who exalt the Light of Nature, the Liberty of Man’s Will, in that it wholly excludes the natural Man from having any Place or Portion in his own Salvation, by any acting, moving, or working of his own, until he be first quickened, raised up, and actuated by God’s Spirit.

[Sidenote: _Conseq. 7._] Seventhly, _As it makes the whole Salvation of Man solely and alone to depend upon God, so it makes his Condemnation wholly and in every Respect to be of himself_, in that he refused and resisted somewhat that from God wrestled and strove in his Heart, and forces him to acknowledge God’s just judgment in rejecting and forsaking of him.

[Sidenote: _Conseq. 8._] Eighthly, _It takes away all Ground of Despair_, in that it gives every one Cause of Hope and certain Assurance that they may be saved; _neither doth feed any in Security_, in that none are certain how soon their Day may expire: And therefore it is a constant Incitement and Provocation, and lively Encouragement to every Man, to forsake Evil, and close with that which is Good.

[Sidenote: _Conseq. 9._] Ninthly, _It wonderfully commends as well the Certainty of the Christian Religion among _Infidels_, as it manifests its own Verity to all_, in that it is confirmed and established by the Experience of all Men; seeing there was never yet a Man found in any Place of the Earth, however barbarous and wild, but hath acknowledged that at some Time or other, less or more, he hath found _somewhat_ in his Heart reproving him for some Things evil which he hath done, threatening a certain Horror if he continued in them, as also promising and communicating a certain Peace and Sweetness, as he has given Way to it, and not resisted it.

[Sidenote: _Conseq. 10._] Tenthly, _It wonderfully sheweth the excellent Wisdom of God_, by which he hath made the Means of Salvation so universal and comprehensive, that it is not needful to recur to those miraculous and strange Ways; seeing, according to this most true Doctrine, the Gospel reacheth all, of whatsoever Condition, Age, or Nation.

[Sidenote: _Conseq. 11._] Eleventhly, _It is really and effectively, _though not in so many Words, yet by Deeds,_ established and confirmed by all the Preachers, Promulgators, and Doctors of the _Christian Religion_ that ever were, or now are, even by those that otherways in their Judgment oppose this Doctrine_, in that they all, whatever they have been or are, or whatsoever People, Place, or Country they come to, do preach to the People, and to every Individual among them, that they may be saved; intreating and desiring them to believe in Christ, who hath died for them. So that what they deny in the general, they acknowledge of every Particular; there being no Man to whom they do not preach in order to Salvation, telling him _Jesus Christ calls and wills him to believe and be saved_; and that if he refuse, he shall therefore be condemned, and that his Condemnation is of himself. Such is the Evidence and Virtue of Truth, that it constrains its Adversaries, even against their Wills, to plead for it.

[Sidenote: _Conseq. 12._] Lastly, According to this Doctrine the former Argument used by the _Arminians_, and evited by the _Calvinists_, concerning every Man’s being bound to believe that _Christ died for him_, is, by altering the Assumption, _rendered invincible_; thus,

_That which every Man is bound to believe, is true_:

_But every man is bound to believe that God is merciful unto him_:

_Therefore_, &c.

This Assumption no Man can deny, seeing _his Mercies_ are said to be _over all his Works_. And herein the Scripture every Way declares the _Mercy of God_ to be, in that he invites and calls Sinners to Repentance, and hath opened a Way of Salvation for them: So that though those Men be not bound to believe the _History of Christ’s Death and Passion_ who never came to know of it, yet they are bound to believe that God will be merciful to them, if they follow his Ways, and that he is merciful unto them, in that he reproves them for Evil, and encourages them to Good. [Sidenote: _Our Adversaries unmerciful Assertion of God._] Neither ought any Man to believe that God is unmerciful to him, or that he hath from the Beginning, ordained him to come into the World that he might be left to his own evil Inclinations, and so do wickedly as a Means appointed by God to bring him to eternal Damnation; which, were it true, as our Adversaries affirm it to be of many Thousands, I see no Reason why a Man might not believe; for certainly a Man may believe the Truth.

As it manifestly appears from the Thing itself, that these good and excellent Consequences follow from the Belief of this Doctrine, so from the Proof of them it will yet more evidently appear; to which before I come, it is requisite to speak somewhat concerning the State of the Controversy, which will bring great Light to the Matter: For from the not right understanding of a Matter under Debate, sometimes both Arguments on the one Hand, and Objections on the other, are brought, which do no Way hit the Case; and hereby also our Sense and Judgment therein will be more fully understood and opened.

§. XII. [Sidenote: Quest. 1.] [Sidenote: _The stating of the Question._] First then, by this _Day and Time of Visitation_, which we say God gives unto all, during which they may be saved, _we do not understand the whole Time of every Man’s Life_; though to some it may be extended even to the very Hour of Death, as we see in the Example of the Thief converted upon the Cross: But _such a Season at least as sufficiently exonerateth God of every Man’s Condemnation_, which to some may be sooner, and to others later, according as the Lord in his Wisdom sees meet. [Sidenote: _That many may out-live the Day of God’s Visitation._] So that many Men may out-live this Day, after which there may be no Possibility of Salvation to them, and God justly suffers them to be hardened, as a just Punishment of their Unbelief, and even raises them up as Instruments of Wrath, and makes them a Scourge one against another. Whence to Men in this Condition may be fitly applied those Scriptures which are abused to prove _that God incites Men necessarily to sin_: This is notably expressed by the Apostle, _Rom._ i. from Ver. 17. to the End, but especially Ver. 28. _And even as they did not like to retain God in their Knowledge, God gave them up to a Reprobate Mind, to do those Things which are not convenient._ That many may out-live this Day of God’s gracious Visitation unto them, is shewn by the Example of _Esau_, _Heb._ xii. 16, 17. who _sold his Birthright_ So he had it once, and was capable to have kept it; but afterwards when he would have inherited the Blessing, he was rejected. This appears also by Christ’s weeping over _Jerusalem_, _Luke_ xix. 42. saying, _If thou hadst known in this thy Day the Things that belong unto thy Peace; but now they are hid from thine Eyes_. Which plainly imports a Time when they might have known them, which now was removed from them, though they were yet alive; but of this more shall be said hereafter.

§. XIII. [Sidenote: Quest. 2.] Secondly, _By this Seed, Grace, and Word of God, and Light wherewith, _we say,_ every one is enlightened_, and hath a Measure of it, which strives with him in order to save him, and which may, by the Stubbornness and Wickedness of Man’s Will, be quenched, bruised, wounded, pressed down, slain and crucified, _we understand not the proper Essence and Nature of God precisely taken, which is not divisible into Parts and Measures, _as being a_ most pure, simple Being, void of all Composition or Division_, and therefore can neither be resisted, hurt, wounded, crucified, or slain by all the Efforts and Strength of Men; [Sidenote: _The Light what it is, and its Properties described._] _but we understand a spiritual, heavenly, and invisible Principle, in which God, as Father, Son, and Spirit, dwells_; a Measure of which divine and glorious Life is _in all Men, _as a_ Seed_, [66]which of its own Nature draws, invites, and inclines to God; and this some call _Vehiculum Dei_, or the _spiritual Body of Christ, the Flesh and Blood of Christ, which came down from Heaven_, of which all the Saints do feed, and are thereby nourished unto eternal Life. And as every unrighteous Action is witnessed against and reproved by this _Light_ and _Seed_, so by such Actions it is hurt, wounded, and slain, and flees from them even as the Flesh of Man flees from that which is of a contrary Nature to it. Now because it is never separated from God nor Christ, [67]but wherever it is, God and Christ are as wrapped up therein, therefore and in that Respect as it is resisted, God is said to be resisted; and where it is borne down, God is said to be pressed _as a Cart under Sheaves_, and Christ is said to be slain and crucified. And on the contrary, as this Seed is received in the Heart, and suffered to bring forth its natural and proper Effect, Christ comes to be formed and raised, of which the Scripture makes so much Mention, calling it _the new Man_, _Christ within, the Hope of Glory_. This is that _Christ within_, which we are heard so much to speak and declare of, every where preaching him up, and exhorting People to believe in the _Light_, and obey it, that they may come to know _Christ in them_, to deliver them from all Sin.

[66] _Cant. 3. 9._

[67] 1 Tim. vi. 16.

But by this, as we do not at all intend to _equal ourselves_ to that Holy Man the _Lord Jesus Christ_, who was born of the Virgin _Mary_, in whom all the Fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily, [Sidenote: _That the Fulness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily_, &c.] so neither do we _destroy the Reality of his present Existence_, as some have falsely calumniated us. For though we affirm that Christ dwells in us, yet not immediately, but mediately as he is in that _Seed_ which is _in us_; whereas he, to wit, the _Eternal Word_, which was with God, and was God, dwelt immediately in that Holy Man. He then is as the Head, and we as the Members; he the Vine, and we the Branches. Now as the Soul of Man dwells otherwise and in a far more immediate Manner in the Head and in the Heart than in the Hands or Legs, and as the Sap, Virtue, and Life of the Vine lodgeth far otherwise in the Stock and Root than in the Branches, so God dwelleth otherwise in the Man _Jesus_ than in us. We also freely reject the Heresy of _Apollinarius_, who denied him to have any Soul, but said the Body was only actuated by the Godhead. As also the Error of _Eutyches_, who made the Manhood to be wholly swallowed up of the Godhead. Wherefore, as we believe he was a true and real Man, so we also believe that he continues so to be glorified in the Heavens in Soul and Body, by whom God shall judge the World, in the great and general Day of Judgment.

§. XIV. [Sidenote: Quest. 3.] [Sidenote: _That the Light is a Spiritual Substance, which may be felt in the Soul and apprehended._] Thirdly, _We understand not this Seed, Light, or Grace to be an Accident, as most Men ignorantly do, but a real spiritual Substance_, which the Soul of Man is capable to feel and apprehend, from which that real, spiritual, inward Birth in Believers arises, called _the New Creature_, the _New Man in the Heart_. This seems strange to Carnal-minded Men, because they are not acquainted with it; but we know it, and are sensible of it, by a true and certain Experience. Though it be hard for Man in his natural Wisdom to comprehend it until he come to feel it in himself, and if he should, holding it in the mere Notion it would avail him little, yet we are able to make it appear to be true, and that our Faith concerning it is not without a solid Ground: For it is in and by this inward and substantial Seed in our Hearts as it comes to receive Nourishment, and to have a Birth or Geniture _in_ us, that we come to have those spiritual Senses raised by which we are made capable of _tasting_, _smelling_, _seeing_, and _handling_ the Things of God: For a Man cannot reach unto those Things by his natural Spirit and Senses, as is above declared.

Next, We know it to be a _Substance_, because it subsists _in_ the Hearts of wicked Men, even while they are in their Wickedness, as shall be hereafter proved more at large. Now no _Accident_ can be in a _Subject_ without it give the Subject its own Denomination; as where _Whiteness_ is in a Subject, there the Subject is called _White_. [Sidenote: _The Degrees of its Operation in the Soul of Man._] So we distinguish betwixt _Holiness_, as it is an _Accident_, which denominates Man so, as the Seed receives a Place _in him_, and betwixt the _holy substantial Seed_, which many Times lies _in Man’s Heart_ as a naked Grain in the stony Ground. So also as we may distinguish betwixt _Health_ and _Medicine_; _Health_ cannot be in a Body without the Body be called _Healthful_, because _Health_ is an Accident; but _Medicine_ may be in a Body that is most unhealthful, for that it is a Substance. And as when a _Medicine_ begins to work, the Body may in some Respect be called _Healthful_, and in some Respect _Unhealthful_, so we acknowledge as this _divine Medicine_ receives Place in _Man’s Heart_, it may denominate him in some Part Holy and Good, though there remain yet a corrupted unmortified Part, or some Part of the evil Humours unpurged out; for where two contrary Accidents are in one Subject, as _Health_ and _Sickness_ in a Body, the Subject receives its Denomination from the Accident which prevails most. So many Men are called Saints, good and holy Men, and that truly, when this holy Seed hath wrought _in them_ in a good Measure, and hath somewhat leavened them into its Nature, though they may be yet liable to many Infirmities and Weaknesses, yea, and to some Iniquities; for as the Seed of Sin and Ground of Corruption, yea, and the Capacity of yielding thereunto, and sometimes actually falling, doth not denominate a good and holy Man _impious_; so neither doth the Seed of Righteousness in evil Men, and the Possibility of their becoming one with it, denominate them _good_ or _holy_.

§. XV. [Sidenote: Quest. 4.] Fourthly, _We do not hereby intend any ways to lessen or derogate from the Atonement and Sacrifice of Jesus Christ_; but on the contrary do magnify and exalt it. For as we believe all those Things to have been certainly transacted which are recorded in the Holy Scriptures concerning the _Birth_, _Life_, _Miracles_, _Sufferings_, _Resurrection and Ascension of Christ_; so we do also believe that it is the Duty of every one to believe it to whom it pleases God to reveal the same, and to bring to them the Knowledge of it; yea, we believe it were _damnable Unbelief_ not to believe it, when so declared; but to resist that holy Seed, which as minded would lead and incline every one to believe it as it is offered unto them, though it revealeth not in every one the outward and explicit Knowledge of it, nevertheless it always assenteth to it, _ubi declaratur_, where it is declared. Nevertheless as we firmly believe it was necessary that Christ should come, that by his Death and Sufferings he might offer up himself a Sacrifice to God for our Sins, who his own self _bare our Sins in his own Body on the Tree_; so we believe that the Remission of Sins which any partake of, is only in and by Virtue of that most satisfactory Sacrifice, and no otherwise. [Sidenote: _That Remission of Sins is only and alone by Christ._] For it is _by the Obedience of that One that the Free-gift is come upon all to Justification_. For we affirm, that as all Men partake of the Fruit of _Adam_’s Fall, in that by Reason of that evil Seed, which through him is communicated unto them, they are prone and inclined unto Evil, though Thousands of Thousands be ignorant of _Adam_’s Fall, neither ever knew of the Eating of the Forbidden Fruit; so also many may come to feel the Influence of this Holy and Divine _Seed_ and _Light_, and be turned from Evil to Good by it, though they knew nothing of Christ’s coming in the Flesh, through whose Obedience and Sufferings it is purchased unto them. And as we affirm it is absolutely needful that those do believe the History of Christ’s outward Appearance, whom it pleased God to bring to the Knowledge of it; so we do freely confess, that even that outward Knowledge is very comfortable to such as are subject to and led by the inward _Seed_ and _Light_. For not only doth the Sense of Christ’s Love and Sufferings tend to humble them, but they are thereby also strengthened in their Faith, and encouraged to follow that excellent Pattern which he hath left us, _who suffered for us_, as saith the Apostle _Peter_, 1 _Pet._ ii. 21: _Leaving us an Example that we should follow his Steps_: And many Times we are greatly edified and refreshed with the gracious Sayings which proceed out of his Mouth. [Sidenote: _The History is profitable with the Mystery._] The _History_ then is profitable and comfortable with the _Mystery_, and never without it; but the _Mystery_ is and may be profitable without the explicit and outward Knowledge of the History.

[Sidenote: Quest. 5. _How Christ is in all Men._] But _Fifthly_, This brings us to another Question, to wit, _Whether Christ be in all Men or no?_ Which sometimes hath been asked us, and Arguments brought against it; because indeed it is to be found in some of our Writings that _Christ is in all Men_; and we often are heard, in our publick _Meetings_ and _Declarations_, to desire every Man to know and be acquainted with _Christ in them_, telling them that _Christ is in them_; it is fit therefore, for removing of all Mistakes, to say something in this Place concerning this Matter. We have said before, how that _a divine, spiritual, and supernatural Light is in all Men_; how that _that divine supernatural Light or Seed is_ Vehiculum Dei; how that _God and Christ dwelleth in it, and is never separated from it_; also how that, _as it is received and closed with in the Heart, Christ comes to be formed and brought forth_: But we are far from ever having said, _That Christ is thus formed in all Men, _or_ in the Wicked_: For that is a great Attainment, which the Apostle travailed that it might be brought forth in the _Galatians_. Neither is _Christ in all Men_ by Way of _Union_, or indeed, to speak strictly, by Way of _Inhabitation_; because this _Inhabitation_, as it is generally taken, imports _Union_, or _the Manner of Christ’s being in the Saints_: As it is written, _I will dwell in them, and walk in them_, 2 _Cor._ vi. 16. But in regard, _Christ is in all Men_ as in a _Seed_, yea, and that he never is nor can be separate from that _holy pure Seed_ and _Light_ which is _in all Men_; therefore may it be said in a larger Sense, that he is _in all_, even as we observed before. The Scripture saith, _Amos_ ii. 13. God _is pressed down as a Cart under Sheaves_, and _Christ crucified in the Ungodly_; though to speak properly and strictly, neither can _God be pressed down_, nor _Christ_, as _God_, be _crucified_. In this Respect then, as he is _in the Seed_ which is in _all Men_, we have said _Christ is in all Men_, and have preached and directed all Men to _Christ in them_, [Sidenote: _Christ crucified in Man by Iniquities._] who lies crucified in them by their Sins and Iniquities, that they may _look upon him whom they have pierced_, and repent: Whereby he that now lies as it were slain and buried _in them_, may come to be raised, and have Dominion in their Hearts over all. And thus also the Apostle _Paul_ preached to the _Corinthians_ and _Galatians_, 1 _Cor._ ii. 2. _Christ crucified in them_, [Greek: en hymin: εν ὑμιν], as the _Greek_ hath it. This _Jesus Christ_ was that which the Apostle desired to know _in them_, and make known _unto them_, that they might come to be sensible how they had thus been _crucifying Christ_, that so they might repent and be saved. And forasmuch as Christ is called that _Light that enlightens every Man, the Light of the World_, therefore the _Light_ is taken for _Christ_, who truly is the Fountain of _Light_, and hath his Habitation in it for ever. Thus the _Light of Christ_ is sometimes called _Christ_, i. e. that in which Christ is, and from which he is never separated.

§. XVI. _Sixthly_, It will manifestly appear by what is above said, that _we understand not this Divine Principle to be any Part of Man’s Nature, nor yet to be any Reliques of any Good which _Adam_ lost by his Fall_, in that we make it a distinct separate Thing from Man’s Soul, and all the Faculties of it: Yet such is the _Malice_ of our Adversaries, that they cease not sometimes to calumniate us, as if we preached up a natural Light, or the Light of Man’s natural Conscience. Next there are those that lean to the Doctrine of _Socinus_ and _Pelagius_, who persuade themselves through Mistake, and out of no ill Design to injure us, as if this which we preach up were some natural Power and Faculty of the Soul, and that we only differ in the wording of it, and not in the Thing itself; whereas there can be no greater Difference than is betwixt us in that Matter: For we certainly know that this _Light_ of which we speak is not only distinct, but of a different Nature from the Soul of Man, and its Faculties. [Sidenote: _The Faculties of Man’s Reason._] Indeed that Man, as he is a rational Creature, hath Reason as a natural Faculty of his Soul, by which he can discern Things that are Rational, we deny not; for this is a Property natural and essential to him, by which he can know and learn many Arts and Sciences, beyond what any other Animal can do by the mere animal Principle. Neither do we deny but by this rational Principle Man may apprehend in his Brain, and in the Notion, a Knowledge of God and spiritual Things; yet that not being the right Organ, as in the second Proposition hath more at length been signified, it cannot profit him towards Salvation, but rather hindereth; and indeed the great Cause of the Apostasy hath been, that Man hath sought to fathom the Things of God in and by this natural and rational Principle, and to build up a Religion in it, neglecting and overlooking this Principle and Seed of God in the Heart; [Sidenote: _Anti-Christ in the Temple of God._] so that herein, in the most universal and catholick Sense, hath _Anti-Christ in every Man set up himself, and sitteth in the Temple of God as God, and above every Thing that is called God_. For _Men being the Temple of the Holy Ghost_, as saith the Apostle, 1 _Cor._ iii. 16. when the rational Principle sets up itself there above the Seed of God, to reign and rule as a Prince in spiritual Things, while the Holy Seed is wounded and bruised, there is _Anti-Christ in every Man_, or somewhat exalted above and against Christ. Nevertheless we do not hereby affirm as if Man had received his Reason to no Purpose, or to be of no Service unto him, in no wise; we look upon Reason as fit to order and rule Man in Things natural. [Sidenote: _The Divine Light and natural Reason distinguished._] For as God gave two great Lights to rule the outward World, the Sun and Moon, the greater Light to rule the Day, and the lesser Light to rule the Night; so hath he given Man the Light of his Son, a Spiritual Divine Light, to rule him in Things Spiritual, and the Light of Reason to rule him in Things Natural. And even as the Moon borrows her Light from the Sun, so ought Men, if they would be rightly and comfortably ordered in natural Things, to have their Reason enlightened by this divine and pure Light. Which enlightened Reason, in those that obey and follow this true Light, we confess may be useful to Man even in Spiritual Things, as it is still subservient and subject to the other; even as the animal Life in Man, regulated and ordered by his Reason, helps him in going about Things that are rational. [Sidenote: _The Light distinguished from Man’s natural Conscience._] We do further rightly distinguish this from Man’s natural Conscience; for Conscience being that in Man which ariseth from the natural Faculties of Man’s Soul, may be defiled and corrupted. It is said expresly of the Impure, _Tit._ i. 15. _That even their Mind and Conscience is defiled_; but this Light can never be corrupted nor defiled; neither did it ever consent to Evil or Wickedness in any: For it is said expresly, that _it makes all Things manifest that are reproveable_, Ephes. v. 13. and so is a faithful Witness for God against every Unrighteousness _in Man_. [Sidenote: _Conscience defined._] Now _Conscience_, to define it truly, comes from [_Conscire_,] and _is that Knowledge which ariseth in Man’s Heart, from what agreeth, contradicteth, or is contrary to any Thing believed by him, whereby he becomes conscious to himself that he transgresseth by doing that which he is persuaded he ought not to do_. So that the Mind being once blinded or defiled with a wrong Belief, there ariseth a Conscience from that Belief, which troubles him when he goes against it. [Sidenote: _Example of a_ Turk.] As for Example: A _Turk_ who hath possessed himself with a false Belief that it is unlawful for him to drink Wine, if he do it, his Conscience smites him for it; but though he keep many Concubines, his Conscience troubles him not, because his Judgment is already defiled with a false Opinion that it is lawful for him to do the one, and unlawful to do the other. Whereas if the Light of Christ in him were minded, it would reprove him, not only for committing Fornication, but also, as he became obedient thereunto, inform him that _Mahomet_ was an _Impostor_; as well as _Socrates_ was informed by it, in his Day, of the Falsity of the Heathens Gods.