objectors can fay, Who bath refifted his will? VI. According to this purpofing and purpofing and decreeing will of God, it is, that fin exifts in the world; and tho' God do not approve of fin, yet he willeth and decreeth that it fhall be, thro' his permiffion; for by this will it is that hardness of heart exists, even fuch hardness of heart as is culpable: For, why doth he yet find fault? Who hath refuted his will? VII. Albeit we cannot reach the depth of the Lord's counfels, that are paft finding out; yet is it our duty to believe with an implicite faith whatever the Lord is pleafed to reveal, and make known in his word, and not to dispute and quarrel with God; fubmiffive believing, is a moft fuitable carriage for a Chriftian, in matters that tranfcend his capacity; we fhould rather admire and adore, than queftion or quarrel: Nay but who art thou, O man, &c. VIII. It is a great evidence of pride and arrogance in man, to think to call the Moft High to an account, and to difpute against the Lord's ways, as not equitable and juft, when they agree nor with his conceptions and apprehenfions: Who art thou, O man? as if he had faid, You are a proud conceity piece, that dare thus quarrel with the Most High. IX. The right confideration of our frailty, blindness and ignorauce, would ftill the tumultuating clamours which rife in us against the ways of the Lord; and when we would model God's tranfcendent ways according to our own mould, we forget how blind males we are, 1 Cor. ii. 14. Who art thou, O man? Thou who art but a man. dost thou think to comprehend the infinite ways of God? X. If we did ferioufly confider and remember how great and high a God he is with whom we have to do; how high and tranfcendent his ways and thoughts are above ours, Ifa. lv. 9. we would be loth to give any entertainment unto quarrelling thoughts, nor would we difpute against the ways of the Lord, when we could not comprehend them in our narrow and fhallow brains: This would stop our mouth, and make us filent, to know that our difputing is a difputing against God. XI. It is a moft unfeemly and unreafonable thing to fee the creature, who has nothing of itself, but wholly dependeth on God, quarrel with him, who is every way independent and fupreme, and doth whatfoever he pleaseth, in heaven and in earth: Shall the thing formed fay to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? It is propofed by way of question, as being unanfwerable, even by carnal reason itself; not that God did form man as he is, finful, or was the cause and author of his fin; only it followeth, that God made man changeable, and by his everlasting decree purposed, that man fhould actually fin, through his permiffion, and fall from his happy eftate; and when the Lord has done fo, man has no juft ground to quarrel with him; for man being his creature, behoved to be changeable, feeing to be unchangeable is God's property; and in that he willed and decreed, that fin fhould exift, thro' his permiffion, what has man to fay against this? May not the Lord difpofe of events as he thinks fit? this decree laid no.bonds on man's will, but notwithstanding thereof he did willingly and witingly, freely, without any compulfion or coaction, fin against God; and every one's confcience can bear witnefs to this, that they fin and tranfgrefs the law of their own accord, and find no external restraint or constraint upon them at all. XII. God has an abfolute and unlimited power over man, his creature, and may lawfully difpofe of him as he thinks good, for his own holy ends, even more abfolute power than the potter hath over the clay under his band: Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one veffel unto honour, and another unto difhonour? and whatever power a created potter hath over the clay, his own fellow3 B2 creature, creature, the Lord hath much more over his creatures, that have no being but by him. electing fome and reprobating others, being from eternity, in it he confidered the whole mais of mankind as uncreated; and out of that uncreated mafs, according to his abfolute and unlimited power, chose fome to be veffels of honour, and fome to be veffels of difhonour: for the Lord has no lefs power over man than the potter over the clay, who out of the fame lump, as unfit for to be veffels of honour as of difhonour, choofeth fome piece for the one ufe, and fome for the other, according to XIII. This abfolute power which God hath over man, whereby he difpofeth certainly and inevitably of him, is fuch as doth well confift with man's culpability and guiltinefs; and both thefe we are to believe, viz. that God has certainly difpofed of the end of every man, and the means conducing to that end, and to hath determined that, certainly and inevitably, man fhall fin thus and thus; and that, notwith-his own liberty and power; even fo, the tanding thereof, man is culpable before Lord, out of the fame lump, as much difGod, and justly liable to the ftroke of pofed in itfelf, to be all veffels of honour, justice; albeit we cannot fee thro' the con- as to be veffels of difhonour, elected fome, nection and confiftency of thefe: for there and reprobated others: Hath not the putis no ground for the objection, or for any ter power over the fame lump, to make one to fay, that God fhould not find fault; and veel unto honour, and another unto difbo yet this is truth, that the potter bath power | nour? over the clay, of the fame lump to make one veffel unto honour, and another unto difbonour: There may be and certainly is a connection, tho' we should never be thoroughly acquainted with it on this fide of time. XIV. In thefe deep and myfterious points, we fhould not follow fuch a way of handling them, as will fuit most with corrupt and carnal reafon, and best fatisfy all that it can object; but tho' we cannot fee the confiftency of one piece of his will with another, or of one truth with another, yet we ought not to quit with any thing that is revealed the more of that; but we fhould cleave to what God hath revealed, and acknowledge our own blindnefs, when we can reach no further, and anfwer all the objections of oppofers with this, Who art thou, O man, that repliest against God? Thus the apoftle adheres to the truth concerning God's abfolute power, tho' carnal reafon fhould ftill have fomething to fay against it; and albeit he an wereth not directly to the objection, yet he flincheth not from the truth, but ftill maintaineth God's abfolute power, faying, Hath not the potter power, &c. XV. The Lord's act of predeftination, VERSES 22. 23. What if God, willing to fhew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-fuffering the veffels of wrath fitted to deftruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the veffels of mercy, which he bad afore prepared unto glory? IN thefe two verfes, we conceive, there IN are three things done: 1, There is a third answer given unto the laft objection. 2dly, There is a ground laid down for anfwering all objections whatsoever, which can be propofed against the doctrine of predeftination. And, 3dly, There is the fubftance of the doctrine of predeftination, wonderfully couched up in few words, and clearly laid open in all its parts. And, 1st, I fay there is a third anfwer unto the laft objection, which we may take up thus: Notwithstanding of his abfolute decree of reprobation, and of his efficacious way of bringing this about, by the hardening of whom he will, yet the way is fo contrived, and the matter fo carried on, as that they actually flight his offers of mercy, as to many of them, and abufe his goodness and lenity towards them, which should have been otherways improven by them; the Lord doth fo carry on the matter, as that he exercifeth much patience and tendernefs even toward fuch as he hath reprobated; (meaning fuch as are adult, and come to years of knowledge, and efpecially fuch as are within the vifible church; for we look upon the apoftle as treating of this bufinefs always with an eye unto the Jews, concerning whom the difpute was ftarted ;) and therefore tho' they be hardened, yet the Lord is not in the wrong, but they are culpable, and there is ground for the Lord to find fault with them; therefore he fays, What if God endured, with much longfuffering, the veffels of wrath. In which aafwer he doth not labour to fatisfy the curiofity of carnal reason in every point, but fo handleth the matter, as that it must fill be looked on as a mystery in which we ought not to pry beyond what is written; and yet he gives us this much to understand, as that however reason cannot receive fatisfaction, yet man fhall find himfelf in the wrong, and be forced to justify the Lord in the whole procedure. 2dly, There is a ground laid down, for ftoping all men's mouths, and anfwering all their objections of whatsoever kind; What if God, willing to fhew his wrath, &c. as if he had faid, What has any body to fay against God or his ways? what if he has a mind to fhew his wrath, and to make his power known, and the riches of his glory; what can any fay against this? If the Lord be about to make his attributes known, and to manifeft his own glory, fhall any prefume to have a negative voice in the bufinefs, and that nothing fhall be done but what they are fatisfied with? Therefore the apoftle propofeth the matter queftionways, the more to touch the confciences of oppofers, propofing it fo as they could not answer it for their hearts: What if God, willing to fhew his wrath, &c. What can any body fay, to this? is there any wrong done to any? will any hinder God from making himself glorious? If all that the Lord is doing is only to get glory to himself, what are we that we fhould oppofe it? Is it feemly that we fhould vie with God, and hinder him from his glory? And feeing this is his end, can he do us any wrong in driving at this end? or can there be any thing done unfuitable to himself? Sure not. All which will be clearer in the next. Therefore, 3dly, There is here the compend of the doctrine of predeftination, and fubstance of it couched up in fhort: For, 1. it is fet forth in its two branches, viz. The act of election, and the act of reprobation: The act of election is in thefe words, Before prepared unto glory; that is, from all eternity, had in his own purpose and good-willappointed unto glory; and the act of reprobation in these words, Fitted to deftruction; that is, plaiftered up, or fo wrought together for deftruction; the verb fignifieth fometimes to folder or glue together, as workmen do their pieces of work; and fothey are fitted to deftruction. 2. The perfons are defcribed, or mentioned, about whom these acts are paffed: the elect ones are called veffels of mercy; that is, inftruments in and by whom the Lord manifefts. his mercy, and fuch upon whom the Lord leteth out much of his mercy. The reprobated are called veffels of wrath, as being fuch by whom God manifefteth the greatnefs of his wrath and anger, and who arc made to drink deep of his anger and difpleafure. 3. There is the end of this great bufinefs, and that which moved God to do all this; in fhort, it is himself, his own glory: this, and this only, was the moving caufe; for there is nothing with-cut him that can move him, fo he did all this for the glory of his own name; and particularly, in reprobating fo many, he had before his eyes, (1.) the glory of his juftice; That he might fhew his wrath; that is, that he might make his vindictive juftice known. And (2.) To make his power known, in executing vengeance on tranf grefiors, greffors, tho' they are never fo mighty and powerful: Yea, and (3.) his patience, that he endures with much long suffering. (4) And, upon the other hand, in the veffels of mercy he intended to make known the riches of his glory; that is, the exceeding abundance of his free grace, which is glo rious indeed, and is the high way to glory. 4. There is the way how this business is brought about: The elect are to be faved, yet in fuch a way as mercy fhall moft appear; the reprobate fhall be damned, yet in fuch a way as shall be suitable to juftice; and therefore the one is called, the veffels of mercy, the other, the veffels of wrath; and to it is clearly fuppofed, that certainly fin fhall exist, thro' the Lord's permiffion, and that according to his purpofe, otherways the Lord could not fave fome, by way of mercy, and damn others, by way of juftice. This is further explained as to the reprobate, in these words, hath endured with much long-fuffering; he has waited upon them long, and has not prefently cut them off, according as he might have done in juftice, but fpared them long, that fo his juftice might the more appear on the veffels of wrath, and his mercy toward the veffels of mercy. In the last place, we fhall take notice what glofs the Arminians put on these words. They fay the meaning of the 22d verfe is this: As the potter hath power of the fame lump to make fome veffels unto honour, and fome to dishonour; fo the Lord, being willing to fhew his wrath and power against fin, hath no lefs power to harden the children of the flesh, and fit the veffels of wrath to deftruction, whom he has fuffered long in patience: and fo the objection is answered. And thus they explain the 23d verfe: None have reafon to quarrel with God for appointing the children of the promife to honour, without the confideration of works, or of the carnal prerogative of Abraham, feeing none can thereby be juftified now fince the fall; and therefore there is no injuftice here, that the Lord fhould prepare the veffels of mercy by faith in Chrift; but neither the one nor the other is to be underftood of particular perfons, particularly condefcended on. But, 1ft, It is not fit for us to take up the objection as we think beft, and then to think what will best answer it, according to our apprehenfion, and fo force the apoftle to answer as we would have him; nor fhould we hereby give out that we are wifer than the apoftle, as being more able to fhape an answer to the objection: nor thould that way please us beft, in this mysterious matter, which we understand best; God's ways may be beyond our reach and capacity, and yet may be truly his ways. 2dly, By this expofition the apoftle's fimilitude fhould be a plain and clear diffimilitude; for when he is fpeaking of the potter's power, he is meaning an abfolute power free from all law; there is no law binding the potter to make of this piece a veffel of honour, and of the other a veffel to dishonour; but in that he doth according to his abfolute will and pleasure: but when he is fpeaking of God's power, they mean by it a legal power, a power exercited according to law and juftice, and fo a limited power. But, 3dly, The apostle's argument will feem to say more; for it may be thus taken up : What the potter may do with the clay, God may much more do with man: But the potter may make of the fame lump one veffel to honour, and another to difhonour, and that merely according to his own good will and pleafure; therefore God may much more, of the fame lump of mankind, chuse one to life, and to be a veffel of mercy, and another to be a veffel of wrath. But, 4thly, Their expofition gives to the potter that which is more, and to God that which is lefs; and thus the apoflle fhould crofs his own argument, verfe 20. where he hints at the contrary, faying, Hath not the potter power? the very way of propo fing this, queftion-ways, fays, it is an ab furd furd blafphemous thing to afcribe more power to a creature over his fellow creature, than to God over the work of his own hands. 5thly. The reddition of the comparison is not in these verfes, as is clear by their begining What if? If the reddition were here, the apostle would have faid, Even fo, or much more. 6thly, They will not have the apostle to mean particular individual perfons, elected or reprobated, and yet the apoftle's words fay as much, feeing he fays, fome are veffels of wrath, and veffels of wrath fitted; for fome are veffels of mercy, and veffels of mercy before prepared, and fo certainly particularly condefcended on. ened, &c. then none can be fo contuma cious before they die, and then after death they cannot be hardened; and fo to be hardened, and to be a veffel fired for deftruction, cannot be one and the fame. 3. If he harden none but fuch contumacious perfons, then (1.) he hardens none but fuch as hear the gofpel; and (2.) the leaving of them in their natural condition fhould not be an act of obduration, for this is done before they become contuma. cious. (3.) Yea, contumacioufnefs followeth upon their obduration; for none can obey unless the hardness of their hearts be firft removed; for hårdrefs and an impenitent heart go together, Rom. ii. 5. and the not removing of this natural hardness of heart is an act of obduration. (4.) Yeȧ,. it will hence follow, that there are no in 9thly, The apostle faith not, that God hardeneth the veffels of wrath fitted for deftruction, but that he endureth the ves 7thly, They fay, That they were veffels of wrath towards whom God exerciled much long-fuffering, before they were fit-fants, dying in infancy, fitted for destruction. ed to deftruction; but, 1. the apostle fays the contrary, viz. that they were veffels of wrath, and veffels of wrath fitted to deftruction, before ever he used any patience.to-fels of wrath; and if they fay, he hardenwards them, otherways he could not be eth them by enduring them, then, 1. hardfaid, to endure with long-fuffering fuchening must be meant of fome act of God veffels of wrath as were fitted, but rather fuch veffels of wrath as were to be fitted. And, 2. by parity of reafon it would fol low, that the others fhould firft be veffels of mercy, that is, fuch as have been actually made partakers of mercy, thro' faith, before they could be prepared for glory; and yet the apostle fays, that even fuch veffels of mercy were before prepared. 8thly, They fay, He hardeneth none, nor fitteth none for deftruction, but the children of the flesh, or fuch as have abufed his patience, and contumaciously refufed the offers of mercy in Christ: But then, 1. he cannot be faid to harden whom he will. 2. Hardness in part happeneth even to such as have not contumaciously refifted grace, as we fee, Ifa. Ixiii. 17. If they mean by contumacy here, final con tumacy, which certainly happeneth to fuch as are fitted for deftruction, or which whoever are guilty of, fhall certainly be hard done in time, and of fome temporal act, and must not be meant of final adjudging them to deftruction, for there is no lenity used toward fuch as are once condemned in hell. 2. It is not one and the fame thing to fay, He endureth the veffels of wrath, and to fay, he hardeneth them by enduring them; God's patience and lenity is one thing, and his hardening of them another thing; the one finells of mercy, and the other of wrath. 3. What this hardening of them by his lenity is, we cannot imagine by their doctrine, nor do they well explain it. 1othly, Nor doth the apostle fay, that God hardeneth the veffels of wrath after he has endured them with great patience, but that he endureth the veffels of wrath, fitted for deftruction, for his own glory. 11thly, Nor doth the apoftle fay, that he gets the glory of his wrath and of his power in hardening of them, but rather in enduring of them with much patience. 12thly, |