The Common Principles of the Christian Religion, Sermon 15
Eph. 1. 11. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated, &c. Rom. 9. 22, 23. What if God, willing to shew his Wrath, and to make his power known. &c.
IN the Creation of the World, it pleased the Lord after all things were framed and disposed, to make one creature to rule over all, and to him he gave the most excellent nature, and priviledges beyond the rest; so that it may appear that he had made all things for man, & man immediately for his own glory: As man was the chief of the works of his hands, so wee may, according to the Scriptures, conceive that he was chiefly minded in the Counsels of his heart. And that, as in the execution of his purpose in creating the World man had the preheminence assigned unto him, and all seemed subordinate unto him; so, in the Lords purposes concerning the world his purpose about man has the preheminence. He indeed has resolved to declare the glory of his Name in this world; Therefore the Heavens and Firmament are made Preachers of that Glory, Psal. 19. 1, 2. &c. But in special manner, his Majesties glorious Name is manifested in man, and about man; he hath set man, as it were, in the Center or midst of the Creation, that all the Creatures might direct or bring in their praises unto him, to be … up in his, and their name to the Lord their Maker by him, as the common mouth of the World: and the Lord hath chosen this creature above all the creatures, so the more solemn & glorious declaration of himself in his special properties, therefore we should gather our thoughts in this businesse, to hear from the Lord what his thoughts are towards us; for certainly, the right understanding of his everlasting Counsell, touching the eternall state of Men, is of singular vertue to conform us to the praise of his Name, and establish us in faith and confidence. Predestination is a mystery indeed into which we should not curiously & boldly enquire beyond what is revealed, for then a soul must needs lose it self in that depth of wisdome; and perish in the search of unsearchableness; And thus the word speaks in Scripture of this subject intimating unto us, that it is rather to be admired than conceived; & that there ought to be some ignorance of these secrets, which conjoyned with Faith and reverence, is more learned than any curious knowledge: But withall we must open our eyes upon so much light as God reveals of these secrets, knowing that the light of the word is a saving refreshing light, not confounding, as is his inaccessible light of secret Glory. As far as it pleases his Majesty to open his mouth, let us not close our ears, but open themalso to his instruction, knowing that as he will withhold no necessary thing for our salvation, so he will reve… nothing but what is profitable. This is the best bond of sobriety and humble wisdome, to learn what he teacheth us, but when he makes an end of teaching, to desire no more learning: Its humility to seek no more, & it is true wisdom to be content with no lesse.
There is much weaknesse in our conceiving of divine things; we shape and form them in our mindes according to a mould of our own experience, or invention, and cannot conceive of them as they are in themselves: If we should speak properly; there are not counsels & purposes in God, but one entire counsel and resolution concerning all things which are in time, by which he hath disposed all in their severall times, seasons, conditions and orders; but because we have many thoughts about many things, so we cannot well conceive of God, but in likenesse to our selves; And therefore the Scripture, condescending to our weaknesse, speaks so. How many are thy precious thoghts towards me, saith David; and yet indeed, there is but one thought of him, and us, & all, which one thought is of so much vertue, that it is equivalent to an infinite number of thoughts, concerning infinite objects. The Lord hath from everlasting conceived one purpose of manifesting his own glory in such severall wayes; & this is the head-spring of all that befalls creatures, men and Angels. But because in the execution of this purpose, there is a certain order, and succession, and variety, therefore men do ordinarily fancy such or such a frame and order in the Lords mind & purpose. And as the Astronomers do cut and carve in their Imaginations, Cycles, Orbs & Epicycles in the Heavens, because of the various and different appearances & motions of stars in them, whereas it may be, really, there is but one Celestial body, in which all these various lights and motions do appear: So do men fancy unto themselves an order of the Lords decree, according to the Phaenomena, or appearances of his works in the world, whereas it is one purpose and Decree, which in its infinite compasse comprehends all these varieties and orders together: This much we may-indeed lawfully conceive of his Decree, that there is an exact correspondence & suteableness between his Majesties purpose and execution, & that he is a wise Lord wonderful in counsel & excellent in working, having some great plot and design before his eyes, which he intends to effect, and which is as it were, the great Light and Sun of this Firmament, unto which, by that same wonderfull Counsel, all other things are subordinate; And so in the working it shall appear exactly, as his Counsel did delineate & contrive it.
There is no man so empty or shallow, but he hath some great design and purpose which he chiefly aims at: Shal we not then conceive, that the Lord who instructs every man to this discretion, & teaches him Isa. 28. 26. Is himself wise in his Counsel, and hath some grand project before him in all this Fabrick of the World, and the upholding of it since it was made? Certainly he hath; and if you ask what it is, the wise man will teach you in the general, He made all things for himself, even the wicked for the evil day. Pro. 16. 4. Here then is his great design and purpose, to glorifie himself, to manifest his own Name to men & Angels. Now his Name comprehends Wisdome, Goodnesse, Power, Mercy and justice; the first three he declares in all the works of his hands, all are well done, & wisely done, the excellency of the work shews the wonderfull Counsellour, & the wise Contriver, the goodnesse of any creature in its kind, declares the inexhausted spring of a selfe-being from whom it proceeds, & the bringing all these out of nothing, and upholding them is a glorious declaration of his power: But yet in all the works of his hands, there is nothing found to manifest his glorious mercy and justice, upon which are the flower and garland of his Attributes, and unto which wisedom and power seems to be subservient; Therefore his Majesty, in that one entire purpose of his own glory, resolves to manifest his wrath, and his mercy upon men and Angels; subjects capable of it; which two Attributes are as the Poles about which all the Wheels of Election and Reprobation turns, as you see in that place, Rom. 9. 22. 23. Let this then be established as the end of all his works, as it is designed in his Counsell and nothing else. It is not the Creature nor any thing in the Creature, which is first in his mind, but himself, and therefore of him and for him are all things; Here they have their rise, & thither they return, even to the Ocean of Gods eternall glory, from whence all did spring.
The right establishing of this will help us to conceive aright of his Counsell of Predestination: It is a common cavil of carnall reason, How can the Lord reject so many persons, & foreordain them to destruction? It seems most contrary to his goodnesse and wisedom to have such an end of eternall Predestination before him, in the creating so many thousands to make men for nothing but to damn them; Here carnall reason, which enmity to God, triumphs; But consider, I say, that this is not the Lord's end and chief design to destroy men; even as it is not his Majesties first look, or furthest reach to give unto others eternal life, so it is not his prime intent to sink them in eternal death, as if that were his pleasure & delight, no indeed, neither is the creatures happinesse nor its misery that which first moves him, or is most desired of him, but himself only, and he cannot move out of himself to any businesse but he must return it unto himself, therefore the wise Preacher expresses it well, He made all for himself, even the wicked for the day of evil; It was not his great end of creating wicked men to damn them, or creating righteous men to save them, but both are for a further and higher end, for himself and his own Glory.
All seem to agree about this, That the great end of all the Lords Counsels and decrees, is his own glory to be manifested on Men & Angels; and that this must be first in his mind, not that there is first or last with him, but to speak after the manner of men; if he had many thoughts as we have, this would be his first thought, and in this one purpose this end is chiefly aimed at, and all other things are, by the Lords counsel subordinate to this as means to compasse that: But as concerning the order of these means, and consequently of his Majesties purpose about them, men by examining his Majesty according to the creatures Rules, or according to sense, bring him down far below his own infinite greatnesse. Some conceive that, that was first, as it were in his mind which is first done looking upon the execution of his purpose in the works of his power, they imagine, that as he first created man righteous, so this was his first thought concerning man, to creat man for the glory of his goodnesse & power, without any particular determination as yet of his end, and I conceive this is the thoght of the multitude of people, they think God was disapointed in his work, when they hear he created such a glorious creature that is now become so miserable; they cannot believe that his Majesty had all this sin and misery determinated with him when he purposed to create him, but look upon the emergement of mans Fall into sin and misery as a surprisal of his Majesty; as if he had meant another thing in creating him, & so was upon this occasion of man's sinne, driven to a new consultation about the helping of the businesse, & making the best out of it that might be. Thus through wisdome the world knows not God; They think God altogether like themselves, and so liken him to the builder of an house, who let nothing before him in doing so, but to build it after that manner for his own ends, but thē being surprised with the fall and ruine of it, takes a new advisement, and builds it up again upon another surer foundation; but because they cannot say, that God takes any new advisements in time, but must confesse that all his Counsels are everlasting concerning all the works of his hands; therefore they bring in fore-knowledge to smooth their irreligious conceit of God, as if the Lord upon his purpose of creating man had foreseen what should befall him, and so purposed to permit it to be so, that out of it he might erect some glorious Fabrick of mercy and justice upon the ruines of man, And that little or nothing may be left to the absolute Soveraign will of God, to which the Scripture ascribes all things, they must again imagine, that upō his purpose of sending Christ to save sinners, he is yet undetermined about the particular end of particular men, but watches on the tower of fore-knowledge to espie what they will do, whether men will believe in his Son or not, whether they will persevere in faith or not, and according to his observation of their doings, so he applies his own will to carve out their reward, or portion of life or death. These are even the thoughts which are imbred in your breasts by nature; that which the learned call Arminianism, is nothing else but the carnal reason of mens hearts, which is enmity to God; it is that very Disputation which Paul in this Chapter exclaims against, Who art thou, O man, that disputes.
But certainly, all this contrivance is nothing beseeming the wisdome of Soveraignity of God, but reflects upon both, upon his wisdome, that he should have thoughts of creating the most noble of his creatures, & yet be in suspense about the end of the creature, and have that in uncertainty, what way his glory shal indeed be manifested by it. Is it not the fi…st and chief thought of every wise man, what he intends and aims at in his work, and according to the measure and reach of his wisdome, so he reaches further in his end and purpose? Shal we then conceive the only wise God so far to have mistaken himself, as to do that which no wise man would do: He who is of such an infinite reach of wisdome & understanding, to fall upon the thoughts of making such an excellent Creature, and yet to ly in suspense within himself about the eternall estate of it, and to be in a waiting posture what way his Glory should be manifested by it; whether in a way of simple goodnesse only, or in a way of Justice, or in a way of Mercy, till he should foresee off the Tower of fore-knowledge how that creature should behave it self. Our Text speakes not thus: For in the place, Eph. 1. we have the Lord in his eternall purpose carving out to such and such particular persons an Inheritance, and Adoption of Children for that great end of the glory of his grace, vers. 11. & 5, 6. And Predestination falls out, not according to our carriage, but according to the purpose of him who works all things that he works after the Counsell of his own will, without consulting our will; and if you enquire what are these all things, certainly, we must take it simply for all things that are at all, or have any real being: His power, his hand must be in it, and that according to his own Counsell, without respect had to the Creatures will, according to his own good pleasure. vers. 5. 11. He had no sooner a thought of working and making man, but this purpose was in it, to make such men to the praise of his glorious grace, and to fore-ordain them to an inheritance, and others to make or fit them for destruction; as the Text, Rom. 9. 22. bears. Herein the great & unsearchable wisdom of God appears to be a great depth, that when he hath a thought of making such a vessell, he hath this purpose in the bosome of it, what use it shal be for, whether for honour or dishonour, and accordingly in his Counsel he prepares it either to glory, or destruction, and in time makes it for its use, either by sin or grace: Here is the depth that cannot be sounded by mortal men; O the depths of the riches both of his wisdome & knowledge! How unchearchable are his judgements, and his wayes past finding out? The whole tenour of the Scripture shews that his Majesty was not surprised, and taken at unawares by Adam's fall, but that it fell out according to the determined counsel of his will, if he knew it, and suffered it to be, certainly he permitted it, because he willed it should be so; and why may he not determine that in his holy Counsel which his wisdome can disabuse to the most glorious end that can be? Why may not he decree such a fall, who out of man's ruines can erect such a glorious Throne for his grace and justice to triumph into? It is more for the glory of his infinite wisdome, to bring good, and such a good out of evil, then only to permit that good should be.
Then such Doctrine is repugnant to the Lords absolute power and Soveraignty, which is Pauls Sanctuary whether he flees unto as a sure refuge, from the stroak or blast of carnall reason. Hath not the Potter power over the clay, to make of the same lump, one vessel to honour, another to dishonour. vers. 21. Hath not the Lord more absolute dominion over us than the Potter hath over the clay, for the Potter made not the clay, but the Lord hath made us of nothing, so that simply and absolutely we are his, and not our own, and so he hath an absolute right to make any use of us he pleaseth, without consulting our wills and diservings. Can any man quarrel him for preparing him to destruction, seeing he owes nothing to any man, but may do with his own what he pleaseth? what if God, willing to make known his Power, and justice and wrath, have fitted and prepared some vessels for destruction, with which, in time, he bears much, & forbears long, using much patience towards them? Can any man challenge him for it? vers. 22. And what if God willing to make known the riches of his grace, have prepared some vessels to glory; shal any mans eye be evil because he is good? vers. 23. Shal man be left to be his own disposer, and the shapes of his own fortune? Sure it was not so with Esau & Iacob, they were alike in the womb, if there was any prerogative, Esau the eldest had it, they had done neither good nor evil, what difference was then between them to cast the ballance of his Will? Can you imagine any? Indeed carnall reason will say, that God fore-knew what they would do, and so he chose or rejected them: But why doth not the Apostle answer thus unto that objection of unrighteousnesse in God? vers. 14. It had been ready and plain, but rather he opposes the will and calling of God, to all works past or to come; he gives no answer but this, he will have mercy because he will have mercy, that is the supream rule of righteousnesse, and hitherto must wee flee, as the surest Anchor of our hope & stability, our salvation depends not on our willing or running on our resolving or doing, but upon this primitive good pleasure and will of God, on which hangs our willing, & running, and obtaining. It is certainly an unorderly order, to …ee unto that in men, for the cause of Gods Eternal Counsels, which only flowes from his Eternall Counsel, Eph. 1. 4. Hath he chosen us because he did fore-know that we would be holy, and without blame as men think? or hath he not rather chosen us to be holy and without blame: He cannot behold any good or evil in the creatures, till his will passe a sentence upon it, for from whence should it come?
Seeing then, this order and contrivance of Gods purpose is but faigned, it seems to some that the very contrary method were more suitable, even in the rules of wisdome: You know what is first in mens intention, is last in execution, the end is first in their mind, then the means to compasse that end, but in practice again, men fall first upon the means and by them come at length to attain their end, therefore these who would have that first as it were in Gods mind, which he doth first, do even crosse common Rules of reason in humane affairs: It would seem then (say some) that this method might do well, that what is last in his execution, was first in his purpose, and by him intended as the end of what he doth first, and so some do rank his decrees; that he had first a thought of glorifying men, and to attain this end he purposed to give him grace, and for this purpose to suffer him to fall, & for all to create him: But we must not look thus upon it either; it were a foolish & rediculous counsell unbeseeming the poor wisdom of man, to purpose the glorifying of man whom he had not yet determined to create, therefore we should alwayes have in our mind, that the great end and project of all is the glory of his mercy and justice upon men, and this we may conceive is first in order, neither mens life nor death, but Gods glory to be manifested upon men: Now to attain this glorious end, with one inclination or determination of his will, not to be distinguished or severed, he condescends upon all that is done in time, as one compleat and intire mean of glorifying himself, so that one of them is not before another in his mind, but all together: for attaining this, he purposes to create man, he ordains the fall of all men into a state of sin and misery, & some of these upon whom he had resolved to shew his mercy, he gives them to Christ to be redeemed, & restored by grace: Others he fore-ordains them to destructions, & all this at once, without any such order as we imagine: Now though he intend all this at once and together, yet it doth not hence follow that all these must be executed together, as when a man intends to build a house for his own accommodation, there are many things in the house, upon which he hath not severall purposes: But yet they must be severally, and in some order done: First the foundation laid, then the Walls raised, then the roof put on; yet he did not intend the foundation to be for the walls, or the walls for the roof, but altogether for himself: Even so the Lord purposes to glorifie his mercy and justice upon a certain number of persons, and for this end to give them a being, to govern their falling into misery, to raise some out of it by a Mediator, and to live some into it to destruction, & all this as one intire mean to illustrate his glorious mercy and justice; but these things themselves must be done not all at once, but one before another, either as their own nature require, or as he pleaseth: the very nature of the thing requires that man be created before he sin, that he sin and fall before a Mediator suffer for his sin, and that he have a being, before he have a glorious being, and that he have a sinfull and miserable being, before he have this glorious and gracious being, which may manifest the grace and mercy of God: But it is the pleasure of the Lord that determines in what time and order Christ shal suffer; either before or after the conversion of sinners, or whether sinners shal presently be instated in glory and perfectly delivered from all sin at their first conversion, or only in part during this life.
Seeing then this was his Majesties purpose to make so many vessels of honour; upon whom he might glorifie the riches of his grace end mercy: And so many vessels of wrath, upon whom he might shew the power of his anger: You may think what needed all this businesse of mans redemption, might not God have either preserved so many as he had appointed to glory from falling into sin and misery, or at least have freely pardoned their sin, without any satisfaction, and out of the exceeding riches of his mercy and power, have as well not imputed sin to them at all, as imputed their sins to Christ, who was not guilty? What needed his giving so many to the Son, and the Sons receiving them? What needed these mysteries of Incarnation, of Redemption, seeing he might have done all this simply without so much pains and expence, why did he choose this way? Indeed, that is the wonder, and if there were no more end for it, but to confound mortality that dare ask him what he doth, it is enough: Should he be call… down to the Bar of Humane Reason, to give an account of his matters? Who hath known the mind of the Lord, or being his counsellour hath taught him? That is in the depths of his unsearchable understāding, that he chose to go this round, & to compasse his end by such a strange circuit of means, when he might have done it simply and directly without so much pain; yet it is not so hidden, but he hath revealed as much as may satisfie or silence all flesh: For we must consider, that his great project is not simply to manifest the glory of his goodnesse, but of his gracious and mercifull goodnesse, the most tender and excellent of all; & therefore man must be miserable, sinfull, and vile, that the riches of his grace may appear in choosing and saving such persons: But that it may appear also how excellent he could make man, and how vain all created perfections are, being left to themselves; therefore he first made man righteous, and being fallen into sinne and misery, he might straight way have restored him without more ado, but his purpose was to give an exact demonstration of mercy, tempered and mixed with justice; and therefore he finds out the satisfaction in his eternall Counsell, I have found a ransome, and so he chooses Jesus Christ to be the head of these chosen souls, in whom they might be again restored unto eternal life; and these souls, he, in his everlasting purpose, gives over to the Son to be redeemed, and these the Son receives. And thus the glory of mercy and justice shines most brightly; yea, more brightly than he had at first pardoned. O how doth his love and mercy appear, that he will transfer our sins upon his Holy Son, and accept that Redemption for us, and his Justice, that a Redemption & price he must have even from his Son, when once he comes in the stead of sinners, and in this point do the Songs of Eternity concenter.