Now, their cullours are chieflie thrie—first, from Scriptures, rent ane of them from ane uther, as if there were no Scripture but that text quhilk they would seeme to prove their errours by, quhich text of theirs being compaired with uthers, is our doctrine; and by soe doeing they deale lyke sophists rather then telling the mynd of the Spirit of God, who tells not all his mynd in ane sentence, but must be waited on till he tell his last word; and reason it be so—as, for example, when the matter of mans salvation and conversion is spoken of, to say the Lord sweares he loves not the death of a sinner, and we oppose to them ane uther Scripture, that he laughed at the destruction of the wicked; where they take the ane place and not the uther, and takes not that quhilk agries with—but he rejoyces at their destruction—not as it is a destructione of the creature: but when man wilfullie rejects grace and mercie and scornes God, it is righteous wᵗ God to rejoyce in his destruction when the man will not rejoyce in his mercie.
Ane other of their cullours is a number of calumnies of our doctrine, where before the ignorant and unlearned, that understands not what we teache, they seeme to speake to them with some face, as if our doctrine did open a doore to sin; whereas howsoever as in other professions there are too many prophane among them, if all of them be not so, yet amongst us, the doctrine is not such that if any man be prophane or abuse the trueth that is spocken, he beares the blame himselfe and not the Lord.
Their third cullour is plausable humane reasones and discourse, drawen from the corrupt judgement of unsanctified men—as if men wer to sitt downe and lay the platforme of his owne Salvation, and not to leave it to the Word and to the Lord; but humane reasone shall prove a foole when it comes to the contrare of these two.
The grounds of their mistaking are thir—I. That they confound the decreet of God concerning the last end of man with the maner of the executiones of the decrie of the meanes: as, for example, they draw all their objections from the matter of Gods treating with the Visible Church, wherein God takes up the ridle and seif and fyne of his promise and commandments, threatenings, and conditionall offices, and sifts out the man that is his owne, and leaves the rest unexcusable. They draw out a decreit of this, as if God had been unresolved when he began to speake conditionallie to man—as if there had beine no more determinat concerning the man he had a purpose unto, nor the preacher that must speake to every ane of his auditours; and this error drawes verie deepe, for they make Gods decreit, reducit according to his frie will, layes Gods decreit by, whill man falles in his lappe, and so makes God resigne his Soverainitie, whill the end of the world they make man goe and God to stand by: for man will guyde the matter of his salvation by his frie will, and so they make God a spectator or a furnisher of directions only as he is called by the mans frie will. God comes in at frie-wills back and furnishes directions, and frie-will determines; and so they give a Godhead to frie-will, and makes God resigne his Soveraignitie quhill doomsday, and only now coming in at the back of free-will, following the designations of man.
Ane uther reason of theirs is this—that they extend the death of Christ only to a possibilitie of the salvation of all men, and to the possibilitie of the salvation of no man—making Christs death to have the oune operation sufficientlie, if Christ facilitat the way betwixt God and man; howbeit, Christ never got a man saved nor ever eat the fruit of his laboures, whereas our Lord was never so evill a Merchand as to lay downe his lyfe, and never will therefore, nor sick a foole as to make a bargane whilk might be suspended by mans fickle frie-will, who hes that much prudence that he forsee a losse or danger he will governe it.
A third errour is this—That they think Gods effectuall working in the conversion of man cannot subsist with the reservation of the nature of his owne frie-will, even as if the saints in Heaven, and the spirits that are perfyted, and Jesus Christ our Lord, in his manhead, had never done, nor could never doe, a turne but of necessitie, and nothing of frie-will; for, except they got this soveraignitie to mans frie-will, if the will of God overrule him, and determine him to doe good, presentlie they cry out, he’s destroyed the mans frie-will; as when a man preaches morallie to ane auditour, leaving nothing undone to persuad them by his word, he hes left their freedome never a straw the less.
According to the Popish and Arminian grounds, the man being left standing his alone, he must fall away from Grace; for sure Christ hes done all that can be done by a Mediatour, and then only stand besyde as a spectator (as they say.) I wonder nothing that they speake of perseverance as they doe; for if the world were left to us our alone, we would fall in the myre; whereas, in the perseverance of the Saints, the man and the master goes togither—the debtor and the cautioner goes togither—the captaine and the souldiour goes togither—Christ and the man never sheds; and howsoever we grant that without Christ we can doe nothing, and that if there were no more nor our strength, all would goe wrong; yet, with Christ, we are able to doe all things, and bring any thing about that he is to imploy us in.
Thair maine errour is this, (let me speake it with reverence towards your learning)—not knowing the Scriptures, and the power of God in the matter of the Covenant of redemption betwixt God and Christ; yet there is enough of it in the Scripture. They pointed at it themselves, which, if they should have followed, they might sein all their matter in the midst; for the Covenant of Salvation betwixt God and man is ane thing, and the Covenant of Redemption betwixt God and Christ is ane uther thing. The Covenant betwixt God and Christ was done and endit before ever there was a word of it in the world; but the Covenant betwixt God and man is by the meanes of the Mediator, which makes all sufficient, and he is our strenth and bulwarke; and when all their objections are made, we steppe to our Magna Charta, and where we can get any gripping we hold it fast, to wit—the Articles of a Superior Covenant made by Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Advocat, in which there are articles contradictorie to all Arminians, that so there shall be no more possibilitie of the breaking of these Articles, nor of garring God and Christ faill. When an end of a bridge falles, the uther must fall with it; so when our frie-will is the ane end, and Christ the uther, then must it stand; and heir, I say, is our bulwarke.
Their generall objections are three. The first is, that our doctrine is not good, for we terrifie them, telling them that God has a speciall election and speciall reprobation; and our doctrine, say they, is not good for tender consciences that are converted. We desyre no better answer for the tyme, nor retort their objections back againe upon them; and we say that their doctrine is not good for Conversion, becaus they keepe the man unhumble and unpenetent. They never gar a man say, “I have no strenth nor abilitie to doe any good to my selfe—Lord amend me!” But they keepe a man from denying himselfe, and how shall follow Christ? But our doctrine layes man in the dust, and garres him peepe of it: and so our doctrine for conversion is very fitt; and if our doctrine prevaile that farr with any man as to garr him grant that he hes nothing, then presentlie our Lord keepes him, and gives Grace to that unworthie bodie. Every man that takes with his sinfulness, our doctrine pulles that man in the armes of it. I say more: our doctrine drawes any man fra that—“I will not be saved albeit God bid me,” but garres him either come to a note, or professe himselfe to be hypocrite; and for these that are tender and weake, he caries the matter so, that he will not breake the bruised reid, if he grant he hes inlaiked and would be helped of yow, but if (a would be helped) he keepes him, and proppes him up on all hands. Upon the uther hand, our doctrine will not let a man lay his platt upon Heaven; that is, not in the way to it. It will not let him say he is a believer, except he be labouring to worke by love, and expres his faith be his obedience; and we retort this upon them, for they say it is in the mans power, when, how, and in what measure he will determine what he pleases; and so a man may say, “I am young, and I may delay till death comes, for it will come not so soone but I will get halfe an houres advertisement;” and so their doctrine opens a doore to sinning rather then ours.
Now for the grounds. Looke what the Scripture sayes for us, and that will settle the bussines. The last pairt of the 52 Chap. Esai—“Behold my servand shall deale prudentlie; he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.” There Christ is called the Fathers servand, becaus he was designed to take on our nature, and to bring in the Elect Children. It is said of him, that he shall deale prudentlie—he shall keepe up the doctrine of electione and reprobation, so that never man shall get the doore dung in his schafts that would be in, but does good to all, to the kind and to the unkynd, and layes no stumbling blocke before them that perisches. No man shall ken the reprobation of any; but election shall have many markes, whereby the man may climb up to the Palace, and by tyme read his name in the Booke of Lyfe. How will this matter be brought about, his visage was so marred more nor any man? They say that indeed Christ will get a blecked face by the gate; and he get this done, he must waide the glarre myre of our sins and the punishment thereof. Our Lord got his visage marred; but what will be uncertaine of recompence? This it was told him 5000 yeares agoe, that he should be exalted, extolled, and be very high, and that kings should speir for him. Take yow all good heart. The caus that we are about the day, Kings shall speir for it, and shall be forced to heare it in due tyme, by Christs wise bringing about the matter; and becaus men would thinke this universall, he tells in the beginning of the next chapter that it was for none but these to whom the Lords arme is reveilled. The reasons wherefore the reprobates would not believe:—he tells us there are some wicked persons, who, tho all the miseries were before them, and wer dealt with by never so many arguments to turne from their former wickednes, yet they will not leave their owne wayes, but wilfullie choyse the wayes of death of their owne accord. And (John 6) our Master telles—“All that the Father hes given to me shall come to me; and they that comes to me I will not cast out, but will raise them up at the last day.” He must keepe not only your soules but your bodies, yea, and your very dust, and shall never be tane aff the hand of the Sone of God till he render up the Kingdome to the Father.