Andthe Sub-operations of Man's Will 95 2. And it is not true that.their fufffcient grace gave not Merit to the gill : For it followeth not, that becaufe they could have omitted a duty; therefore in doing it theydid any thing of which God was not the prime caufe : He that gave them all their power, difpoution; objectâ, helps and motives, did give them that which he callethMerit. . 3. It is his grand error that Gift and Reward are repugnant, and that Life wouldnot have been to Adam, and was not to theAngels of free gift, though ofReward. For it is impoífible that any creature can merit ofGod as a Proprietorinpoint ofCommutative Juftice ; feeing God is the abfolute Owner of us and all things, and no creature.can give him any thing but what is his own : Therefore there is a natural impoffibility that quoadvalarem rei, ant ipfum 6eneficium a creature can have any thing but of free gift :.But God who is an Owner and Benefäcor is alto a Re- ¿for, and fo the caufeofMoral Order as well as of real Benefits; And fo that which as aBenefit is a meer gift , yet quoad ordinem conferendi is given by God per modem præmü to thofe thatwill Accept the Gift accor- ding to its nature, and denyed to thofe that will defpife it and refute ire As aFather will givea purfe of Gold to the Child that will thank him, and humbly take it ; and not to the Child that will fpit inhis face. yanfenius doth fo weakly open the .nature of Merit and Reward, as alone wóuld thew that he was not meet for his great undertaking : Though he excellentlythew that God is ourReward himfelf, yet the Rai - ones premix hefaith little to, that can fatisfie the judicious. Ofwhich more anon. 4.Angels were differenced inter feby Gods will and their own : And we confefs, that fo far as fin made the difference, it was by their ownwill and not by Gods: But was he fure that no inch difference ismade fined the fall among men? He will confefs, that when Eve finned before Adam; it was the that made the difference : Andhow can he . prove, that it was not Cain who by fin firti differenced himfelf from Abel ? . or the Prodigal, Luke 15, that by forfaking his Father] . fiat differenced himfelf from his Brother ? According to his ownprinciples who holdeth falling away from. Grace and Juflification, dothnot he that falleth away difference himfelf from him that ftandeth r He can never prove, that now two menmay not . have equal help from God to goto Church, Or readagood Book, and one xlo it, and the othergo to the Tavern, or reada Play-book. . VIII. i. God doth not fo nie man as his Inftrutnentin good, but that hegiveth the Inftrument its proper aptitude and afiion as to the effeâ: And that which it is and doth, may be fpoken of it : To fay a thing is good, is to praife it; and good muff be calledgood; And to fay that you weretheAcior ofGood and that Voluntarily, is to pralle you. Therefore theACtor of good ex nation rei deferveth praife, feeing `truth mtift be ípoke of all things. God himfelf doth fo often praife his fervants, and promife to honour them that honour him, that to fay no praife is due to them is to charge God with error. 3. To deny all Reward, and Merit as it fignifieth Rewardablenefs, or Moral aptitude for Reward, is to deny thegreateft part ofthe Scripture todeny God to be our Rector, and fo to be our God ; to deny the whole frame ofhis Sapiential Government, and his glory therein, andfo todeny his' Laws, Judgement and Execution, Sin, Duty, Heaven and Hell. The fummof all is this, 1. No manor Angel canmerit ofGod inCom- mutative Juttice as Proprietor : But only as Rector. All is (as isbefore fail) offree gift from God asProprietor andBenefaflar. 2 4'04
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