138 Of all this , if the Reader pleafe to perufe a very fmall hook which I have written, called A Vindication of Gods Lave, he mayjeemore than f maul-there fay. But contrarily faith Radwardine, li. n. c.3. p. 64. [. am facile poffet Dens ft. veelet, tollere abteem five alum? Ha. ju fmodi quoq; obex ponitur aDeo antecedenter:;Zuom- mado ergo volt Deus coo ferre hair gratiam in quo parat obiccm gratiam re- pellentem? Vel fs mue non dat gratiam propter obicem refsftentem, érs° tpfe Deus frienter dapraceden- ter canfat bane obicem "pomade ipfe Deus non eft cassia non acceptionis gra- nia [aiutarir ? 3 1 can hardly believe that they that thus take Sin and Hell tobe nothing but the fruitsof Gods good will, do believe that either of them are fo bad as Scripture doth defcribe them , or fo much to be hated or feared. OfSufficient and Efec`lual Grace. * 3. Confider alto that Divine Love ( the third Principle) as it bath its common demonftration and glory in the Works of the omnipotent Creation, and in the Worksoffapiential Regiment, fo bath it alto its pecu- liar eminent demonftration on the Eleïí in their Grace andGlory, or in their Holreceft- and Glory begun and perfef ed. And it doth notfollow that becaufe thisLove is eminently glorified on a peculiar treafure, there- fore there is no Glory in Gods other Works, orno reafon for them. O that men had the wit to be huneble, and confefs that God is wifer and better than they, till they can come to more Wifdom tounderftand the Methods andReafonof his Works. As God hath his Honour in making stars as well as the sun, and Earth , as well as Starr, and Beafis as well as Men , and serpents andToads as well as Birds, and Clay as well as Gold; fo hath he his Ho- nour in making a World of mutable defeflible Intelletlual free Agents Olden) as well asin making the confirmed Angels; and in gracious fapi- ential Government ofthemall, as well as in hisextraordinary Beneficence andLove to his Eletl. 4. And youmutt notfeign the damnationof the Wicked themfelves tobe any fuch ftate as is inconfrftent with the goodnefs of Godto cart a Sinnerinto: We know not perfeïilywhat Hell is: But as we know that it is the extreameft humanemifery, fo we know that it is not at all worfe thanmens fins deferve ; And that when we cometoHeaven, we (hall be perfectlyfatisfied of the Jufticeof God inmens damnation. And though I faynot melius ell peccatori milrumof quam non ef; yet I will fo far accord with worthy Dr. Tmif , as to fay that rtelius eft peccatores milros effe quam non ej : Becaufe elfe God would rather have annihilated them. For God doth that which is belt: And his Wifdom, and Will, and Glory are fitter Rules of Meliority, than the Will or Inge. reft ofSinners. And it feemeth by theDevils Kingdom, and Converfation in the Air and on the Earth ( whileyet they are in Hell, and referved in Chainsof Darknefs) that their Hell is a ftate ednfrftent with all that voluntary mifchievous negotiation which they dd. And it's like that though they haveno Soy, yet their Wills have force pleafednef in themifchief which they do, as anangry andmalicious man bath in revenge. And we haveno reafonto believe that the Hell of thedamned is any worfe ormore violent or irrational than the Hell of the Devils, when they mutt go to that which wasprepared for the Devils, Matth. 25. But if I fhould but open to you the plain evidence of thistruth, how much of Hell confifteth in theirfin itfelf, in which undoubtedly they are voluntary (though neceffarily fo, by their own doing and defert,) it might tendyet moreto the abatementofall difparaging and unbelieving thoughts, of the Glory of Gods gracious fapiential Regiment of the World. And to fay that God could have made man better, and given him more Grace, is butas to fay that he could havemadeToads to be Larks, and Beafts to be Men, and Men to be Angels: And what if hedidnot ? 5. And I again repeat what I have oft Paid, thatall this Earth is buta point next inconfiderable in thevat} Univerfeg And immeafurablefpaces of thole fuperior partsof the Creation are like tohave proportionable Inhabitants for glory and number: Andwe know that weare come to an innumerable Company ofAngels, Heb. I2.23, 24. And for ought we know Godmay havemillionsofbleffed Spirits, for one miferable wicked Soul. Thereforewe mutt not talk againtt that which we do not under- (land. And
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=