74 / 504
CP.
,
I,
4;;4.
'The
DoarineoiPerfeverance how
by
MrQ.ropofed.
18
Chriff,
did
ever
lb
difmember,
disfigure, defile,
wreft, and
pervert that
which
he oppofed,
as
Mr
Goodwin
bath
done the
DoEirine
of
Perfeverance
which
he
bath
undertaken to
deffroy; Me thinks a man fhould not
be much delighted
in calling filth and dung upon
his
Adverfary, before
he
begin
to
graille
wit
h
.him; In
one word, this being the account he
gives
us
of
it,
if
he be able
to
name one
Author, ancient
or
moderne,
any
one
fober
per
fon
of
old, or
oflate,
that
ever fpent
a
pen full
oflnke,
or
once opened
his
mouth
in
the
defence
of
that
Per
feverance
of
saints,or
rather
profane walking
of
dogs
and fwine,
which he
bath ftated,pot
in
the
words,and
termes,
but
fo
much
as
to the
mat
ter,or purpofe here iiitimated by him; and it
fhall be accepted
as
a
juft
de-
fenfative againft
the
Crime, which
we are
inforced
to
charge
in
this
particu-
lar,
and
which
otherwife
will
not
eafily
be warded.
If
this
be the Doetrine,
which
with
fo
great
an
indeavour, and
a
Contribution
of
fo
much
Paine s
and
Rhetorique
he
feeks
to
oppofe,l know not
any
that
will thinke
it worth
while;
to
interpole
in this fierce
conteft between him and
his
man
of
ftraw.
Neither
can
it
with
the
leaft
colour
of
Truth
be
pretended,that
thefe
areConfequences;
which he
urgeth the
Doarine he oppofeth withal], and
not
his
Apprehenfions
of
the
Doctrine
it
felfe. For neither
doth
he
in
any place in
his
whole
Treatife,
.hold
it out
in
any
other
fhape,
but
is
uniforme,and confiant to
himfelfe,
in
expreffing
his
notion
of
it;
nor
Both he
indeed almoft
ufe any
Argument a-
gainft
it,but
thofe
that
fuppofe this
to
be
the true
ftate
oftheCötroverfy,which
he bath
propofed. But whether this
indeed be the Do
&rine
of
the
Perfeve-
rance
of
Saints, which
Mr
Goodwin
fo
importunately
cryes
out
againft,
upon
a
briefe confideration offome
of
the particulars. mentioned,
will quickly
ap-
peare.
3Æ=
Firft
then,doth
this
Doetrine
proraife
with
height
of
Affurance,
that
under
what
loofiieJji;or
vile practices
foever
men
doe
live,
they
fhall have.Exemption
from
punifbment
?wherein I pray
?in
that it
promifeth theSaints
of
God, that
through
his
Grace they
fhall
be preferved from
fuch
loofeneffe
and
evill
practifes,
as
PfaL23.6.
would
expofe
them
to
Eternall
punifhment?
Doti
it teach men,
that
it
is
vain
Jerem.3i33 to
ufe
the
meanes
of
mortification
becaufe, they
fhall
certainly
attaine
the
end,whe
-.
a
c01.10.13
ther
they
u(e
the
meanes
Or
no?
Or
may you
not
as
well fay,
that
the
Do&rine
you oppofe
is,
that
all
men
fhall
be
lived
whether
they
believe
or
no,
with thole
other
comfortable
and
chearing
affociate do&rines you
mention
?
Or
is
this
i
Pet.
i.5
a
KegularEmergency
of
thatDo
&rine
whichteaches,that
there
is
no attaining
the End,but by the
meaner,
between
which
there
is
fuch
a
Concatenation
by
Divine appointment,
that
they
{hall
not be
feparated
?
Doth it
fßeake peace
to theflefb,in
*trance
of
Eleffèd
Immortality,
though
it
difßort
it
felfe
in all
fol-
ly
in
the
meine
time
?
Doe the Teachers
of
it,
expreffe any
filch
thing?
Doth
any fuch Abomination
iffue
from
their
Arguings in
the
defence
thereof?
Or
doth the Do
&rine which
teaches Believers (Saints who have tafted
of
the
love,
and pardoning
mercy
of
God, and are
taught to
valew it ínfinit-
ly
above
all
the
world.)
that
fuch
is
the Love,and
goodwill
of
God towards
Ephef.
2.
Io,
them,in the Covenant
of
mercy
in
the blood
of
Chri
fl,
that
having appointed
2
cor.3.
5
Good
works
for
them
to
walke in,
for_which
of
themfelves
they
are
infu
f
ici-
ent,hewill gracioully continue
to
them
fuch fupplyes
of
his
Spirit,
and Grace,
as
that
they
fhall
never depart
'From
following after him,
in
wayes
of
Colpell
Obedience
?
Doth
this
I
fay
incourage
any
of
them
to
continue
in finite
that
this
Grace
may abound
?
Or
are
any
Do
&rines
of
the
Gofpell
to
be meafitred
by
the
rules,and lines
of
the
ufe,or abufe
that
the
fie/his
apt to make
of
them?
Or
rather
by their fuitableneffe
to
the
Divine nature,
whereof the
Saints
are
made partakers, and
fervicableneffe
to their
carrying
on
to
perfe&ión
in
that
Attainment?Or
is
this an
Argument
of
validity
againft an
Evangelicall
Truth,
that