Grounds of judging mcns fpirituall condition. C ap. j. 4: Peeing that they are no wherePaid tobe Vnited to Chrift, Quicknedand 7u- it f ificd,partakers of thefirft Refurreilion, Accepted' of God, &c. Youdoe al- moft put an iffue to the whole Controverfy,and at once overturne the ¡iron- gefl Fortsofthe oppofers ofthis truth:fomemen are truly ready to think,that they never had experience of the nature of true Faith,orHolinejfe,who can fuppofe it to confiftin fuch like common gifts, and Graces , asare afcribed to this fort ofmen. Yet,as wasPaid before,if thefe may not paffe for Saints, if our Adverfariescannot proove thefetobe true Believersin the ftri&eftnotion and fence of that terme or expreflion, aílum efi, the very fubje& about which they contend is takenaway: fuch as thefe alone are concernedin the Arguments from Heb:6.4,5. 2 Pet .2.1.6.c. yea all the Teflimonieswhch they produce for the fupportment oftheir caufe fromAntiquity, flow from hence, that their Witneffes thought good to allow perlons Baptized and profeffing the Gofpell, the name ofBelievers, andbein g Regenerate (that is, as to the participation oftheoutward symbolthereof) whom yet they exprefielydi- f inguifhed from them, whole Faith was the Fruit of their Eternall Eleaion, which they Conflantly maintained ¡hould never falle. Offuch as thefeM. Goodwin tells us Cap. 9. Se&. 7. pag. 107,108. That if 7 ¢. 18; therebe anyperfons under Heaven, who may uponfuficient grounds, and juflifia- ble by theword ofGod, be judgedtrue believers, manyofthe Aposflates we fpeake ó fwere to bejudgedfilch, allthe vifible lineaments ofa truefaith, wherein their faces, asfarce t the eyeofman is able to pierce, they livedGodly, righteoufly and Adde hos de foberly in this prefent World: dothany trae believer a zealoufly for his God?fo nun a did they: is any true believerfruitfullingood workes? they werefuch: yea there is vulgares dr found in thofe we nowfpeake of, not onlyfuchthings uponthefight andknowledge ;n beioi, eA. whereof inmen,we ought tojudge them true believers,* but evenfuchthingsfur- ther, nos dr eximi- which we ought to reverenceand honour, as lovely and Maje/lick chars- osac eminen- lier: ofGodand holineffe,therefore it is but too importune apretence inmen to de- `item.Ac sy, ny them to have been true believers, p.267. If theproofe ofthefirfl confident affertion concerning the grounds ofjudg- Anf: ing fuch asafterwards haveapofiatized, tobe truebelievers, were called into queftion, I fuppofeit would prove one inftance, how much eafier it is confi- dently to afjirme any thing, then foundly to confirme it. And perhaps it will be found to appeare, that in the mòft, if not all of thofeglorious apoflates ofwhom he fpeakes,ifthey were throughly traced and ftri fly eyed, even in Pt t.78. 34, thofe things which are expofed to the viewof men, for any feafon or conti- 13s,36. nuance, fuch warpings and flawes mightbe difcovered , in pofitives,or nega- 2 b 27 9'to. rives, as are incompatible with truth of grace, But if this be granted, that 29. they have all the vifible lineaments ofa truefaith in their faces, as farre as the Ezek. 33.3 r. eye ofman isable to judge, and thereforemen were bound to&eeme them Titus.n.,s: for true believers, doth it therefore follow, thatthey were fuch indeed ? This at once inflates all fecret hypocrites in the ancient and prefent Churches of Chrift, into a condition of fan&ification and juftification, which the Lord knowes they were, and are remote from.'Shall theeileeme of men tranflate themfromdeath to life, and reallyalter theEfate wherein they are? What ever honour then and efleemewe maygive to the charaélers ofholineffe and faith in(famped, orrather painted on them , as tismeet for unto judgewell of all, who profefíing the Lord Chrift, walke in our view in any meafure finable to that profeffion, and with jonadab tohonour lehu,in his fits and haftypaffions ofzeale, yet this (alas) is noevidence unto them, nor difcovery of the thing. it felfe, that they are in a !late of faith and holinefhe. To fay, that we may not bebound to judge any to be believers, and Godly,unleffe they are fo in- deed and in the thing it felfe , iseither to exalt poore wormes into the C 2 throne
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