I. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord, Jer. xxiv. 7.

1. I will put my fear in their hearts, Jer. xxxii. 40.

1. The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, Deut. xxx. 6.

1. I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, Jer. xxxi. 33.

1. We love him, because he first loved us, 1 John iv. 19.

1. By grace ye are saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, Eph. ii. 8. It is of faith that it might be by grace, Rom. iv. 16.

1. Not for thy righteousness, &c. dost thou go and possess their land, Deut. ix. 5.

1. Not of works lest any man should boast, Eph. ii. 9.

1. Thou hast hid those things from the wise and prudent [in their own eyes] and revealed them unto babes, Luke x. 21.

If I am not mistaken, the balance of the preceding Scriptures shows, that Pharisaism and Antinomianism are equally unscriptural: the harmonious opposition of those passages evincing; 1. That our Free-will is subordinately a worker with God's Free-grace in every thing but a proper atonement for sin, and the first implanting of the light, which enlightens every man that comes into the world: Such an atonement having been fully completed by Christ's Blood, and such an implanting being entirely performed by his Spirit: 2. That Honestus is most dreadfully mistaken, when he makes next to nothing of Free-grace and her works: 3. That Zelotes obtrudes a most dangerous paradox upon the simple, when he preaches finished salvation in the Crispian sense of the word. And 4. That St. Paul speaks as the oracles of God, when he says, "God worketh in you," &c. Therefore work ye out your own salvation."

SECTION IX.

Displaying the most wonderful work of Freegrace, the general Redemption of the lost World of the ungodly by Jesus Christ: And the most astonishing work of Free-will, the obstinate neglect of that Redemption by those who do despite to the Spirit of Grace. HONESTUS has such high thoughts of his

tion? Titus ii. 11, 12. 2 Pet. i. 10. Heb. ii. 3.

2. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord, Hosea vi. 3.

2. They shall not find me, &c. for that they did not choose the fear of the Lord, Prov. i. 29.

2. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, Deut. x. 16.

2. Let every man be swift to hear, &c. Receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls, James i. 19, 21.Thy word have I hid in my heart, Psalm cxix. 11.

2. The Father loveth you, because ye have believed, John xvi. 27.

2. Believe, &c, and thou shalt be saved, Acts xvi. 31.-Receive not the grace of God in vain, 2 Cor. vi. 1.-Looking diligently lest any man fail of [or be wanting to] the grace of God, Heb. xii. 15.

2. Inherit the Kingdom &c, for I was hungry, and ye gave me meat, &c. Matt. xxv. 34.

2. Charge them, &c, to do good, &c, that they may lay hold on eternal life, 1 Tim. vi. 17, &c.

2. Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent and he shall know them? Hosea xiv. 9.-None of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand, Dan. xii. 10.

uprightness and good works, that he sometimes doubts if he is a lost sinner by nature, and if the virtue of Christ's blood is absoJutely necessary to his justification.-And the mind of Zelotes is so full of absolute election and reprobating partiality, that he thinks, the sacrifice of Christ was confined to the little part of mankind, which he calls "The church, the pleasant children, Israel, Jacob, Ephraim, God's people, the elect, the little flock," &c. Those happy souls, if you believe him, are loved with an everlasting love, and all the rest of mankind are hated with an everlasting hate. Christ never bled, never died for these. God purposedly let them fall in the first Adam, and absolutely denied them all an interest in Christ the second Adam, that they might necessarily be wicked, and infallibly be damned," to illustrate his glory by their destruction."

To rectify these mistakes ;-to show Honestus, that all Men, without exception, are so wicked by nature, as to stand in need of Christ's atoning blood; and to convince Zelotes, that Christ was so good as to shed it for all Men without exception; I throw into my Scales some of the weights stamped with GENERAL REDEMPTION: I say some, because others have already been produced in the third Section.

How all Men are temporally redeemed by
Christ's Blood.

The Weights of Free-Grace.

NOTE. General Redemption by price and free-grace, CANNOT fail, because it is entirely the work of Christ, who does all things well.

Why some Men are not eternally redeemed by Christ's Spirit.

The Weights of Free-will.'

NOTE. General Redemption by power and free-will, CAN and DOES fail, because many refuse to the last, subordinately to work out their own salvation.

1. When we were yet without strength, Christ died for the ungodly, Rom. v. 6.-The Son of man is come to save that which is lost, Luke xix. 10.-Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world, John i. 29.-God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, &c, that the world through him might be sured, [upon gospel terms,] John iii. 16, 17.-This is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the World, John iv. 42.-We have seen and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the World, 1 John iv. 14.-Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people; for unto you is born, &c, a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, Luke ii. 10, 11.

1. Christ is our peace, who hath made both [Jews and Gentiles] one, &c, that he might [on his part] reconcile both unto God by the cross, Eph. ii. 14, 16. [Now Jews and Gentiles are equivalent to the world.]— God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them [when they believe.] 2 Cor. v. 19.

1. It pleased the Father &c, having made peace by the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, &c, hath he reconciled, &c. through death, to present you holy, &c, if ye continue in the faith, &c, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, &c, which is preached to every creature, that is under heaven, Col. i. 19,-23.

1. We trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe: [Because such obediently submit to the terms of ETERNAL Salvation : For INITIAL Salvation depends on no ter. on our part.] 1 Tim. iv. 10.

1. The philanthropy [or kindness] of God our Saviour towards man appeared, Tit. iii. 4.--The bread of God giveth life unto the world:-The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world, John vi. 33, 51.

1. Jesus said, I am the Light of the world.

2. And now, &c, judge I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes. And now I will, &c, lay it waste, &c. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord, is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant plant : And he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry, Isa. v. 3, 7.-they have turned unto me the back, and not the face; though I taught them rising early, Jer. xxxii. 33.

2. And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you rising up early and speaking, but ye hear not, and I called you, but ye answered not; therefore, &c, I will cast you out of my sight, &c, therefore pray not for this people, &c, for I will not hear thee, Jer. vii. 13, 15, 16.

2. Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, my Father, &c? Hast thou seen that, which backsliding Israel hath done? &c. And I said, after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me; [Return unto me, for I have redeemed thee, Isa. xliv. 22,] but she returned not: and, &c, when for all the causes, whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery, I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also, Jer. iii. 7, 8.

2. If thou wilt receive my words, &c, so that thou incline thine ear to wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding, &c, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord; and find the knowledge of God, Prov. ii. 1.

&c.

2. As the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man; so have I caused to cleave to me the whore house of Israel, saith the Lord; that they might be unto me for a people, &c, but they would not hear. Therefore, &c, I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them, Jer. xiii. 11, 12, 14.

2. This is the condemnation that light is

-I came, &c, to save the world, John viil. 12.-xii. 47.-That_the_world may believe, thou hast sent me, John xvii. 21.-This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, [or, of all men to be received that Christ came into the world to save sinners,* of whom I am chief, 1 Tim. i. 15.

1. I exhort, that first of all, supplications &c, and giving of thanks, be made for all men &c, for this is good and acceptable, [not in the sight of Zelotes, but] in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is, &c. one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ, who gave himself a ran som for all, &c. I will therefore that men pray every where, &c, without doubting, 1 Tim. ii. 1, &c.

1. Mine eyes have seen [Christ] thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel, [i. e. the Jews,] Luke ii. 30. &c.—It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob [i. e. the Jews] &c. I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth, Isa. xlix. 6.—God, &c. preached before the gospel to Abraham, saying, In thee [i. e. in thy seed,] shall all nations. [yea] all families of the earth be blessed, Gal. iii. 8, 16. Gen. xii.3.

1. In him [the Word made flesh] was life, and the life was the light of men; and the light shineth [even] in the darkness, &c. [that] comprehended it not.-John came for a witness, to bear witness of the light that all men through it [dt avre Owroc] might be lieve, &c. That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, John i. 4, &c.

From the preceding Scriptures it appears, that, as in a vine some branches are nearer the root than others; so among mankind some men have a stronger, and more immediate union with Christ than others: But so long as their day of salvation lasts, all men have some interest in him; there being as many ways of being in Christ, as there are dispensations of gospel-grace. That infants are interested in him, seems evident from Rom. v. 18, and Mark x. 14. And that Cor. nelius, for example, was in Christ as a just heathen, before as he was in him as a jewish

come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For every one that [actually] does evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, est his deeds should be reproved. But he that does truth, cometh to the light. John iii. 19, &c.

2. Jeshurun, [i. e. The righteous] waxed fat and kicked, &c. He forsook God, &c. and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation, &c. They sacrificed to devils, &c. And when the Lord saw it he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons and daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them, &c. for a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn to the lowest hell, &c. I will spend mine arrows upon them, Deut. xxxii. 15, 23.

2. Because I have called, and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel and would none of my reproof: I also will mock when your destruction cometh as a whirlwind. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer &c, for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord, &c. Prov. i. 24, &c.—If ye walk contrary to me, &c. I will bring seven times more plagues upon you, &c. And if ye will not be reformed by these things, I will punish you yet seven times, &c. And if ye will not for all this hearken to me, &c. I will cast down your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, &c, and my soul shall abhor you, Lev. xxvi. 21-30.

2. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit [during the day of salvation] he taketh away, &c. and it is withered, and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned, John xv. 2.-6.-Ye shall bow down to the slaughter because when I called, ye did not answer. Isa. lxv. &c.

proselyte, much more before he was in him as a christian believer, is not less evident from Matt. xxv. 29. Psa. 1. 23. Luke xvi. 10, 11. But when the expression "being in Christ," is taken in its most confined sense, as it is in some of the epistles, it means a being so fully acquainted with, and so intimately united to Christ, as to enjoy the privileges peculiar to the Christian dispensation, like Cornelius, when he had believed the gospel of Christ, and was baptized with the Holy Ghost. To say, that he was in every respect without Christ before, is to strike a blow at

the root: It is to suppose, that a man can be accepted out of the Beloved; work righteousness without Christ's assistance, and bring forth fruits meet for repentance, in a state of

1. All men should honour the Son, [by be. lieving on him] John v. 23.-I will draw all men to me, John xii. 32.-The free-gift came upon all men, Rom. v. 18.-The saving grace of God hath appeared unto all men. God giveth to all men liberally and upbraided not, James i. 5.-The Lord is good to all [or loving to every man] and his tender mercies are over all his works, Psa. cxlv 9.-If one died for all, then were all dead. He died for all, that they which live, should, &c. live to him, who died for them, 2 Cor. v. 14, 15.

1. He is despised and rejected of men, &c. We [men] esteemed him not, &c. Surely he was wounded for our transgressions, &c. and with his stripes, we are [initially, and his seed, persevereing believers, completely] heal. ed. All we [men] like sheep have gone astray We have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all, &c. He poured out his soul unto death, &c. he bore the sin [7] of the multitudes, and made intercession for the transgressors, Isa. liii. 3, 4, 5, 6, 12.-If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world, 1 John ii. 1, 2,

*

GENERAL REDEMPTION and FREE GRACE are the gracious spring whence flow the GENERAL, SINCERE and RATIONAL missions, gospel calls, commands, exhortations and expostulations which follow.

1. God hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. v. 18.

1. Him [Christ] God hath exalted to give repentance to Israel-[and] to the Gentiles, i. e. to all mankind, who are made up of Jews and Gentiles.] Acts v. 31.-xi. 18. [Hence it is that] God now commandeth all men every where to repent; because he will judge the world in righteousness, Acts xvii. 30, 31.

total separation from the Vine. Thus it is however, that the solifidianism of Zelotes meets with the pharisaism of Honestus.

2. I have purged thee [I have done the part of a Saviour] and thou was not purged : [thou hast not done the part of a penitent sinner.] Ezek. xxiv. 13.-Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door [by the obedience of faith] I will come to him, and sup with him, and he with me, Rev. iii. 20.

2. Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, Acts x. 34.-If ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, Jam. ii. 9. It is written, Be ye holy for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who, without respect of persons, judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear; forasmuch as ye know, that ye were redeemed, &c, with the precious Blood of Christ, 1 Pet. i. 17, 18. [How different is this gospel from the gospel of the day! And, if to elect and to reprobate is to judge, that myriads of unborn people shall be eternally loved or hated, without any respect to their tempers and actions; what can we say of doctrines, which fix upon God the spot, that Solomon describes in the following words?] "It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment. He that says to the wicked, Thou art righteous, [or he that says to what is not, thou art wicked, and I unconditionally appoint thee for eternal destruction] him shall the people curse: nations shall abhor him." Prov. xxiv. 23, 24.

Through the LIBERTY of our WILL, we may improve or NEGLECT so great Redemption; we may make or REFUSE to make our SINCERE election and RATIONAL calling sure; as appears from the following Scriptures.

2. We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God, 2 Cor. v. 20.

2. And they all with one consent began to make excuse, &c, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come, &c. Then the master of the house being angry, said, &c. None of those men, who were bidden for called and refused to make their calling and election sure,] shall taste of my supper, Luke xiv. 18, &c.