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LXXII.

17. xvii. 27.

ii. 15.

to save a creature and subject of his; the thing SERM. wherein he so much delighteth? From hence also, that God hath vouchsafed general testimonies of his Acts xiv. goodness, inducements to seek him, footsteps where- Rom. i. 19. by he may be discovered and known, a light of reason and law of nature written upon men's hearts; attended with satisfactions, and checks of conscience; so many dispositions to knowledge and obedience, as St. Paul teacheth us; we may collect that he is not deficient in communicating interior assistances, promoting the good use and improvement of those talents; for that otherwise the bestowing them is frustraneous and useless; being able to produce no good effect; yea, it rather is an argument of unkindness, being apt only to produce an ill effect in those upon whom it is conferred; an aggravation of sin, an accumulation of guilt and wrath upon them.

If it be said, that having such grace is inconsistent with the want of an explicit knowledge of Christ, and of faith in him; why may not we say, that as probably (so St. Chrysostom, vid. Mont. App. I.) most good people before our Lord's coming received grace without any such knowledge or faith; that as to idiots and infants, our Saviour's meritorious performances are applied (in a manner unknowable by us) without so much as a capacity to know or believe any thing; that so we (to whom God's judgments are inscrutable, and his ways uninvestigable) Rom. xi. know not how grace may be communicated unto, and Christ's merits may avail for other ignorant persons? in respect to whom we may apply that of St. John; The light shineth in darkness, and the dark- John i. 5. ness comprehended it not. However, that such persons may have a grace capacifying them to arrive to

33.

LXXII.

Εἰ τυφλοί

15. XV. 22.

SERM. that knowledge and faith, to which fuller communications of grace are promised; so that in reasonable esteem (as we shall presently shew) the revelation of evangelical truth, and the gift of faith, may be supposed to be conferred upon all men-so that we may Rev. iii.20. apply to them that in the Revelation; Behold, I Fix a stand at the door and knock; if any man will hear εἴχετε ἁμαρ τίαν. my voice, and open the door, I will come in unto him, John ix. 41. and sup with him, and he with me; (that is, Behold, I allure every man to the knowledge and embracing of Christianity; if any man will open his mind and heart, so as to comply with my solicitations, I am ready to bestow upon him the participation of evangelical mercies and blessings:) and to such persons those promises and rules in the gospel may appertain; He that asketh receiveth; he that seeketh findeth; to him that knocketh it shall be opened: The heavenly Father will give the Holy Luke xix. Spirit to them that ask him. He that is èv èλaxíotw TOTÒS (faithful in the use of the least grace) shall Luke xix. be rewarded. And, To him that hath (or that diligently keepeth and husbandeth what he hath) shall more be given.

Luke xi. 10, 13.

17.

26.

And how God sometimes dealeth with such persons the eminent instances of St. Paul and Cornelius do shew. But concerning this point I spake somewhat before, and have perhaps been too large now; I shall only add that saying of the wise writer de Voc. Gent. A pious mind, saith he, should not, I think, be troubled at that question, which is made concerning the conversion of all, or not all men; if we will not obscure those things which are clear, by those things which are secret; and while we wantonly insist upon things shut up, we be not ex

LXXII.

cluded from those which are open and plains. SERM, Which in effect is the same with this; that since we are plainly taught, that our Lord is the Saviour of all men; and it is consequent thence, that he hath procured grace sufficiently capacifying all men to obtain salvation; we need not perplex the business or obscure so apparent a truth, by debating how that grace is imparted; or by labouring overmuch in reconciling the dispensation thereof with other dispensations of Providence.

• Puto quod pius sensus non debeat in ea quæstione turbari, quæ de omnium et non omnium hominum conversione generatur; si ea quæ clara sunt non de his quæ occulta sunt obscuremus, et dum procaciter insistimus clausis excludamur ab apertis, &c. Lib, i. cap. 8.

SERMON LXXIII.

THE DOCTRINE OF UNIVERSAL REDEMP-
TION ASSERTED AND EXPLAINED.

1 TIM. iv. 10.

The living God; who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe.

SERM. 5. JESUS is the Saviour of all men, as the conductor

LXXIII.

of all men into and through the way of salvation. It is a very proper title, and most due to those brave captains, who by their wisdom and valour have freed their country from straits and oppressions. So were those judges and princes who anciently delivered Neh. ix. 27. Israel from their enemies commonly styled: In the time of their trouble, say the Levites in Nehemiah,

15.

Acts vii.35.

when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and, according to thy manifold mercies, Judg. iii. 9, thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of the enemy; so are Othniel and Ehud particularly called; and Moses signally: The same, saith St. Stephen of him, did God send to be äpxovτα Kai λUTρwτην, a Commander and a Saviour (or Redeemer) to the children of Israel; for that he by a worthy and happy conduct did free them from the Egyptian slavery. And thus was Demetrius by the Athenians (for his delivering them from the Macedonian subjection, and restoring their liberty to them) entitled, eveρyéτns kai σwτp, a benefactor and

The Doctrine of Universal Redemption &c. 57

saviour. Thus with greatest reason is Jesus so call- SERM. ed, as being άpxy`s Tis awrnpías, the Captain of sal- LXXIII. vation, (so he is called by the apostle to the He- Heb. ii. 10. brews,) apxnyos Cans, (the Captain of life, as St. Acts iii. 15. ἀρχηγὸς ζωῆς, Peter names him, the chief Leader unto eternal life,)

apxnyòs míoτews, (the Captain of our faith; he that Heb. xii. z. hath revealed that saving doctrine, which is the

power of God to salvation :) and these titles we Rom. i. 16. have conjoined by St. Peter in the Acts; Him hath Acts v. 31 God exalted, ἀρχηγὸν καὶ σωτῆρα, as a Captain and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel, and remission of sins. This he is to us several ways, by direction both instructive and exemplary; by his protection and governance; by his mating and quelling the enemies of man's salvation; which things more specially and completely he hath performed in respect to faithful Christians, yet in a manner also he hath truly done them for and toward all men; as we shall distinctly consider.

6. Jesus is the Saviour of all men, we say, as having perfectly discovered and demonstrated the way and means of salvation; the gracious purposes of God concerning it; the duties required by God in order to it; the great helps and encouragements to seek it; the mighty determents from neglecting it; the whole will of God, and concernment of man in relation thereto; briefly, all saving truths he hath revealed unto all men : mysteries of truth, which Col. i. 26. were hidden from ages and generations, which no 25. fancy of man could invent, no understanding could reach, no reason could by discussion clear, (concerning the nature, providence, will, and purpose of God; the nature, original, and state of man; concerning the laws and rules of practice, the helps thereto,

Rom. xvi.

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