"Christ hath not died for all, or that he would "not have all men to be saved."

7

Ambr. on Psalm cxviii. Serm. 8. "The mystical "Sun of Righteousness is arisen to all; he came "to all; he suffered for all; and rose again for all: "and therefore he suffered, that he might take "away the sin of the world. But if any one be"lieve not in Christ, he robs himself of this general "benefit, even as if one by closing the windows "should hold out the sun-beams. The sun is not The sun"therefore not risen to all, because such an one out, heat "hath so robbed himself of its heat: but the sun not. "keeps its prerogative; it is such an one's im"prudence that he shuts himself out from the "common benefit of the light."

The same man, in his 11th book of Cain and Abel, cap. 13. saith, "Therefore he brought unto "all the means of health, that whosoever should "perish, may ascribe to himself the causes of his "death, who would not be cured when he had "the remedy by which he might have escaped."

beams shut

IX. Seeing then that this doctrine of the universality of Christ's death is so certain and agreeable to the scripture-testimony, and to the sense of the purest antiquity, it may be wondered how so many, some whereof have been esteemed not only learned, but also pious, have been capable to fall into so gross and strange an error. But the cause of this doth evidently appear, in that the way and method by which the virtue and efficacy of his death is communicated to all men, hath not been rightly understood, or indeed hath been erroneously taught. The Pelagians, ascribing all to Pelagian man's will and nature, denied man to have any seed of sin conveyed to him from Adam. And the Semi-Pelagians, making grace as a gift following upon man's merit, or right improving of his nature, according to the known principle, Facienti quod in se est, Deus non denegat gratiam.

errors.

Extremes

fallen into

by some,

making God the

author of

sin.

This gave Augustine, Prosper, and some others occasion, labouring in opposition to these opinions, to magnify the grace of God, and paint out the corruptions of man's nature (as the proverb is of those that seek to make straight a crooked stick) to incline to the other extreme. So also the reformers, Luther and others, finding among other errors the strange expressions used by some of the Popish scholastics concerning free-will, and how much the tendency of their principles is to exalt man's nature and lessen God's grace, having all those sayings of Augustine and others for a pattern, through the like mistake run upon the same extreme: though afterwards the Lutherans, seeing how far Calvin and his followers drove this matter, (who, as a man of subtle and profound judgment, foreseeing where it would land, resolved above-board to assert that God had decreed the means as well as the end, and therefore had ordained men to sin, and excites them thereto, which he labours earnestly to defend,) and that there was no avoiding the making of God the author of sin, thereby received occasion to discern the falsity of this doctrine, and disclaimed it, as appears by the latter writings of Melancthon, and the Mompelgartensian conference, where LuEpit. Hist cas Osiander, one of the collocutors, terms it imEccl. Lu- pious; calls it a making God the author of sin, and an horrid and horrible blasphemy. Yet because none of those who have asserted this universal redemption since the reformation have given a clear, distinct, and satisfactory testimony how it is communicated to all, and so have fallen short of fully declaring the perfection of the gospel dispensation, others have been thereby the more strengthened in their errors; which I shall illustrate by one singular example.

cæ Osiand.

Cent. 16,

1. 4. cap

32.

The Arminians, and other asserters of universal grace, use this as a chief argument.

That which every man is bound to believe, is true: But every man is bound to believe that Christ died for him:

Therefore, &c.

strants'

ens the

reproba

Of this argument the other party deny the assumption, saying, That they who never heard of Christ, are not obliged to believe in him; and seeing Remonthe Remonstrants (as they are commonly called) opinion do generally themselves acknowledge, that without the strengthoutward knowledge of Christ there is no salvation, that gives the other party yet a stronger argument for cree of their precise decree of reprobation. For, say tion. they, seeing we all sec really, and in effect, that God hath withheld from many generations, and yet from many nations, that knowledge which is absolutely needful to salvation, and so hath rendered it simply impossible unto them; why may he not as well withhold the grace necessary to make a saving application of that knowledge, where it is preached? For there is no ground to say, That this were injustice in God, or partiality, more than his leaving those others in utter ignorance; the one being but a withholding grace to apprehend the object of faith, the other a withdrawing the object itself. For answer to this, they are forced to draw a conclusion from their former hypothesis of Christ's dying for all, and God's mercy and justice, saying, That if these heathens, who live in these remote places, where the outward knowledge of Christ is not, did improve that common knowledge they have, to whom the outward creation is for an object of faith, by which they may gather that there is a God, then the Lord would, by some providence, either send an angel to tell them of Christ, or convey the scriptures to them, or bring them some way to an opportunity to meet with such as might inform them. Which, as it gives always too much to the and strength of man's will and nature, and savours a little of Socinianism and Pelagianism, or at least

power

an irrevo. cable de

cree, excluded

of Semi-Pelagianism, so, since it is only built upon probable conjectures, neither hath it evidence enough to convince any strongly tainted with the other doctrine; nor yet doth it make the equity and wonderful harmony of God's mercy and justice towards all so manifest to the understanding. So that I have often observed, that these asserters of universal grace did far more pithily and strongly overturn the false doctrine of their adversaries, than they did establish and confirm the truth and certainty of their own. And though they have proof sufficient from the holy scriptures to confirm the universality of Christ's death, and that None, by none are precisely, by an irrevocable decrec, excluded from salvation, yet I find when they are pressed in the respects above mentioned, to show from sal how God hath so far equally extended the capacity to partake of the benefit of Christ's death unto all, as to communicate unto them a suflicient way of so doing, they are somewhat in a strait, and are put more to give us their conjectures from the certainty of the former pre-supposed truth, to wit, that because Christ hath certainly died for all, and God hath not rendered salvation impossible to any, therefore there must be some way or other by which they may be saved; which must be by improving some common grace, or by gathering from the works of creation and providence, than by really demonstrating, by convincing and spiritual arguments, what that way is.

vation.

§. X. It falls out then, that as darkness, and the great apostacy, came not upon the Christian world all at once, but by several degrees. one thing making way for another; until that thick and gross veil came to be overspread, wherewith the nations were so blindly covered, from the seventh and eighth, until the sixteenth century; even as the darkness of the night comes not upon the

outward creation at once, but by degrees, according as the sun declines in each horizon; so neither did that full and clear light and knowledge of the glorious dispensation of the gospel of Christ appear all at once; the work of the first witnesses being more to testify against and discover the abuses of the apostacy, than to establish the truth in purity. He that comes to build a new city, must first remove the old rubbish, before he can see to lay a new foundation; and he that comes to an house greatly polluted and full of dirt, will first sweep away and remove the filth, before he puts up his own good and new furniture. The dawning of the day dispels the darkness, and makes us see the things that are most conspicuous but the distinct discovering and discerning of things, so as to make a certain and perfect observation, is reserved for the arising of the sun, and its shining in full brightness. And we can, from a certain experience, boldly affirm, that the not waiting for this, but building among, yea, and with, the old Popish rubbish, and setting up before a full purgation, hath been to most Protestants the foundation of many a mistake, and an occasion of unspeakable hurt. Therefore the Lord God, who as he seeth meet doth communicate and The more make known to man the more full, evident, and perfect knowledge of his everlasting truth, hath gospel rebeen pleased to reserve the more full discove- this our ry of this glorious and evangelical dispensation, age. to this our age; albeit divers testimonies have thereunto been borne by some noted men in several ages, as shall hereafter appear. And for the greater augmentation of the glory of his grace, that no man might have whereof to boast, he hath raised up a few despicable and illiterate men, and for the most part mechanics, to be the dispensers of it; by which gospel all the scruples, doubts, hesitations, and objections above mentioned, are

full discov

served to