THat the will of God is the principall efficient cause of all those workes which he doth externally from himselfe , so that there is no superiour or precedent cause mouing and impelling it , shines to vs no lesse from the eternity of his will , than the omnipotency ; for with that double attribute Augustin doth inuest it in his 2. booke contra Manichaeos , cap. 2. And seeing there is nothing before his will , as being eternall ; nothing greater , as being omnipotent ; we inferre with that learned Father , that Neque extra , vel vltra illam causa inquirenda ; There is no cause either without , or beyond it , that being the source and fountaine of all causes , as by a more particular suruey of Gods workes we shall discusse hereafter . For illustration . In his eternall decree , why are some marked out as inheritours of his Sion ? others againe expulsed , and banished those blessed Territories ? they as vessels of mercy , for the manifestation of his goodnesse ; these of furie , for the promulgation of his iustice ? Doubtlesse the wil , & the bene-placitum of the Almighty as the primary & immediate cause , whereof if there be any more subordinate , they haue all alliance and dependancy on it , Tanquam à principali intentione primi agentis . Like inferiour Orbes which haue their influence & motion from a higher mouer . I need not trauaile far either for proofe or instance ; our Chapter is bountifull in both . What was the cause that God did chuse Iacob and reiect Esau ? The mediate and secondary cause , was , because he loued Iacob , and not Esau . But why is his loue incommunicable , and as it seemes , in a partiall reseruation , peculiar to that more than this ? I know not a more plausible and higher motiue than his will . Insistendum ergò in particulas , cuius vult , & quem vult . Our enquiry here must be cautelous , and slow of foot , lest wee run violently into errour . Here is a cuius vult onely for him that hee hath mercy on , and but a quem vult for him he hardens ; vltra quas procedere non l●cèt , saith Caluin . Here is the vtmost Verge & Pillar where reason durst to coast ; what is beyond is either vnknowne , or dangerous ; how euer some vain-glorious braines ( ambitious of mysterious and abstruser knowledge ) haue inscribed here their Multa pertransiéunt , & augibitur scientia . But in so stickle & dangerous a tortēt , how are they o'rewhelmed at last ? and whilst they so ventrously climbe this steeper turrer , throwned desperately into heresie ? For mine owne part , I haue euer thought curiosity in diuine affaires but a quaint distraction , rather applauding an humble ( yet faithful ) ignorance , than a proud and temerarious knowledge . And had some of the Fathers beene shot-free of this curious insolence , they needed not haue retreated from former Tenents , & so much in deared posterity , no lesse in the reuiew than retractation of laborious errors : Amongst whom S. Augustine ( though since entituled Malleus Haereticorum ) shared not a little in the 83. of his Questions , and 68. Where expounding our place of the Apostle , would thus vindicate the Almighty from iniustice ; that God foresaw that in some , Quo digni sunt iustificatione ; that in others , Quo digni sunt obtusione ; so making God , will to depend on a foreseene merit . A position that doth not onely repugne the discipline of holy storie , but thwarts the maine tide & current of orthodox antiquity , as in a fuller discourse we shall display anon : and therefore in his 7. Booke de Praedestinatione Sanctorum , cap. 4. he doth chastise his former tenents with 2 Deus non elegit opera , sed sidem in praescientiâ ; That God did not elect lacob for foreseene workes , but faith . But because in saith there is as well a merit , as in workes , he once more rectifies his opinion in the first of his Retractations and 23 , where he doth peach his sometimes ignorance , and ingeniously declares himselfe , that — Nondum diligentius quaesiuit , nec inuenit mysteria , he had not yet throughly sifted that of the Apostle , Rom. 11.5 . That there was a remnant according to the election of grace , which , if it did flow from a foreseene merit , was rather restored than giuen , and therefore ( at last ) he informes his owne judgement , and his Readers thus ; Datur quidem fideli sed data est etiam prius ut esset fidelis ; Grace is given to the faithfull , but it is first given that he should be faithfull . Hence Lumbard in his 1 booke , 41 distinction , pathetically , Elegit quos voluit Deus gratuitâ misericordiâ , non quia fideles futuri erant , sed ut essent , nec quià crediderant , sed ut fierent credentes . God out of the prerogatiue of his will , and bounty of his goodnesse , hath chosen whom he pleased , not because they were faithfull , but because they should be , and not of themselues beleeuing , but made so . And therefore , that Vt sim sidelis , 1 Cor. 7.25 . beares a remarkable emphasis . I haue obtained mercie that I might be faithfull , not that I was . Here the Pelagian startles , & lately backt with a troope of Arminians , takes head against this truth , fancying and dreaming of certain causes without God , which are not subsisting in God himselfe , but externally mouing the will of God to dispose and determine of seuerall euents , laying this as an unshaken principle , Fidem esse conditionem in obiecto eligibili ante electionem ; That faith and obedience ( foreseene of God in the Elect ) was the necessary condition and cause of their election . I intend not here a pitcht field against the vpstart Sectarie , for I shall meet him anon in a single combat : my purpose now is to be but as a scour , or spie , which discouers the weaknesse of his aduersary , not stands to encounter . And indeed both the time and place suggest me rather to resolue , than debate ; and convince , than dispute an errour . That faith then , or any praeexisting merit in the person to be elected ; was the cause of his election , is neither warrantable by reason nor primitiue Authoritie . For God could not foresee in the elect any faith at all , but that which in after times he was to crowne them with , and therefore not considerable as any precedent cause of election , but as the effect and fruit , and consequent thereof .

The primary and chiefe motive then is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Ephes. 1.5 . the good pleasure of Gods will , which , prompted of it selfe , without any reference to praeexisting faith , obedience , merit , as the qualities , cause , or condition of it , hath powred grace on this man more than that ; Non solum in Christo , Synod . Dort . sed per Christum . And therefore ( as that late venerable Synode hath awarded it ) Non ex illis conditionibus facta est , sed ad illas ; That election was not fram'd of these conditions , but to them , as to their effect and issue . And if we commerce a little with passages of holy story , we shall find that our election points rather to the free will of God in his eternall councell , than to any goodnesse in vs which God foresaw : so Acts 13.48 . where we read of the Gentiles , that many beleeued because they were ordained to eternal life , and not therefore ordained because they formerly beleeued . And if we will not suffer our minds to bee transported either with scruple or noueltie , the text is open , Ephes. 1.4 . He hath chosen vs before the foundations of the world were laid , that we might be holy , not that we were . And in this very Chapter , verse 23. The vessels of mercy are first said to be prepared to mercy , then cald : and therefore Saint Austin in his 86. Tract upon Iohn , out of a holy indignation , doth check the insolence of those , Qui praescientiam Dei defendunt contra gratiam Dei ; Which in matters of saluation , obscure and extenuate the grace of God with the foreknowledge of God : for if God did therefore chuse vs , because he did know , and foresee that wee would be good , he did not chuse vs to make vs good , but wee rather chose him , in purposing to be good , which if it did carry any shew either of probabilitie , or truth , we might question our Apostle , who in his 8 here , and 29. no lesse perswades , than proues , that those which God foreknew he did predestinate to be conform'd to the image of his sonne , and therefore God did not chuse vs , because before election there was a conformitie in vs , but because from all eternitie he did elect vs , in time he made us conform'd to the image of his Sonne . Whereupon St. Augustine in his fift booke , contra Iulianum . 3. chapt . thus , Nullum elegit dignum , sea eligendo effecit dignum . God in the choise of his Elect , found none worthy , but in the chusing made them worthy . Moreover , our election , which is of grace ( as I yonder proued ) could not stand if workes and merits went before it . Haec quippè non inuenit merita , sed facit ; Grace doth not find works in vs , but fashions them , according to that of the Apostle , 2 Thes. 2.13 . God hath from the beginning chosen you through sanctification of the spirit , and not of works . Nay , some here so much abolish and wipe off all claime of merit , that they admit not Christ as the meritorious cause of our election . Indeed , say they , the Scripture is thus farre our Schoolemaster , That we are iustified by the blood of Christ , Synod . Dort . and reconciled to God by the death of his Sonne : but where are we informed that we are elected through his bloud , or praedestinated by his death ? Indeed , in the 3 of Iohn 16. we finde a — sic Dous dilexit , — God so loued the world that he gaue his Sonne . So that , not because Christ died for vs , God loued , and chose vs , but because God loued and chose us , therefore Christ died for vs . For so Rom. 5.8 . God setteth out his loue towards vs , that whilst we were yet sinners , Christ died for vs . In matters therefore of election , we acknowledge not a cause more classicke than the Cuius vult here specified , He will haue mercy on whom he will . Insomuch that in the parable of the housholder , Matth. 20. I finde but a sic volo , as a sufficient and iust cause of his designes . I will giue to this last as much as to thee ; & yet this Will so clothed with a diuine iustice , that God is not said to will a thing to be done , because it is good , but rather to make it good , because God would haue it to be done . For proofe whereof , a sweet singer of our Israel instances in those wonderfull passages of creation , where 't is first said that Deus cre●uit , God created all things , and the Valdè bonum comes aloofe , he saw that they were all good , and the morall portends but this , That euery thing is therefore good , because it was created , and nor therefore created because it was good ; which doth wash , and purge the will of the Almighty from any staine , or tincture of iniustice ; for though that be the chiefe mover and director of all his proiects , as the prime and peremptory cause , doing this , because hee will , yet we finde not onely sanctitatem in operibus , but justitiam in vijs . The Lord is righteous in all his wayes , and holy in all his workes . Hereupon that great treasurer of Learning and Religion , Zanchius in his 3 booke , de Natura Dei . and 4 chapter , diuides betweene the cause of Gods will , and the reason of his will : That though there be no superiour cause of it , yet there is a iust reason , and a right end and purpose in it . Morl. Clean. Lep. Hence S. Ierome , Deus nihil fecit quia vult , sed quia est ratio sic fieri ; God doth nothing because hee will , but because there is a reason of so doing , in regard whereof it is not simply called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the will of God , but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , the good willof God , Ephes. 1.11 . So that in his sacred resolutions and designements , though we meet ( sometimes ) with passages , wound vp in darkened terrour , the cause whereof wee may admire not scan ; yet the drift and maine ends of the Almighty haue been so backt with strength of a iust reason , that we may rather magnifie his goodnesse than tax his power ; and applaud the calmnesse of an indulgent mercie , than repine at the lashes of an incensed iustice . Equitie and goodnesse are children of one burden , both the lawfull issue of his will , which though foule mouthes of libertines haue strangely bastardized , making that the throne of tyranny , which is the rule of iustice , yet let them know that of Augustine to his Sixtus ; Iniustum esse non potest , quod placuit Iusto . To be God , and to be vniust , is to be God and not God . So faire a goodnesse , was neuer capable of so foule a contradiction , and therefore ( as the same father prosequutes ) Iniquitatem damnare nouit , non facere : God knows how to iudge , not to commit a crime , and to dispose , not mould it , and is often the father of the punishment , not the fact . Hence 't is , that the dimnesse of humane apprehension conceaues that ( oftentimes ) a delinquency in God , which is the monster of our own frailty ; making God not onely to foreknow , but predestinate an euill , when the euill is both by growth , and conception ours , and if ought sauour of goodnesse in vs , Gods , not ours , yet ours too , as deriuatiue from God , who is no lesse the Patron of all goodnesse , than the Creatour , and 't is as truly impossible for him to commit euill , as 't was truly miraculous to make all that hee had made good . And therefore Tertullian , in his first booke de Trinitate , makes it a Non potest fieri , a matter beyond the list and reach of possibilitie , that he should be Artifex mali operis , the promoter & enginer of a depraued act , who challengeth to himselfe the title no lesse of an vnblemished Father , than of a Iudge . Our thoughts then should not carry too loftie a saile , but take heed how they cut the narrow straights , and passages of his will . A busie prying into this Arke of secrets , as 't is accompanied with a full blowne infolence , so with danger ; Humilitie ( here ) is the first staire to safetie ; and a modest knowledge stands constantly wondering , whilst the proud apprehension staggers , and tumbles too . Here 's a Sea vnnauigable , and a gulfe so scorning fathom , that our Apostle himselfe was driuen to his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , O depth , and in a rapture , more of astonishment , than contemplation , he stiles it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : voluntatis suae mysterium , or ( as Beza translates it , ) Sacramentum , the Sacrament , and mysterie of his will , being so full of vnknowne turnings , and Meanders , that if a naked reason hold the clue , we are rather inuolued , than guided in so strange a Labyrinth .

To enquire then the cause of Gods will , were an Act of Lunacie , not of Iudgement ; for every efficient cause is greater than the effect , now there 's nothing greater than the will of God , and therefore no cause thereof . For if there were , there should something praeoccupate that will , which to conceiue were sinfull , to beleeue blasphemous . If any then ( suggested by a vaine-glorious enquirie ) should aske why God did elect this man , and not that ? we haue not onely to resolue , but to forestall so beaten an obiection : Because he would . But why would God doe it ? Here 's a question as guiltie of reproofe , as the author , who seekes a cause of that , beyond , or without which there is no cause found , where the apprehension wheeles , and reason runs giddy in a doubtfull gire : Composcat se ergo humana temeritas , August . & id quod non est non quaerat , ne id quod est non inueniat . Here a scrupulous and humane rashnesse should be husht , and not search for that which is not , lest it finde not that which is . For as the same Father , in his 105 Epist. Cur illum potiùs , quàm illum , liberet , aui non , scrutetur ( qui potest ) iudiciorum eius tam magnum profundum , sed caueat praecipitium — . Let him hat can , descry the wonders of the Lord in this great deep , but let him take heed he sinke not ; and in his answer to the second question of Simplician : Quare huic ita , & huic non ita , home tu quis es qui respondeas Deo ? & cur isti sic , illi aliter ? Absit vt dicamus Iudicium luti esse , sed figuli . Why God doth to this man so , and to that not so , who dare expostulate ? and why to this man , thus , to that , otherwise ? farre be it , that we should thinke it in the iudgement of the clay , but of the potter . Downe then with this aspiring thought , this ambitious desire of hidden knowledge , and make not curiositie the picklocke of diuine secrets ; know that such mysteries are doubly barred vp in the coffers of the Almighty , which thou maist striue to violate , not open . And therefore if thou wilt needs trespasse vpon deity , dig not in its bosome ; a more humble aduenture sutes better with the condition of a worme , scarce a man , or if so , exposed to frailtie .

'T is a fit taske and imployment for mortalitie , to contemplate Gods workes , not sift his mysteries , and admite his goodnesse , not blurre his iustice ; And it hath beene euer the practice of primitiue discipline , rather to defend a disparaged equitie , than to question it , for so that reuerend Father ( who euer mixt his learning with a deuout awe ) in his 3 booke , cont. Iulianum , and 18 chapter , Bonus est Deus , instus est Deus , potest aliquos sine bonis meritis liberare , quia bonus est , non potest quemquam sine malis damnare , quia iustus est . God is equally good and iust , he can saue some without reference to desert , because he is good , he cannot damne any man without a due demerit , because he is iust : Nay had God deliuered all mankinde into the iawes of destruction , we could not touch him with iniustice , but rather admire so darke and inuestigable an equitie , which we may illustrate by worldly passages and humane contracts . If I were bankrupt of instance , S. Augustine could relieue me . A great man ( saith he ) lends two summes of money , to two seuerall men , who can tax him of obduratenesse , or iniustice , if at time of repayment he forgiue this man his debt , and require satisfaction of that ? for this liues not in the will and disposall of the debtor , but of the creditor . So stands the case betweene frailty and omnipotencie . All men ( which through Adam became tributaries to sin and death ) are one masse of corruption , subiect to the stroake of diuine iustice , which , whether it be required or giuen , there is no iniquitie in God , but of whom required , and to whom giuen , 't is in such debtors insolence to iudge , lest God returne their saucinesse with a — Non licet mihi quod volo facere ? as the housholder did the murmuring labourers in his vineyard . Is thine eie euill , because I am good ? And indeed I display not a higher cause of election , and reprobation than diuine goodnesse , which that learned Schoole-man , Part. 1. quaest. 23. art. 5. doth not onely illustrate but proue no lesse by similitude , than argument . For God ( saith he ) made all things for his goodnesse sake , that in things by him made , his goodnesse might appeare , but because that goodnesse is in it selfe , one , and simple : and things created cannot attaine to so diuine a perfection , it was necessary that that goodnesse should be diuersly represented in those things , and hence 't is that to the complement and full glory of the vniuerse , there is in them a diuersitie of degrees required , of which some possesse a lower , and some a higher roome ; and that such a multiformitie may be preserued in nature , God permits some euils to be done , lest much good should be anticipated : — Voluit itaque Deus in hominibus , quantum ad aliquos , quos praestestinet , suam repraesentare bonitatem , per modum misericordiae , parcendo illis , quantum verò ad alios , quos reprobet , suam ostendi bonitatem per modum iustioiae , puniendo eos . God in those hee elects , would shew his goodnesse by way of mercie in sparing these , in others he reprobates , his goodnesse too , by way of iustice in punishing them . And therefore our Apostle here not onely magnifies the riches of his glory vpon vessels of mercie , vers. 23. but his long parience too , to vessels of wrath , vers. 22. So that in his house there are not onely those of gold and siluer , but of wood and earth too , and some to honor , some to dishonor , 2 Tim. 2.20 . Of which if any mutinous or sawcy ignorant desires a reason beyond Gods will , I haue no answer but that of Augustine , in his 22 Sermon , de verb Apost. Turatiocinare , ego mirer , in disputa , ego credam : altitudinem video , ad profundum non peruenio ; Dispute and reason he that durst , while my thought and beleefe stand at a bay , and wonder ; I see there is a height , but cannot reach it , and know this gulfe , not fathome it . For as in things naturall ( it is Aquinas similitude ) when all the first matter is vniforme , why one part of it should be vnder the forme of fire , another vnder the forme of earth , there may be a reason assigned , that there might be a diuersity of species in things naturall : but why this part of matter should be rather vnder the forme of fire , and that vnder the forme of earth , depends only on the simplicity of Gods will ; & as it hangs too on the wil of the Architect , that this stone should be rather in this part of the wall , and that in another , although reason and art require that other stones should be in one part of the Edifice , & others in another . Neither is there for this iniquity in God , that he doth not proportion his gifts in a strict equality , for it were against the reason and truth of iustice , if the effect of Predestination should be of debt , and not of grace ; for in those thing which are of an vnrestrained freedome , euery man ( out of the iurisdiction of his owne will ) may giue to whome he will , more or lesse , without the least disparagement of iustice : And therefore to those recoiling dispositions which mutter at a free hounty , heaped on others without reference to desert , I wil vsurpe that of the Parable , Tolle quod tuum est , & vade . And yet notwithstanding though the will of God be the independent prime cause of all things , so that beyond it there is no other cause , and without it there is no reason of Gods actions ; yet it is not the sole and particular cause , for there are many secondary concurring with the first , by the mediation whereof , the will of God brings his intendments to an issue . As in matters of our saluation the will and working of man shakes hands with that of God , for though without him we finde a Nil potestis facere , Ioh. 15.52 . Ye can doe nothing ; yet assisted by his will , and the powerfull and effectuall operations of his grace , our will cooperates with Gods . Else how could Dauid pray to him to be his helper , vnlesse he himselfe did endeauour something ? or how could God command vs to doe his will , except the will of man did worke in the performance of it ? Lum●… . lib. 1. 〈◊〉 42. It is true ( saith S. Augustine ) we finde a Deus operatur omnia in omnibus , but we no where finde a Deus credit omnia in omnibus . Nostrum itaque est credere , & velle , illius autem dare credentibus , & volentibus facultatem operandi : To will , and to beleeue is ours , but to giue the faculty of operation to them that will and bleeue , is Gods . I haue laboured more than they all , yet not I , but the grace of God with me , 1 Cor. 15.10 . Why God therefore doth saue some men , there is more to be alleaged than this , God would haue them to be saued ; for if this laurell doe beautifie our triumph we must encounter , hee that will haue this Crowne must tug for it , and this prize , must wrestle , Qui creauit te sine te , non saluat te sine te . He that hath created thee without thy selfe , will not saue thee without thy selfe . And therefore those whom God from all eternity hath destined to saluation , hee hath in a like priuiledge destined to the meanes : But why those meanes , not communicable to all , many a busie endeauour hath strugled for a reason , not compast it . Out of more than a double Iurie of Interpreters , which I haue ( not with a little distraction ) obserued , wauing here in doubtfull opinion , Hugo de Sancto Victore giues thus his verdict . Gods grace is indifferently exhibited to all men , to the elect and reprobate , but all doe not equally lay hold on it . Some no lesse neglect , than repulse Gods grace , and when its comfortable beames shall shine vpon them , they shut their eies against it , and will not behold it , and God in iustice with-drawes his grace from these men , because they with-draw themselues from his grace . Est enim in gratiâ quemadmodum in solis radio ( saith he ) There is a proportion betwixt the raies of the Sunne , and the eie , and betwixt the soule of man , and the grace of God . The eie is ordoined by nature to be the organ of the sight , and yet the eie cannot see except the Sunne enlighten it ; neither can the Sunne make any thing else see but the eie in man , for it may shine vpon our hand or foot , neuerthelesse the hand or foot shall see nothing : so the soule hath a possibility to merit by her naturall abilities , but that possibility shall be vaine and fruitlesse , vnlesse it be quickned by the powerfull operation of Gods grace , which grace , if it shall once actuate it , then the soule will be able to attaine to that double life of grace here , of glory hereafter . Vnde totum est ex gratiâ , sic tamen vt non excludatur meritum . Whence he would haue all to hang on grace , yet so that wee exclude not merit . But this inference is many stories aboue my reach , and in the greennesse of my iudgement , there is little truth in the consequence , and palpable contradiction in the consequent . For how can the merits of man challenge any thing , if all flow from the grace of God ? Yes ( saith Hugo ) euen as a weake child which cannot yet goe alone , should be led by the Nurse , a man cannot say that the childe goeth of himselfe , but by the assistance of the Nurse ; and yet the Nurse could not make the childe goe , vnlesse he were naturally inclinde to that motion : so the soule of man is said to merit by the aid of grace , and by her owne naturall inbred ability , but all the glory of the merit must be ascribed to God , because the soule can doe nothing without the support and grace of God . Whencel can gather no truth but this , that in solo homine sit peten̄tia logica ad salutem . That a man only maybe saued without apparant contradiction ; no vnreasonable creature is capable of that euerlasting blessednesse and beatificall vision ; and the soule of a beast is no more able to see God , than a sencelesse stocke to behold a visible obiect . For man onely hath a passiue power to saluation , and man before his conuersion hath a passiue power only . And therefore the similies afore proposed , if they be referred to the soule before the conuersion , are false , and beare no proportion , for then the soule is starke blinde , and dead in trespasses , and cannot looke on the grace offered , or moue one iot in the course of Christianity : But after the conuersion when God speaks Ephata to the soule , be opened , when the vnderstanding is illuminated , and scales of errour once drop from the eies , then it may hold some correspondency with truth . As therefore in matters of our conuersion , so of election too , all hangs on Grace , and this grace in a holy reseruation limited to a narrow Tribe , for the cuius vult here insinuates no more , and He will haue mercy on whom he will , sounds in a direct aequiualence with this , He will haue mercy onely on some ; of which some there is a definite and set number , vncapable of augmentation , or diminution , howeuer those new sprung Sectaries , Arminians . out of a turbulent braine and thirst of cauillation , blaspheme the eternity of Gods decree , making our election mutable , incompleat , conditionate , subiect to change and reuocation , and what other stranger birth and prodigie of opinion , which I conceiue not without a holy impatience and indignation . And whereas our Fathers of old haue maintained , euen to the sword and fagot , the decree of election to be no lesse eternall than irreuocable , these would faine lull our beleefe with innouation of vpstart discipline , altering no lesse the number than the condition of the elect into the state of reprobate , and of the reprobate into the elect . And ( as the Deuill did to Christ ) they vrge Text and reason for it . For God ( say they ) cannot giue grace to whom he doth giue grace , which if hee should doe an elect may be damned ; and hee can giue grace to him he doth not giue grace too , which if he doe , a reprobate may be saued , and so a reprobate may become an elect , and an elect a reprobate . Thus they shoot by an indirect aime , and saile by a wrong Compasse , for wee enquire not here of Gods power , but of his will , not what he can doe , but what he hath resolued to doe . Againe , it seemes no consequence , God can saue or damne a man , therefore this man can be saued or damned , Huge de Saxcto Victore in cap. 9. ad Rom. Non enim posse Dei sequitur posse nostrum , Gods power stands not in relation to ours : as if God would otherwise redeeme mankinde than by the death of his Sonne . ( As there was another meanes possible ( saith Austin ) but not more conuenient . ) That therefore mankinde could otherwise be redeemed ; and if God had this in his power , that it should be therefore in mans too ? Could not God ( if he would ) haue saued Iudas ? doth it therefore follow that Iudas could be saued ? No , for though this be too ragged and stonie for a popular capacity to digge through ; yet if wee looke backe a little into the mysteries of Gods decree , wee shall finde that which will no lesse relieue our vnderstanding , than remoue our scruple ; where things from euerlasting haue such a doome , which is not malleable either by change or reuocation , For the Lord of hosts hath determined , and who can disanull it ? and his hand is stretched out , and who can turne it away ? Isay 14.27 . Seeing then that election is from eternity , and that not obnoxious to mutability or corruption , we neither curtaile the elect of their primatiue glory , nor of their number . Which though they be a little flocke , ( in respect of that herd and large droue of the damned ) yet in those sacred volumes of Gods diuiner Oracles , we finde them numberlesse . So Apoc. 7.9 . These things I beheld , and loe , a great multitude which none could number of all nations and kinreds , and people , and tongues , stood before the throne , and before the Lambe , cloathed with long white robes , and palmes in their hands . Whence those Factors for the Romish See , would hew out a way to vniuersall grace ; making our election generall , manifolde , indefinite , and would haue Christs death no lesse meritorious , than propitiatory for the sinnes of the whole world . A quaere long since on foot betweene Augustine and Pelagius , and since in a fiery skirmish betweene the Calumist and the Lutheran , out of whose mud and corruption there hath beene lately bred the Arminian , a Sect as poisonous as subtill , and will no Iesse allure than betray a flexible and yeelding iudgement . For our own safety then , and the easier oppugning of so dangerous a suggestion , let vs examine a little of the extent & bounds of this grace , which Diuines cut into these three squadrons , in Gratiam Praedestinationis , vocationis , & iustificationis . Gratia Praedestinationis , is that of eternity , the wombe and Nursery of all graces , whereby God loued his elect , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Gratia vocationis , a secondary grace , by which God cals vs , and by calling prescribes the meanes of our saluation . And this grace hath a double prospect , Either to that which is externall , in libro Scripturae , or creaturae , where God did manifest himselfe as well by what he had made , as by what he had written , or to that which is internall , of illumination , or renouation , of that in the intellect only , which a reprobate may lay claime to , of this in the heart , which by a holy reseruation and incommunicablenesse is peculiar to the elect , Gratia instificationis , which is not a grace inherent , but bestowed , and stands as a direct . Antipode to humane merit . Yet not that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Schooles christen with a gratia gratis data , any gift which God out of his free bounty hath bestowed vpon vs beyond our desert , as Prudence , Temperance , and the like ; for in these the heathen had their share , whose singular endowments haue made posterity both an admirer , and a debter ; but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Gratia gratum faciens , a gift perfect , and fanctified , which doth so qualifie the receiuer , that hee is not onely acceptable , but glorious in the eyes of the bestower , a● Faith , Hope , & the third sister , Charity , which no lesse reconcile than iustifie vs before God .

We conclude then , that the externall grace which the creature affordeth vs , is not limited to a priuate number , but to all ; yet we denie the power and vertue of saluation in it . We allow a sufficiencie of redargution for conuicting the heathen , who when they knew God , worshipped him not as God , and therefore are both desperate and inexcusable . Moreover the grace which the Scripture affor deth vs , as it is not vniuersall , so not of absolute sufficiency for faluation , but onely in genere mediorum externorum , ( as the Schooles speake ) because it doth prescribe vs the meanes how we may be saued , but it doth not apply the meanes that we are saued . Againe , that grace of Illumination is more peculiarly confined , and if by the beames of that glorious Sunne which enlightneth euery man that comes into the world , we attaine to the knowledge of the Scripture , yet the bare knowledge doth not saue vs , but the application . But the grace of regeneration is not onely a sufficient , but an effectuall grace , and as 't is more powerfull , so 't is more restrained ; they onely partake of this blessednes , whom God hath no lesse enlightned , than sanctified , and pointed out , then sealed , men inuested in white robes of sinceritie , whose delinquencies , though sometimes of a deepe tincture , are now both dispensed with , & obliterated , not because they were not sinfull , but because , not imputed : so inuolucrous , and hidden are Gods eternall proiects , that in those he relinquisheth , or saues , his reason , is his will ; yet that as farre discoasted from tyranny , as iniustice . The Quare we may contemplate , not scan , lest our misprision grow equall with our wonder . And here in a double ambush dangerously lurke the Romanist and the Arminian , men equally swolne with rancor of malice , and position : and with no lesse violence of reason , than importunitie , presse the vertue of Christs death for the whole world . Alas ! we combat not of the price and worth of Christs death , but acknowledge That an able ransome of a thousand worlds ; but the ground of our duell tends to this , whether Christ dying proposed to himselfe the saluation of the whole world . We distinguish then — inter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christi , & gratiam Christi . The merits of Christ and the gracious application of those merits . His merits are able to allay the fury of his incensed Father , and reconcile vnto him the very reprobates : but the application of those merits are restrained to the Elect , for they onely are capeable of so great a blessednesse . For proofe wherof we haue not only that venerable Bench and Councell of Fathers and Schoole-men , but also a higher court of Parliament to appeale vnto , the Registers and penmen of sacred Chronicles , Euangelists , & Apostles , which punctually insinuate Christs death onely for his own , for his Church , for his Brethren , for those whose head hee was , laying down his life for some , and shedding his blood for some , for his sheepe , his little flock , his peculiar Priesthood , his tabernacle , body , spouse , his Canaan , Sion , Ierusalem , his Ambassadors , Saints , Angels , in a word this Cuius vult , The Elect. I 'le not beat your eares with a voluminous citation of text and Fathers , I 'le draw only one shaft out of this holy quiuer , and direct it to the Roman aduersary , which if he shall repell or put by , I 'le proclaime hereafter a perpetuall truce . The maine and chiefe cause that impeld Christ to die , was his loue , Iohn 15. But Christ loued not all , but his own Eph. 5. Therefore Christ died not for all , but for his owne . The Iesuite here retraicts , and we haue none now left to encounter vs but the Arminian ; who ( like a cunning Fencer ) hath many a quaint flourish , and with a false blow sometimes staggers , not wounds his aduersary . The part most indangered , is the eie of our Intellect , and iudgement which he thus dazzels with a subtile nicety . That Christ hath obtained reconciliation for all , for Saul and Iudas , Moulin in his Anatomy of Arminianisme but not as they were reprobates , but as they were sinners ; For God ( saith he ) did equally intend , and desire the saluation of all , and the reason why they were not saued was their incredulitie , and misapplying of this gracious reconciliation and attonement . Thus they would betray weaknesse into the hands of errour ; and for a fairer glosse , and gilding of this their treachery , they distinguish — inter Impetrationem , & applicationem ; Pretending that Christ did impetrate reconciliation for all , but the application of that leanes wholly to the elect . How crazy and ill tempered this position is , wee 'le declare briefly . First , wee deny that Christ by his death hath impetrated reconciliation for all , for Saul , or Iudas : Neither can our thought , much lesse our beleefe giue way to so strange a Paradox , Idem ibidem . That remission of sinnes is obtained for those whose sinnes are not remitted , or that saluation was purchased for those whom God from all eternity had decreed to condemne . Againe , we acknowledge Christs death sufficient for all , all beleeuers , nay all , if they did beleeue . But that Saul or Iudas or the residue of that cursed Hierarchy should reap the benefit of his Passion , we vtterly disclaime as erronious and hereticall . For if Christ by his death hath reconciled Iudas , how i' st that Iudas suffers for his sinnes ? for we cannot without impeachment both of his mercy , and iustice too , say that Christ suffered for Iudas his sins , yet Iudas is damned for those sinnes ; And since Christ as he is God , hath from euerlasting destined Iudas to damnation , how i' st that the same Christ , as he is man , and mediator betweene God and man , should reconcile Iudas , whom from eternity he had reprobated ? Againe , if Christ hath obtained reconciliation for all men , then none shall be borne without the couenant of Christ , so that of the Apostle will be false : That , By nature we are all borne the children of wrath , Ephes. 2. And can we truely be stiled the children of wrath , if reconciliation be obtained for all men without exception ? And if all infants borne without the couenant are reconciled , Cur non clementi crudelitate in cunis iugulauimus ? ( saith the learned Moulin ) why doe we not in a mercifull cruelty murther them in their cradles ? for then their saluation were sealed ; but if they suruiue , they are nourished in Paganisme , infidelitie , which are the beaten roades and highwayes to destruction . And if we scan ( saith he ) the nicety of these words , the obtaining of reconciliation to be applied , and the application of reconciliation obtained , wee shall finde it a meere curiositie to harrow and perples the braine , and torture the vnderstanding , since Christ hath neuer obtained that which he hath not applied , neither hath he applied that which he hath not obtained . Yet these men either of a head-strong opinion , or learned madnesse , are so violent in the prosecution of their tenents , that no strength of answer will satisfie their obiection , nor modestie of language suppresse their clamour , but a foule mouthed Forsterus will bray out his witty spleene with an — Error , & furor Zuinglianorum . His reasons are as slender as they are many ( the vertigoes and impostures of agiddie braine ) fitter for silence , than rehearsall , and for scorne than consutation . Wee apply then ; Is grace vniuersally bountifull , and mercy open-brested vnto all ? What meane then those Epithites of outcast , cursed , damned , and that triple inscription of death , hell , and damnation ? are they either of pollicie or truth ? Are they things reall , or fancied onely to bug-beare and awe mortalitie ? What would the Throne portend ? Iudge , aduersarie , Sergeant , prison , or those horrid tones of worme , fire , brimstone , howling , gnashing ? Is the Scripture the Anuill of vntruth , or are these things no more than faigned and imaginary ? What will those flames of your threatned purgarory proue at last , but the Chimaera and coinage of a phantasticke braine ? And a 500 yeares indulgence , but the sharke and legerdemaine or your Lord God the Pope ? Either your opinion is sandy , or your prison , both which must fleet with your holy Fathers honour , if the armes of mercie be expanded to all . Againe , are the merits of Christ appliable to all ? Sweare , whore , drinke , prophane , blaspheme , and ( if there be in that Alcharon , and cursed rolle , a sinne of a fairer growth ) baffle the Almighty at his face . Thinkest thou that heauen was euer guiltie of such treason against her Soueraigne ? or that it will euer entertaine a guest so exposed to the height of dissolutenesse and debaushment ? No , thou must know that one day there will be a dread full summons , either at those particular accounts , at the houre of Death , or at the generall audit of the last trumpe , when thou shalt meet with a new Acheldema and vale of Hinnom , places no lesse of terror than of torment , the fiery dungeon , and the burning Tophet , where the fury of the great Iudge realls in a floud of brimstone , and his reuenge boiles in a firy torrent , limitlesse , and vnquenchable . On the other side happily maist thou slumber , without howle ; or skreeke of conscience , thou wounded and deiected spirit ; Thou whose glorious ornaments are but sack cloth and ashes , and thy choisest fare but the bread of sorrow and contrition . Know there is balme of Gilead for the broken-hearted sinner , and oile of comfort for those which mourne in Sion . Behold how thy Sauiour comes flying downe with the wings of his loue , and sweepts away thy sinnes that they shall neither temporally shame thee , nor eternally condemne thee : Who shall wipe off all teares from your eyes , and lodge you in the bosome of old Abraham , where there is blisse vnspeakeable for euer . And thus I haue shewed you the happinesse of sheepe vnder the state of mercie ; Time bids me now to reflect on the misery of Goats , as they are vnder the condition of hardening .