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self, in the work in hand, I am the Lord, I change not; is, conceive, that which is found in him in respect of his decrees; the reason is, because it is assigned by him as the reason why they were not utterly destroyed: I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. In the beginning of the chapter, he did declare unto them his purpose and decree of sending his only-begotten Son, whom he there calls the messenger of the covenant unto them. He predicteth, ver. 3, 4. the happy fruit or consequence of that his sending, in reference to their nation and posterity. To the unchangeableness of this his decree he assigns the patience, which he had for a long time exercised towards them under their great and continued provocations; whereby he implies, that if he could have been turned out of the way of his decree concerning the sending of his Son unto them in their posterity, they would have done it by the greatness of their sins; but insomuch as this his decree, or himself in this his decree, was unchangeable, and it must have been changed, in case they had been all destroyed (for the decree was for the sending to their nation and posterity); hence, saith he, it comes to pass, that though your sins otherwise abundantly have deserved it, yet I have spared you from a total ruin: therefore in these two last Scripture arguments, there is every whit as much, or rather more, against, than for, the common doctrine of perseverance.'

Ans. That the unchangeableness of God, which is mentioned in this text, hath relation to the decrees of God, is granted; whatever then God purposeth or decreeth, is put upon a certainty of accomplishment, upon the account of his unchangeableness: there may be some use hereafter made of this concession, where (I suppose) the evasions that will be used about the objects of those decrees and their conditionality, will scarce wave the force of our arguing from it. For the present, though I willingly embrace the assertion, yet I cannot assent to the analysis of that place of Scripture, which is introduced as the reason of it. The design of the Lord in that place, hath been before considered: that the consolation here intended, is only this, that whereas God purposed to send the Lord Christ to the nation of the Jews, which he would certainly fulfil and accomplish, and therefore did not, nor could not utterly destroy them, will scarcely be evinced to the judgment of any one, who shall consider the

business in hand with so much liberty of spirit, as to cast an eye upon the Scripture itself: that after the rehearsal of the great promise of sending his Son in the flesh to that people, he distinguisheth them into his chosen ones, and those rejected; his remnant, and the refuse of the nation, being the main body thereof; threatening destruction to the latter, but engaging himself into a way of mercy and love towards the former, hath been declared. To assure the last of his continuance in these thoughts and purposes of his good-will towards them, he minds them of his unchangeableness in all such purposes, and particularly encourages them to rest upon it, in respect of his love towards themselves; that God intended to administer consolation to his saints in the expression insisted on, is not, cannot be, denied; now what consolation could redound to them in particular from hence, that the whole nation should not utterly be rooted out, because God purposed to send his Son to their posterity; notwithstanding this, any individual person that shall fly to the horns of this altar for refuge, that shall lay hold on this promise for succour, may perish everlastingly. There is scarce any place of Scripture where there is a more evident distinction asserted between the Jews who were so outwardly only and in the flesh, and those who were inwardly also and in the circumcision of the heart, than in this and the following chapter: their several portions are also clearly proportioned out to them in sundry particulars. Even this promise of sending the Messiah respected not the whole nation, and doubtless was only subservient to the consolation of them, whose blessedness consisted in being distinguished from others; but let the context be viewed, and the determination left to the Spirit of truth in the heart of him that reads.

Neither doth it appear to me, how the decree of God concerning the sending of his Son into the world, can be asserted as absolutely immutable, upon that principle formerly laid down, and insisted on by our author. He sends him into the world to die, neither is any concernment of his mediation so often affirmed to fall under the will and purose of God as his death. But concerning this, Mr. G. →tes, out of Socinus, for a possibility of a contrary and that the whole counsel of God might have been P Socin. Præl. Theol. cap. 10. sect. 8.

fulfilled by the good-will and intention of Christ, though actually he had not died. If then the purpose of God concerning Christ, as to that great and eminent part of his intendment therein, might have been frustrate, and was liable to alteration, what reason can be rendered, wherefore that might not upon some considerations (which Mr. Goodwin is able, if need were, to invent) have been the issue of the whole decree? And what then becomes of the collateral consolation, which from the immutability of that decree is here asserted. Now this being the only witness and testimony in the first part of our scriptural demonstration of the truth in hand, whereunto any exception is put in; and the exceptions against it being in such a frame and composure, as manifest the whole to be a combination of beggars and jugglers, whose pleas are inconsistent with themselves, as it doth now appear upon the examination of them apart; it is evident, that, as Mr. Goodwin hath little ground or encouragement for that conclusion he makes of this section, so that the light breaking forth from a constellation of this and other texts mentioned is sufficient to lead us into an acknowledgment and embracement of the truth contended for.

CHAP. III.

The immutability of the purposes of God proposed for a second demonstration of the truth in hand. Somewhat of the nature and properties of the purposes of God: the object of them. Purposes, how acts of God's understanding and will. The only foundation of the futurition of all things. The purposes of God absolute. Continuance of divine love towards believers purposed. Purposes of God farther considered, and their nature explained. Their independence and absoluteness evinced. Proved from Isa. xlvi. 9—11. Psal. xxxiii. 9-11. Heb. vi. 17,18,&c. Those places explained. The same truth by sundry reasons and arguments farther confirmed. Purposes in God, of the continuance of his love and favour to believers, manifested by an induction of instances out of Scripture: the first from Rom. viii. 28. proposed; and farther cleared and improved: Mr. G.'s dealing with our argument from hence, and our exposition of this place, considered. His exposition of that place proposed and discussed. The design of the apostle commented on: the fountain of the accomplishments of the good things mentioned, omitted by Mr. G. In what sense God intends to make all things work together for good to them that love him. Of God's foreknowledge. Of the sense and use of the word рoуivu̸oкw, also of scisco, and yivworw in classical authors. πçóyvwois in Scripture, every where taken for foreknowledge or predetermination, no where for preapprobation. Of preapproving, or preapprobation, here insisted on by Mr. G.; its inconsistency with the sense of the apostle's discourse manifested. The progress of Mr. G.'s exposition of this place considered. Whether men love God antecedently to his predestination and their effectual calling: to preordain and to preordinate different. No assurance granted of the consolation professed to be intended: the great uncertainty of the dependance of the acts of God's grace mentioned, on one another: the efficacy of every one of them resolved finally into the wills of men. Whether calling according to God's purpose, supposeth a saving answer given to that call: the affirmative proved, and exceptions given thereto removed. What obstructions persons called may lay in their own way to justification. The iniquity of imposing conditions and supposals on the purpose of God, not in the least intimated by himself. The whole acknowledged design of the apostle everted, by the interposition of cases and conditions by Mr. G. Mr. G.'s first attempt to prove the decrees of God to be conditional, considered: 1 Sam. ii. 30. to that end produced. I Sam. ii. 30. farther considered, and its unsuitableness to illustrate Rom. viii. 32, 33, proved: interpretation of Scripture by comparing of places agreeing neither in design, word, nor matter, rejected. The places insisted on proved not to be parallel, by sundry particular instances. Some observations from the words rejected. What act of God intended in those words to Eli, ‘I said indeed:' no purpose or decree of God in them declared. Any such purpose as to the house of fly sundry arguments disproved. No purpose of God in the words in

sisted on farther manifested. They are expressive of the promise or law concerning the priesthood, Numb. xxv. 11—13. More especially relating unto Exod. xxviii. 43. xxix. 9. The import of that promise, law, or statute, cleared: the example of Jonah's preaching, and God's commands to Abraham and Pharaoh. The universal disproportion between the texts compared by Mr. G. both as to matter and expression further manifested. Instances or cases of Saul and Paul to prove conditional purposes in God considered. Conditional purposes argued from conditional threatenings: the weakness of that argument, the nature of divine threatenings: what will of God, or what of the will of God is declared by them: no proportion between eternal purposes, and temporal threatenings: the issue of the vindication of our argument from the foregoing exceptions. Mr.G.'s endeavour to maintain his exposition of the place under consideration: the text perverted. Several evasions of Mr. G. from the force of this argument considered. His arguments to prove no certain or infallible connexion between calling, justification, and glorification, weighed and answered. His first from the scope of the chapter, and the use of exhortations; the question begged. His second from examples of persons called, and not justified: the question argued, begged; no proof insisted on, but the interposition of his own hypothesis. How we are called irresistibly, and in what sense. Whether bars of wickedness and unbelief may be laid in the way of God's effectual call. Mr. G.'s demur to another consideration of the text, removed. The argument in hand freed from other objections, and concluded. Jer. xxxi. 3. explained and improved for the confirmation of the truth under demonstration. 2 Tim. ii. 19. opened, and the truth from thence confirmed. The foregoing exposition and argument vindicated and confirmed. The same matter at large pursued. John vi. 38–40. explained, and the argument in hand from thence confirmed. Mr. G.'s exceptions to our arguing from this place removed. The sume matter further pursued. The exposition and argument insisted on fully vindicated and established. Matt. xxiv. 24. opened and improved. The severals of that text more particularly handled. Farther observations for the clearing the mind of the Holy Ghost in this place. The same farther insisted on and vindicated. Mr. G.'s exceptions at large discussed and removed. Eph. i. 3—5. 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14. opened. The close of the second argument from the immutability of the purposes of God.

HAVING cleared the truth in hand from the immutability of the nature of God, which himself holds out, as engaged for us to rest upon, as to the unchangeable continuance of his love unto us; proceed we now to consider the steadfastness and immutability of his purposes, which he frequently asserts, as another ground of assurance to the saints, of his safe guarding their glory of free acceptation to the end.

I shall not enter upon the consideration of the nature and absoluteness of the purposes of God, as to an express handling of them, but only a little unfold that property and