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but few true believers in this church; she had a name to live, but was dead; she had but a few names which had not defiled their garments, and therefore the defection of her is no proof of the apostacy of real saints. The things which remain, she is called upon to strengthen, are not to be understood of the graces of the Spirit in her members; since these are never really wasting and declining, they are always all they were, and never less, but continually on the growing, thriving, and increasing hand; for this good work of grace is daily carrying on, whether the saints are sensible of it or no, and will be performed until the day of Christ; nor can the graces of the Spirit die, being immortal and incorruptible seeds; nor are they ever ready to die, unless in the apprehensions of saints under fits of unbelief. Besides, it is God's work, and not man's, to strengthen these; and should these be intended in this passage, it would be no proof of the real loss of true grace, since these are said not to be dead, but ready to die, and recoverable. The Tà λоtà were the remaining members of this church, which sense is confirmed by the versions of the Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic, Vulgate Latin, and others. The majority of the members were already dead, and many others of them were sickly, and ready to die; the angel or pastor of this church is called upon to do his duty, to confirm such as were wavering, and do all that in him lay, by a diligent preaching of the word, and constant administration of ordinances, to preserve them from a more general defection. The threatening, in ver. 3, regards the formal and lifeless part of this church *; and as for the rest, the few undefiled names in Sardis, a promise of perseverance and happiness is made unto them:-They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment ; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels †.

5. When Christ says to the church at Thyatira, That which ye have already, not what thou hast attained to ‡, as Dr. Whitby cites the words, hold fast till I come §; and to that at Philadelphia, Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown ||; by what they had, and should hold fast, he does not mean the grace, but the doctrine of faith, the faithful word, the form of sound words, which both ministers and members should hold fast, in opposition to wavering about it, cowardice in it, and a departure from it; and such exhortations, though they may imply that saints may have their temptations to, and there is a possibility that they may, fall from some degree of stedfastness in the doctrines of the gospel, and therefore should be on their guard, yet not that they may or shall finally and totally let them go. And whereas the saints are stirred up to regard the more such exhortations from this consideration, that no man take their crown; by which may be meant, either the gospel, which was their crown and glory, or the honour they had gained by their faithfulness and integrity in abiding by it; or if eternal life is intended by it, it follows not that this is liable to be taken away from or be lost to true believers, though * Vide Whitby, p. 432, 433; ed. 2. 420, 421. Rev. ii. 25. § Whitby, p. 422; ed. 2. 411.

+ Rev. iii. 4, 5.
Rev. iii. 11.

some professors who expect it will be disappointed of it; but the design of the expression, in allusion to the Olympic games, in which many ran, but one received the prize, is to excite the saints to industry, diligence, and watchfulness.

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6. When Christ says to the church of the Laodiceans, Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth let it be observed that the state of this church, and the members of it, was such that she was not cold, without a principle of spiritual life and love, and a profession of religion; nor hot, lively, warm, and zealous in the exercise of grace, and discharge of duty; but lukewarm, indifferent, unconcerned about her own condition, and the honour and interest of Jesus Christ, a frame of soul very disagreeable to Christ, and therefore, to show his resentment of it, he threatens to spue her out of his mouth, as men do that which is ungrateful to them: which designs some chastisement or affliction, and that in order to bring her to a sense of her present condition, and out of it; for certain it is he had a love, an unchangeable and everlasting one, to many in this church; wherefore he says, As many as I love I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent, ver. 19.

SECTION LX.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. -REV. iii. 20.

FROM hence it is concluded +, that Christ stands and knocks at the hearts of unregenerate sinners by the ministry of the word, and that they have sufficient grace and strength to open their hearts unto him, or else he knocks in vain; for what wise man would stand at another's door and knock, if he knew there were not any within that could open to him? and since it is required of men in conversion, to open their hearts to Christ, it follows, that the work is not performed by an irresistible power, or without the consent and co-operation of the will of But,

man.

1. It should be proved that the ministry of the word is ever signified by knocking at the hearts of unregenerate sinners, or that God, or Christ, are ever said to knock at men's hearts by the ministry of the word. Men can strike the ear, God only can reach and strike the heart, which is done when the gospel comes not in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Ghost; and when God does this, he does not knock and rap, and then wait till entrance is made from within; but he strikes home, and at once opens the door of the heart, as he did Lydia's, by his powerful and efficacious grace. It should also be proved, that God, in conversion, does command and require men to open their hearts unto him, neither of which can be proved either from this text or from any other in the whole bible; nor is it in the power of unre*Rev. iii. 16. Vide Remonstr. in Coll. Hag. art. v. p. 14.

+ Bellarmin. de Gratis et Lib. Arbitr. 1.1. c. 11; Remonstr. in Coll. Hag. art. iii., and iv. p. 274; Whitby, p. 286; ed. 2. 279.

generate men, being dead in trespasses and sins, nor in their will, inclinations, desires, and affections, their carnal mind being enmity against God and Christ, to open their hearts and let them in. And supposing that these words do represent Christ standing and knocking at the door of men's hearts, by the external ministry of the word, has he not the key of the house of David, with which he opens and no man shuts? and lets himself in by the power of his grace, without offering any violence to the wills of men, since his people are made a willing people in the day of his power. Hence his knocking is not in vain, since to his elect not only sufficient but efficacious grace is given, by which the door of their hearts is opened to him, and others are left inexcusable, who are ready to make such shifts as these; had he knocked, I would have opened; had I heard, I would have believed; had I known, I would have done this and the other thing. But,

2. These words are not spoken to nor of unregenerate sinners, nor have they any reference to the opening of men's hearts in conversion, but are directed to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans, and to the members of that church, persons that professed the name of Christ; who, though they were not hot, yet were not cold, and for whom Christ had a regard, though they were in this lukewarm state; and, therefore, takes every proper method to bring them out of it; which was much the same with the church in Cant. v. 2, I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled-a place parallel to this text, and which is the only one besides in which Christ is said to knock, and require any to open to him. Now his standing at the door may either mean his near approach to judgment, see James v. 8, 9; (this church of Laodicea, being the last of the churches, represents the state of the church in the last times, which will bring on and conclude with the general judgment ;) or else his attendance on this church is meant, which shows his continued love, care, condescension, and patience towards it. His knocking at the door is not by the ministry of the word, but by some afflictive dispensation of providence, perhaps persecution. This church was in a sleepy, lukewarm, indifferent, secure frame of spirit, as appears from ver. 15-18. Christ will not suffer her to continue so, and, therefore, takes his rod in his hand, stands at her door, and gives some severe knocks and raps to bring her to herself, and out of this indolent, supine, and self-confident state and condition she was in; which sense is confirmed by the preceding verse, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous, therefore, and repent. The promise he makes to such who hear his voice, that is, the men of wisdom who hear the rod, and who hath appointed it, when the Lord's voice crieth, to a city, or a church, and open to him, that is, by the lively exercise of faith and love, and which is owing to his putting in his hand by the hole of the door, is, that he will come in to them, and sup with them, and they with him, which may, in general, design communion and fellowship in his house and ordinances, or in particular, the marriage-supper of the Lamb, to which they who are called are pronounced blessed,

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PART II.

CHAPTER I.

OF REPROBATION.

THE following sections contain an answer to Dr. Whitby's first chapter, concerning the decree of Reprobation, with which he has thought fit to begin his discourse upon the Five Points-a method the Remonstrants* formerly were very desirous of taking, though far from being just and accurate, since what is called reprobation is no other than non-election, or what is opposed to election; wherefore, that ought to be considered in the first place, which, if it cannot be supported, the other must drop in course. But it is easy to observe the design of these men, which is, that by exposing to contempt the doctrine of reprobation, which is sparingly spoken of in Scripture, and left to be concluded from that of election, and being most odious to carnal minds, they hope to weaken all regards to the doctrine of election, which stands in glaring light, and with full evidence in the word of God. The Doctor pretends to give us the state of the question concerning God's absolute decrees of election and reprobation out of Bishop Davenant's Animadversions on Hord, a book deservedly valuable, and which he would have done well to have employed his learning and abilities in the refutation of, before he had written this discourse. But, instead of giving us the true state of the question, relating to these decrees, out of that book, which he might easily have done, he has picked out some passages here and there, the most exceptionable, and made some rhetorical flourishes upon them. I confess I dislike the Bishop's notions of a two-fold decree, respecting reprobates, the one eternal and absolute, the other revealed, evangelical, and conditional, and of God's giving sufficient grace or sufficient means of grace to them, and therefore think myself not obliged to defend them. What is said concerning Adam's sin, and the imputation of it, will be considered hereafter. The true state of the question before us, and what ought to be attended to, is this, that as God, of his sovereign good will and pleasure, has, from all eternity, chosen some men unto salvation by Jesus Christ, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth, so he has, of his sovereign will and pleasure, from * Vide Act. Synod. Dord. Sess. 42, p. 160, &c.

all eternity, passed by others, and determined to leave them to themselves, and deny them that grace which he gives to others, and damn them only for their sin. This author* observes, "That the word adókμos, which we render reprobate, hath no relation, in Scripture, to any decree concerning the damnation of men, or withholding from them the means by which they may escape it, but only denotes such actions which will certainly be disapproved by God and man." But then it should also be observed, that in all those places, 2 Tim. iii. 8, Rom. i: 28, Tit. i. 16, Heb. vi. 8, 1 Cor. ix. 27, excepting the last, referred to by this author, the word relates not to the evil actions, but to the persons and internal dispositions of the most profligate and wicked among mankind; so that though there is no express mention of any decree of reprobation concerning them, yet there is a great deal of reason to conclude, from the account given of them, that they were such whom God had never chosen in Christ, but had passed them by, and had determined to leave them to their own heart's lusts, to deny them his grace, and justly damn them for their iniquities. But I proceed to the vindication of those passages of Scripture, in which this writer says, there is nothing relating to this decree, or from which it can reasonably be inferred.

SECTION I.

The Lord hath made all things for himself; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.-PROV. xvi. 4.

1. THESE words are not to be understood of God's creating all things out of nothing, or of his production of creatures into being for his own. glory, nor of his wise ordering and disposing all things in providence for himself, which are both truths, but not of this text. It is certain that all things that are made, are made by Jehovah, for himself, and not another; not because he had need of them, but to declare his greatness, and communicate his goodness, for his will and pleasure, his praise and glory; yet this is not intended here, for the word here used is neither 2, nor wy, which are commonly used when creation, and the works of it, are spoken of. It is also most certain, that all things in this world, as they are upheld and preserved in their being by God, so they are governed, influenced, ordered, and disposed of by him, for the good of his creatures and the glory of his name; yet not this, but the decrees, purposes, and appointments of God, respecting his creatures, are here designed; in which sense the word by, here used, is sometimes to be taken, as in Exod. xv. 17: Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which ry, thou hast appointed for thee to dwell in, in the sancTM tuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. For the tabernacle, or sanctuary, was not yet made. So in Psal. xxxi. 19: O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which, ns, thou hast prepared, provided, and appointed, in thine eternal counsel Whitby, p. 8, 9.

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