also; faith and forgiveness being granted to them for whom he prayed; so that this makes nothing for a general ineffectual intercession, it being both special and effectual. For, Acts iii. of them whom Peter tells, that they denied the Holy One and desired a murderer;' ver. 14. ' and killed the Prince of life;' ver. 15. Of these, I say, five thousand believed; Acts iv. 4. Many of them which heard the word believed, and the number of them was about five thousand.' And if any other were among them, whom our Saviour prayed for, they might be converted afterward. Neither were the rulers, without the compass of the fruits of this prayer, for a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith; Acts vi. 7. So that nothing can possibly be hence inferred for the purpose intended.

We may, nay we must, grant a twofold praying in our Saviour; one, by a virtue of his office as he was Mediator; the other, in answer of his duty, as he was subject to the law; but yet those things which he did in obedience to the law as a private person, were not acts of mediation; nor works of him as Mediator, though of him who was Mediator. Now as he was subject to the law, our Saviour was bound to forgive offences and wrongs done unto him, and to pray for his enemies, as also he had taught us to do, whereof in this he gave us an example; Matt. v. 44. 'I say unto you love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;' which doubtless he inferreth from that law, Lev. xix. 18. Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;' quite contrary to the wicked gloss put upon it by the Pharisees and in this sense, our Saviour here, as a private person, to whom revenge was forbidden, pardon enjoined, prayer commanded, prays for his very enemies and crucifiers; which doth not at all concern his interceding for us as Mediator, wherein he was always heard, and so is nothing to the purpose in hand.

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Again, John xvii. 21. 23. is urged to confirm this general intercession, which we have exploded. Our Saviour praying that by the unity, concord, and flourishing of his servants, the world might believe and know, that God had sent him.

From which words though some make a seeming flourish, yet the thing pretended is no way confirmed. For,

First, If Christ really intended and desired that the whole world, or all men in the world, should believe, he would also no doubt have prayed for more effectual means of grace to be granted unto them, than only a beholding of the blessed condition of his (which yet is granted to a small part of the world), at least the preaching of the word to them all, that by it, as the only ordinary way, they might come to the knowledge of him. But this we do not find that ever he prayed for, or that God hath granted it; nay, he blessed his Father that so it was not, because so it seemed good in his sight; Matt. xi. 25, 26.

Secondly, Such a gloss or interpretation must not be put upon the place, as should run cross to the express words of our Saviour, ver. 9.' I pray not for the world;' for if he here prayed, that the world should have true, holy, saving faith, he prayed for as great a blessing and privilege for the world as any he procured, or interceded for, for his own. Wherefore,

Thirdly, Say some, the world is here taken for the world of the elect, the world to be saved, God's people throughout the world. Certain it is that the world, is not here taken properly, pro mundo continente, for the world containing, but figuratively, pro mundo continento, for the world contained, or men in the world; neither can it be made appear that it must be taken universally for all the men in the world, as seldom it is in the Scripture, which afterward we shall make appear; but may be understood indefinitely, for men in the world, few or more, as the elect are in their several generations. But this exposition, though it hath great authors, I cannot absolutely adhere unto, because through this whole chapter, the world is taken, either for the world of reprobates, opposed to them that are given to Christ by his Father, or for the world of unbelievers (the same men under another notion), opposed to them who are committed to his Father by Christ. Wherefore, I answer,

Fourthly, That by believing, ver. 21. and knowing, ver. 23. is not meant believing in a strict sense, for a saving comprehension and receiving of Jesus Christ, and so becoming

the sons of God; which neither ever was, nor ever will be, fulfilled in every man in the world, nor was ever prayed for; but a conviction and acknowledgment, that the Lord Christ is not, what before they had taken him to be, a seducer and a false prophet, but indeed what he said, one that came out from God, able to protect and do good for, and to, h s own; which kind of conviction and acknowledgment that it is often termed believing in the Scripture, is more evident than that it should need to be proved, and that this is here meant the evidence of the thing is such, as that it is consented unto by expositors of all sorts. Now this is not for any good of the world, but for the vindication of his people and the exaltation of his own glory, and so proves not all the thing in question. But of this word world afterward.

The following place of Matt. v. 15, 16. (containing some instructions given by our Saviour to his apostles, so to improve the knowledge and light which of him they had, and were farther to receive, in the preaching of the word, and holiness of life, that they might be a means to draw men to glorify God) is certainly brought in to make up a show of a number, as very many other places are; the author not once considering, what is to be proved by them, nor to what end they are used; and therefore, without farther inquiry may well be laid aside, as not at all belonging to the business in hand, nor to be dragged within many leagues of the conclusion, by all the strength and skill of Mr. More.

Neither is that other place of John i. 9. any thing more advisedly or seasonably urged, though wretchedly glossed, and rendered, 'In some measure enlightening every one that comes into the world.' The Scripture says that Christ is the true light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, 'in some measure,' says Mr. More. Now I beseech you in what measure is this? how far, into what degree, in what measure, is illumination from Christ? by whom, or by what means separated from him, independent of him, is the rest made up? who supplies the defect of Christ. I know your aim is, to hug in your illumination by the light of nature, and I know not what common helps, that you dream of, towards them, who are utterly deprived of all gospel means of grace, and that not only for the knowledge of God as Creator, but also of him as in Christ the Redeemer. But whe

ther the calves of your own setting up should be thus sacrificed unto, with wresting and perverting the word of God, and undervaluing of the grace of Christ, you will one day, I hope, be convinced. It sufficeth us, that Christ is said to enlighten every one, because he is the only true light, and every one that is enlightened, receiveth his light from him, who is the sum, the fountain thereof. And so the general defence, of this general ineffectual intercession is vanished; but yet farther, it is particularly replied concerning the priesthood of Christ, that,

'As a priest in respect of one end, he offered sacrifice, that is, propitiation for all men; Heb. ix. 9. 26. John i. 29. 1 John ii. 2. In respect of all the ends, propitiation, and sealing the New Testament, and testification to the truth, and of the uttermost end in all, for his called and chosen ones; Heb. ix. 14, 15. Matt. xxvi. 26. (What follows after, being repeated out of another place, hath been already answered.)

Ans. First, These words as here placed, have no tolerable sense in them, neither is it an easy thing to gather the mind of the author out of them, so far are they from being a clear answer to the argument as was pretended. Words of Scripture indeed are used, but wrested and corrupted, not only to the countenance of error, but to bear a part in unreasonable expressions. For what, I pray, is the meaning of these words, he offered sacrifice in respect of one end, then of all ends, then of the uttermost end in all? To inquire backwards: 1. What is this uttermost end in all? Is that in all, in, or among all the end proposed and accomplished? or in all those for whom he offered sacrifice? or is it the uttermost end and proposal of God and Christ in his oblation? If this latter, that is the glory of God, now there is no such thing once intimated in the places of Scripture quoted; Heb. ix. 14, 15. Matt. xxvi. 26. 2. Do those places hold out the uttermost end of the death of Christ (subordinate to God's glory)? Why in one of them it is the obtaining of redemption, and in the other, the shedding of his blood for the remission of sins is expressed? Now all this you affirm to be the first end of the death of Christ, in the first words used in this place, calling it propitiation, that is, an atonement for the remission of sins; which remission of sinsand

redemption, are for the substance one and the same, both of them the immediate fruits, and first end, of the death of Christ, as is apparent; Eph. i. 7. Col. i. 14. So here you have confounded the first and last end of the death of Christ, spoiling indeed and casting down (as you may lawfully do, for it is your own) the whole frame and building, whose foundation is this, that there be several and divers ends of the death of Christ, towards several persons, so that some of them belong unto all, and all of them only to some, which is the pштоν εdos of the whole book. Thirdly, Christ's offering himself to put away sin, out of Heb. ix. 26. the place for the first end of the death of Christ, and his shedding of his blood for the remission of sins, from Matt. xxvi. 26. to be the last. Pray, when you write next, give us the difference between these two. Fourthly, You say, ' He offered sacrifice, in respect of one end, that is propitiation for all men ;' now truly, if ye know the meaning of sacrifice and propitiation, this will scarce appear sense unto you upon a second view.

But to leave your words and take your meaning, it seems to be this, in respect of one end, that Christ proposed to himself, in his sacrifice, he is a priest for all, he aimed to attain and accomplish it for them, but in respect of other ends, he is so only for his chosen and called. Now, truly this is an easy kind of answering, which if it will pass for good and warrantable, you may easily disappoint all your adversaries, even first by laying down their arguments, then saying your own opinion is otherwise; for the very thing that is here imposed on us for an answer is the rò кρivóμεvov, the chief matter in debate; we absolutely deny, that the several ends of the death of Christ, or the good things procured by hi sdeath are thus distributed as is here pretended. To prove our assertion, and to give a reason of our denial of this dividing of these things in respect of their objects, we produce the argument above proposed, concerning the priesthood of Christ; to which the answer given is a bare repetition of the thing in question. But you will say divers places of Scripture are quoted for the confirmation of this answer. But these, as I told you before, are brought forth for pomp and show, nothing at all being to be found in them to the business in hand; such are Heb. ix. 26. John i. 29,