92. If in all Humane Judgments Nature dictateth that in doubtful cases, the Judge should rather propend to the better interpretation, and favourable Judgment; why should it not be so in our judgment of God and man? The Nature of God is infinitely good; He hath proclaimed his Name, as aforesaid, even in the terrors of Mount Sinai, to be a God gracious, merciful, long-suffering, pardoning, &c. He hath protested or sworn, that he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked, •••• rather that he repent and live: and so that he first seeketh the Glory of his Mercy; and exerciseth justice in mans destruction, but as his second work: He that saved no man (but Christ himself glorified) upon the terms of Innocency, but all by Grace, and never else took one Soul to Heaven, who had not first deserved Hell, doth surely first seek the Glory of his Grace. And we know that 1. All Judea was a small Country, like England; An inconsiderable point or spot of the Earth, as to its magnitude. 2. That most of the worlds duration in likelihood was over (as Bishop Usher reckons, 4000 years) before Christ's death, and the second Edition of the Covenant. So that if none but Jews were 1saved all that while, the number was comparatively next to none. 3. That no man that I know of hath presumed to say, that before Moses time, none but the Seed of Abraham were saved. 4. That the Covenant made by Moses at Mount Sinai, and the enclosure of the Jews, was no casting off the rest of the world into a worse condition than they were before. 5. That none yet have presumed to say, they are certain that all the Seed of Keturah, of Ishmael, of Esau were damned: much less that Shem and all his Subjects, Japheth and all his Subjects (and Posterity till then) or that Job and his Friends, and Melchizedec and all his Subjects, were certainly damned. 6. That the Jews themselves were for the most part so wicked, that seeing few even of that little Country were saved, if you are sure that no others were saved, they were but a few in the world indeed. 7. That the Apostles (as is said) were in a state of Salvation, when under Christ's own teaching, they believed not many great Articles, now essential to the Christian Faith.
92. If in all Humane Judgments Nature dictateth that in doubtful cases, the Judge should rather propend to the better interpretation, and favourable Judgment; why should it not be so in our judgment of God and man? The Nature of God is infinitely good; He hath proclaimed his Name, as aforesaid, even in the terrours of Mount Sinai, to be a God gracious, merciful, long-suffering, pardoning, &c. He hath protested or sworn, that he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked, •••• rather that he repent and live: and so that he first seeketh the Glory of his Mercy; and exerciseth justice in mans destruction, but as his second work: He that saved no man (but Christ himself glorified) upon the terms of Innocency, but all by Grace, and never else took one Soul to Heaven, who had not first deserved Hell, doth surely first seek the Glory of his Grace. And we know that 1. All Judea was a small Country, like England; An inconsiderable point or spot of the Earth, as to its magnitude. 2. That most of the worlds duration in likelihood was over (as Bishop Usher reckons, 4000 years) before Christ's death, and the second Edition of the Covenant. So that if none but Jews were 1saved all that while, the number was comparatively next to none. 3. That no man that I know of hath presumed to say, that before Moses time, none but the Seed of Abraham were saved. 4. That the Covenant made by Moses at Mount Sinai, and the inclosure of the Jews, was no casting off the rest of the world into a worse condition than they were before. 5. That none yet have presumed to say, they are certain that all the Seed of Keturah, of Ishmael, of Esau were damned: much less that Sem and all his Subjects, Japheth and all his Subjects (and Posterity till then) or that Job and his Friends, and Melchizedec and all his Subjects, were certainly damned. 6. That the Jews themselves were for the most part so wicked, that seeing few even of that little Country were saved, if you are sure that no others were saved, they were but a few in the world indeed. 7. That the Apostles (as is said) were in a state of Salvation, when under Christ's own teaching, they believed not many great Articles, now essential to the Christian Faith.
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