The divine will considered in its eternal decrees, and holy execution of them. By…

'tis but only the Minister or outward Sign, God's Heart or Mind is not in it. Under such weighty words as these doth the Scripture set out the rejection of means, because of God's ordinative Will' that God who will one day mock at the rejecters of his call, Prov. 1. 26. doth not now mock them in the Grace of his Call; the true end of his Call is their Conversion, & that that end is not attained, the only Reason lies within themselves in their own corrupt unbelieving Hearts. Moreover it is worthy of our consideration, that those Scriptures (which the Remonstrants urge to prove that all the Operations of Grace, even those in the very Elect who actually turn unto God, are resistible) ⟨p. 528⟩do signally set forth this ordinative Will of God: As first they urge that Matth. 23. 37. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as an hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not: Here, say they, is resistible Grace. Very well; but what Grace doth the Text speak of? It speaks only of the Grace afforded to those Jews which were never gathered or converted thereby, but not a tittle of the Grace afforded to those Jews which were thereby actually gathered or converted; and how then can it prove, that this latter Grace (of which it speaks not at all) was resistible? If it prove this Grace resistible, it can be upon no other ground but this only, That the Grace afforded to the Jews which were not gathered, and the Grace afforded to the Jews which were gathered was one and the same: but how can that be made good? Can that Text assert an equality of Grace to both sorts of Jews, which speaks only of the Grace afforded to one of them, viz. to the ungathered ones? 'Tis impossible: But if it be not the Truth of the Text, is there yet any ⟨p. 529⟩Truth in the thing? Had all the Jews equal Grace with the Jews given to Christ, with the Jews drawn by the Father, with the Jews chosen out of the world? 'Tis incredible. The Remonstrants allow that God doth irresistibly enlighten the Understanding, excite the Affections, and infuse a posse converter into the Will; but was it thus with all the Jews? Were the blind leaders of the blind thus enlightened? Were the malicious scorners thus affected? Were those which could not believe,