When, on earth, the blood can be without the water and the Spirit, — can witnes.s alone, or can witness there where the water and the Spirit agree not to the record ; when, in heaven, the Word shall witness without the Father and the Holy Ghost, — when the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost shall not be one, as in essence, so in willing, working, witnessing the redemption of sinners; — then shall universal redemption of all and every sinner by Christ be found a truth, though the Father elect them not, nor the Spirit of grace neither sanctify nor seal them. The glory of God's free and severing grace, and the salvation of the elect through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ (which is external, or none at allj, are the un- feigned desires and utmost aims of all that are truly Christian. In pursuit of which desire and aims, I profess myself to be for ever to serve thee. — Thine in Christ Jesus,
RiCHAUD ByFIELD.'
1 Richard Byfiold was ejected by the Act of Uniformity from Long Ditton, in the county of Surrey. Besides some sermons and tracts, he was tiie aullior of a ([uartu volume, " '1 lie Doctrine of tlie Sal)liath Vindicated," etc. He suffered suspension and sequestration for four years for not reading tlie Hook of Sports. He was a meniiier of (he Westminster Assembly. During the time of Cromwell, a difference occurred between him and the jiatron of the parish, Sir John Evelyn, about the repairs of the church. Cromwell brought them together, succeeded in reconciling them, an<l, to cement the reconciliation, cenerously advanced £100, one-half of the sura needed lor the repairs. Byfleld diil not know Owen, even by name, when he };ave his recommendation to this work. It was then of some imjiortance to our author that he should have the sanction of Byfield's name ; and the favour is requited when the hitter owes most of his own reputation with posterity to the coianteuaiice which he gave to the young and rising theological author of his day.— Ed.
TO THE READER.
Reader, If thou intendest to go any farther, I would entreat thee to stay here a little. If thou art, as many in this pretending age, a sign or title gazer, and comest into books as Cato into the theatre, to go out again, — thou hast had thy entertain- ment ; farewell ! With him that resolves a serious view of the following discourse, and really desireth satisfaction from the word and Christian reason, about the great things contained therein, I desire a few words in the portal. Divers things there are of no small consideration to the business we have in hand, which I am persuaded thou canst not be unacquainted with ; and therefore I will not trouble thee with a needless repetition of them.
I shall only crave thy leave to preface a little to the point in hand, and my present undertaking therein, with the result of some of my thoughts concerning the whole, after a more than seven- years' serious inquiry (bottomed, I hope, upon the strength of Christ, and guided by his Spirit) into the mind of God about these things, with a serious perusal of all which I could attain that the wit of man, in former or latter days, hath published in opposition to the truth; which I desire, according to the measure of the gift received, here to assert. Some things, then, as to the chief point in hand I would desire the reader to observe ; as, —
First, That the assertion of U7iiversal redemption, or the general ransom, so as to make it in the least measure beneficial for the end intended, goes not alone. Election of free grace, as the fountain of all following dispensations, all discriminat- ing purposes of the Almighty, depending on his own good pleasure and will, must be removed out of the way. Hence, those who would for the present (" populo ut placerent, quasfecere fabulas,") desirously retain some show of asserting the hberty of eternally distinguishing free grace, do themselves utterly raze, in respect of any fruit or profitable issue, the whole imaginary fabric of general redemption, which they had before erected. Some of these make the decree of election to be " antece- daneous to the death of Christ" (as themselves absurdly speak), or the decree of the death of Christ: then frame a twofold election;' — one, of some to be the sons; the other, of the rest to be servants. But this election of some to be servants the Scrip, ture calls reprobation, and speaks of it as the issue of hatred, or a purpose of re- jection, Rom. be. 11-13. To be a servant, in opposition to children and their liberty, is as high a curse as can be expressed, Gen. ix. 25. Is this Scripture elec- tion ? Besides, if Christ died to bring those he died for unto the adoption and in- heritance of children, what good could possibly redound to them thereby who were predestinated before to be only servants? Others 2 make a general conditionate decree of redemption to be antecedaneous to election ; which they assert to be the first discriminating purpose concerning the sons of men, and to depend on the alone good pleasure of God. That any others shall partake of the death of Christ or the fruits thereof, either unto grace or glory, but only those persons so elected, that they deny. "Cui bono " now ? To what purpose serves the general ransom, but only to assert that Almighty God would have the precious blood of his dear Son poured out for innumerable souls whom he will not have to share in any drop thereof, and so, in respect of them, to be spilt in vain, or else to be shed for them only that they might be the deeper damned ? This fountain, then, of free grace, this foundation of 1 T. M ., Universality of Free Grace. [He refers to an author of the name of Thomas More. See page 153 of this preface.-ED.] "- Camero, Amirald, etc.