Letter to the Rev. Mr. Jonn Greene. by = x] MD Kd 02 5 a AS Za 5 LIBRARY x Digitized by the Interr in 2022 with fundii Duke University | https://archive.org/details/lettertorevn i oh A LETTER OF Ee Rev. Mr. JoHNn GREEN, Curate of St. Saviour’s, Southwark; and Leéfurer of St. Fobu’s, Wapping. OCCASIONED BY THE PUBLICATION OF HIS EIGHT SERMONS. RRR ACORR OK ROR IRA F ERGO OOO ROR ARR AAP PRINTED IN THE YEAR, MDCCLVIII. ‘ i ee - And fold by E. Ditty, at the Rof2 and Crown, in the Poultry, Lonpon. . {Prics 24.) ow > a IKELKE sites eae HOKE sewsiry BANE O@ ELSE OS B23 BFAENS 2 ELMS CG BMA BNY2 SO Wy OO Neo Hux ¥e OS Qh 22 EO gee RASH EER LAER ER ARE KF A biel TER. eg. ECECRER STORES IRE TORT Gc SER; MARAT was but very lately I had an Op- ge portunity of reading over your eight BER Sermons; however, I have now read them with great Care, and notwithftand- ing this, am utterly at a Lofs to reconcile them either with Scripture, the Dodtrine of our Church, or with Themfelves. But that I may fave myfelf the Trouble of writing, and you of reading much upon the Occafion, I fhall confine myfelf chiefly to the laf Head, viz. that of Self-contradiétion, which ‘runs in fuch a majfferly Manner here and there i i the whole. A 2 AnD [4] Anp firit you affirm, Page 87, That Man and to abftain from actual Iniquity, as is _ plain from Gon’s Expoftulation with Caz, &c. If thou doft well, fhalt thou nat be accepted? And if thou doft not well, Sin lieth at thy Door. I fhould have wonder'd indeed if you could have produced a Scripture to eftablifh your Pofition, there is as much Proof of the Doc- trine of Tranfubftantiation in the Cafe of Cain, as of Man’s own Ability and Power to abftain from Sin; Cazn’s not doing well, was imputed. to his Want of Faith in the Re- deemer. You fay very truly, p. 96, .that Gop did preicribe to Adam the facrificial Rites of Expiation, which fhould typify and reprefent the One Great Sacrifice to be of- fered in the End of the World, Gc. Now Cain approached Gop, like one of our De- ifts, without Faith in the Blood of this Great Sacrifice, as is plain from the Nature of his Offering: Whereas 4e! brought of the Fir/?- lings of his Flock, and fhed Blood before the Lorp, in Token of his Faith in the Blood of the Lamb flain from the Foundation of the World [5] | World. "ence arofe Gon’s Expoftulation with Cain, and hence we may arrive at the certain Meaning of the Words of the Expof- tulation; for the Authority of what I have faid, I refer you to Hed. xi. 4. fo that this Scripture is nothing to your Purpofe, to prove a free Will in Man, and a Power in us fallen Creatures to rife in any Degree, by our own Strength, above the Strength of Sin and Cor- ruption, for fo much you bring it to prove, and you might as well have faid we can make ourfelves zmortal, and have brought the Story of Cazz in Support of it. Acarn, you by Confequence, flatly deny Gop to be the /ole Author of all our good Actions, as muft be clearly inferred from what you fay p. 130-0 For if Gop be, as , = they affert him to be, the /ole Author of all . © our good Adtions *, how is this confiftent ** with our being in Covenant with Gor? _ “ and ftipulating to perform the Conditions “ required of us by Gop, as the Means of ** obtaining the Privileges granted on Gop’s “ Pare « Aud what muft he be who aflerts that He is xo? ? [6] “*--Part: ‘When according to them (the s¢ Enthufiafts) it is Gop and not we that 6 performs thofe Conditions? Or how can © « we be faid to be ina State of Proba- “ tion, when we are not able to do any as Thing by which we may approve our- + © felves? And if this be the Cafe, what be- -*© Gomes of all the Exhortations in Scripture ~ to Repentance, if we can do nothing to- ‘wards our Reformation? Of his Com- © plaints of our Impenitence, if it be not - € in our Power to repe ent? Of- his Expoftu- “ lation with Sinners if we be perfeétly pa/- <« five in every Thing we feem to do? What © becomes of all Gop’s Commands, if it be * not in our Power to obey them? As Arch- « bifhop TILLoTson obferves, If we be thus « dead in Trefpaffees and Sins, we might as well «© go into the Church-yard and preach to the “ Wicked in their Graves, as to their Perfons — ‘* ayben alive’. We are commanded to work ** out our Salvation, without any Capacity eae «2 * So we may, unlefs the Pacver of the Holy Spirit goes with the Word preached, and it be mixed with Faith in the Hear. ers, Heb. iv. 2. I. Cor. iit. 6. o {7] - to work at all. We are commanded te “ work it out with Fear and Trembling, bat "© if Gop be to do all the Work Himéelf, “‘ there is no Danger but He will do it ef- -*© fetually.” "V7 By the Way let me obferve, that in this laft Paragraph you allude to P#i/. ii. 12. but why did you not add the reft of the Sentence contained in Ver. 13. For zt is Gop that qworketh in you both to WILL and to DO of his good Pleafure,—plainly, becaufe it cuts the very Sinews of the Doétrine of Se/f-Suf- ficiency you have here laboured to fupport— You proceed p. 141, “ So run, fays the A- -* poftle, that ye may obtain; but the Metho- "&¢ diffs will not allow us to have any Legs. — «© We are commanded to ftrive; but are we ~* to ftrive without any Strength? But Iam “ tir'd with repeating, and you muft be tir'd © with hearing, fo much J/a/phemous Non- “© fenfe.” Sir, I know one who fays, That we are not fuffictent of Ourfelves to think any thing as of Ourfelves, but our Suffictency is of Gop; which one Scripture is enough to o- verturn [8] | verturn your whole Syftem, atid to turn your Charge of Blafphemous Nonfenf2 upon one on whom I am very fure you did not mean it fhould fall. Now after obferving alfo by the Way, that the Whole of what you have ad- vanced above, is as contrary to the Scrip- tures‘, and to the Articles’; Liturgy’, and Homilies‘ of our Church, as Light is te Dark- nefs, ¢-John xv. 5, Without me ye can ib nothing. HE. Cor. iii. 5: Not that we are fufficient of ourfelves to think any Thing, as of curfelves; but our Sufficiency is of Gop. “The roth Article runs in thefe plain Words,—“ The «e Condition of Man after the Fall of Adam, is fuch, that he *¢ cannotturn and prepare himfelf by his own natural Strength «* and good Works to Faith and Calling upon Gop : Where- , “¢ fore we have no Power to do good Works pleafant and ac- - « ceptable to Gon, without the Grace of Gop by Curist “© preventing us, that we may have a good Will, and work- “ ipg with us when we have that good Will.” © See the Collect for the oth Sunday after Trinity, and the 2d Colleét at Evening Prayer, ‘ O Gop ftom whom all holy “© Defires, &c. &¢. i f « Of ourfelves and by ourfelves we are not able either to “ think a good Thought, or work a good Deed; fo that we “¢ find in curfelves no Hope of Salvation, but rather what{o- “« ever maketh to cur Deftruétion.” 2d Part of the Homily on the Mifery of Man. | (9] nefs; give me Leave to prefent you with an ‘Anfwer to your/eif from yourfelf. ) P. 156, You fay, ‘¢ It isby the Grace of “© Gop’s holy Spirit we are made capable of ‘* performing even a fincere Obedience, for “it is He that degets (mark that Word!) ‘* cherifhes, and fupports all our holy Re- “© folutions, and upon imploring his Aid, * gives us Strength and Ability to zmprove “< them into A€tion.” AND again, p. 197. “ And fice we can dy nothing of ourfelves, and yet can do all © « Things through Chrz/? ftrengthening us, ** let us in humble Confidence apply to him “* for the Aids of His holy Spirit to — = ate ftrengthen us.’ I THINK this may be fufficient to apprize you of fome of your Inconfiftency; as for your preaching and writing againft the Truth as itis in Ye/us, in Relation to “ Juftification by Faith alone, without any Refpec to our good or evil Deeds,” which you are pleas’d, Sir, to call the fafhionable Tenet of this cor- rupt degenerate ge, p. 154. I would beg Leave a eo | Leave as you are a Prefbyter of the Church of England, and have given your Afent and Coxfent to all Things contained in her Ar- ticles, to remind you of Article XI. which runs in thefe Words,—** We are accounted « righteous before Gop, only for the Merit ‘© of our Lord and Saviour Fefus Chrift by « Faith, and not for our own Works, or “© Defervings. Wherefore, that we are juf- € tified by Faith ov/y, is a moft wholfome «¢ Doctrine, and very full of Comfort, as “© more largely is exprefs’d in the Homily of © Juftification.” Now how you dare to blaf- pheme this, as the fa/hivnable Tenet of this corrupt degencrate Age, when you gave your unfeigned Affent and Confent to it, in the Prefence of Gop and the Congregation, up- — on your being chofen into your Le@urefhip; I am at a Lofs to determine. By Jultification is meant Pardon and Ac ceptance into a State of Grace and Reconcilia- tion with Gop ; or as Art. XI. terms it, dezng accounted righteous before Gop: And fo far from its being the Doétrine of our Church that this has any refpect to our good Deeds, our [a] our Reformers declare, We can do no good Deeds ’t2/] we are ju/tifed, vide Art. XIII. of : Works done before Juftification: If fo, how can good Deeds be taken into the Account ? And they tell us Art. XII. that good Works gre the Fruits of Faith, and follow after Fuf- tifcation. See Bithop Beveripee’s private ‘Fhoughts, Art. 8. ‘But p. 156 you give an Anfwer to what you have faid againft this, where you fay Tt is through mere Grace and Favour, that §© we receive a full Remiffion and Pardon *§ of all our former Sins upon our Entrance * into Covenant with Gop through Faith in © Chrift.” In p. 157 you declare “ Juftifi- ‘© cation to be two-fold,” be it fo, ftill Juf- tification taken in the Senfe I have given it. above, in Conformity to the Scripture, and the Liturgy, Articles and Homilies of our Church, you yourfelf define to be “ our En-_ ‘© trance into Covenant with Gop thro’ Faith *< in Chr#?, wherein thro’ the infinite Satif- “ faction, and meritorious Death of our cru- cified Saviour, we are abfolved from the Guilt of our Iniguities, and are ¢herefore according to the Tenor of the Gofpel Co- ; “ yenant [ 12 ] 7 eng « yenant declared to be ju.” As for your fecond Senfe of Juftification, which for: Clearnefs Sake, we will call fanal Sakvation, who among all the Méthodi/fs ever faid that good Works were not the Evidences of a found - Faith and preparatory to Glory? Or who of -them could occafion you to write fo much, to prove that Convzé#ion and Repentance mutt precede Juftiication? Hear what our Re- formers fay concerning this, and I have done: —“ Juftifying Faith doth not fhut out Re-- pentance, Hope, Love, Dread, and the Fear of Gop to be join’d with Faith in every Man that is juftified, but it fhutteth them out from the Office of Juttifying.” Hom. onSalv". -.Srr, I now take my Leave, and earneftly hope and with that the Gop of all Peace may blefs you with a thorough Senfe of his Love in your own Soul, and then you will fee all Things clearly, and neith=r contradi@ your- felf, nor thofe who preach oe Gofpel in Sin- cerity and Truth. = alee SUSIE : - Se hsas Sart’ I ant, Sir, ulcer eS Your per jonate Seronat== aS 0 3-2 = For Curist’s Sake,” popular, may not be hindered b birth, gofpel fanétification, u any attainments fhort of apy y faith.” That he may not the breath of men, ‘as to if ftandard of orthodoxy ;’ and th ‘of his fize, muft be cut, or ftre Heretics. That he may not fy ‘a monarch of the pulpit, as x ‘him to trample, any how, upe mics, if in the way of his ai ‘this throne (being feated as cent out perions, mention names, an declarations, by which they a a or railed up. in Thus far I have ee to takes mentioned ; what fuccefs. I know not. I commit it into | God of truth, to do with it as fee If Mr. //. has any thing to offer, yet been confidered, I hope it due attention. - Thedefire of my : to God is, that the real ufefuln Pace 9, Note, Linea, read Third : 165, read p. BE. 233.—P. 14, mty -three § Sermans, p- 4.— ge 2! . 24,1. 3, read p. 207, — pam BB. il the Quits ations, ta ?. Faq Ror msyr, Poy - fey be feed Pifea 1745) Gi Me _ “RRA Gs ah eo s. Ain ; 4 se yl saree eal: Pritt: omebell Gitar ee My» Tihs 713" “ i , as & Fal one a pad ZOD AR MAL c add hiss s* i oO a ¥ ener oe 9. f.S ELECTION OF GOD UNDISGUISE® OR, oo The Reproach rolled away from the Doctrine of fovereign Grace. Ina LETTER to a Futsal At whofe Requeft, fome Attempts to ftigmatize and invalidate fome Evangelical Truths (in a Poem intitled Thoughts on God's Decree) are dif- fected and expofed. TO WHICH IS ADDED, An APPEN Dit Wherein Election and R:probation are fet in the true Scripture Light. By JOHN JOHNSON. Let God be true, but every Man a Liar. Rom. iii. 4. EEE RP O(OeE Printed by E. Owen. MDCCLIX, Price Sixpence. DATE DUE Tl MUN ii seuesgry Ayssoniuny O24"!