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earth_n	great_a	heaven_n	life_n	6,050	5	4.1663	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A69227	A sermon preached at Paules Crosse, the sixt of February. 1596 In which are discussed these three conclusions. 1 It is not the will of God that all men should be saued. 2 The absolute will of God, and his secret decree from all eternitie is the cause why some are predestined to saluation, others to destruction, and not any foresight of faith, or good workes in the one, or infidelitie, neglect, or contempt in the other. 3 Christ died not effectually for all. By Iohn Doue, Doctor of Diuinitie.	Dove, John, 1560 or 61-1618.	1597 (1597)	STC 7087; ESTC S111946	36,520	88

the dew of heauen and fatnesse of the earth and plentie of wheat and wine But with the same blessing he blessed Esau though not in so great and ample maner saying Behold the fatnesse of the earth shall bee thy dwelling place and thou shalt haue of the dewe of heauen from aboue But all these things are temporall respects 3 If these things had been spirituall and to be vnderstood of the life to come then Iacob and Esau standing in opposition one against the other in so much that one should be chosen the other damned then both of them could not haue beene blessed That I may answer with as great breuitie as I can The Argument doth not follow that because Saint Paule dooth discourse of whole nations and not of particular persons therefore these words do make against predestination For if we do well consider the drift and scope of the Apostle in this place we shall find the contrarie most plainely to appeare For although the argument which the Apostle handleth in that Chapter and the two other Chapters following is a speciall discourse of the generall apostacie and reiection of the Iewes and the vocation of the Gentiles yet by a kinde of occupation he entreth into a particular tract of predestination although it be obiter and by the way as a question most necessary to be touched for the right vnderstanding of a place of Scripture which seemeth at the first sight flatly to make agaynst this doctrine which he hath deliuered concerning the generall reiection of the Iewes and so hee inintreateth of predestination for the preuenting of an obiection For in the beginning of the same chapter hauing lamented the reiecting of his kindred the Iewes hee maketh this obiection with himselfe If it bee so that God hath reiected the Iewes and called the Gentiles in their place it should seem to be contrarie to the couenant which he made with Abraham for his promise to Abraham was otherwise and that his worde should be of none effect To which obiection he answereth that albeit the generall reiecting of the Iewes yet the promise which the Lorde made to Abrahaem remaineth sure and stedfast for as much as notwithstanding their general apostacy and infidelitie the Lorde in his secret counsaile chooseth of them some in particular whom hee listeth whom hee hath before predestinated to saluation For hee made the promise to Abraham and his seede not in a generalitie to all his seede according to the flesh but in particular to all those of his seede which should be his children according to the fayth euen as hee was the father of the faithfull And therefore the state of this question thus standeth That this grace is offered to all the posteritie of Abraham without exception that hee woulde bee their God and they should be his people but it is sealed onely to the faythfull the vertue and efficacie thereof appertaineth onely vnto them of the seed of Abraham which be of the number of Gods elect which are predestinated which hee proueth by two examples the one of Abraham and the other of Isaac Concerning Abraham hee hadde two sonnes Isaac and Ismael though Ismael were the sonne of Abraham as well as Isaac yea and circumcised before Isaac had receyued the circumcision yet by the ordinance of God was Isaac onely reputed the sonne of Abraham and the heire of the promise and Ismael reiected hee yeeldeth this reason because they which are the children according to the flesh are not as children but only the children of the promise are accounted for the seede Concerning Isaac also he had two sonnes Esau and Iacob both they were twinnes and nearer one to the other then Isaac and Ismael because they had both the same father and mother yet before either was borne one was chosen the other refused to shewe that notwithstanding the generall reiection of the Iewes yet God kept his promise with Abraham forasmuch as it concerneth onelye those children of Abraham which are according to faith and not according to the flesh alone whom he predestinated before they were borne not for any foresight of any good thing in them but of his owne good will and pleasure because it was his will and pleasure which in deed are in number but a fewe beeing compared with the great multitude of them whom he hath hated although they be of the stock of Abraham And as for that loue and hatred wherwith hee loued one and hated the other although it be historically vnderstoode as it is in Moses and Malachy consisteth of temporall and worldly blessings yet in this Epistle of Saint Paule it cannot otherwise be constered then of the kingdome of heauen and of the life to come as Paule himselfe the best interpreter of himselfe dooth in the wordes which followe explaine his meaning For he sheweth that the hatred of Esau was such as the hardening of Pharao a reprobate not onely in this life but also in the life to come Moreouer hee tearmeth thē which are so hated the vessels of wrath prepared to destruction and them which were so loued as Iacob was loued the vessels of mercie prepared to glorie saying God to shewe his wrath and to make his power knowen doth suffer with long patience the vessels of wrath prepared to destruction and to declare the riches of his glorie vpon the vessels of mercie which he hath prepared vnto glorie Furthermore least wee should bee like the Iewes which when the vaile was put vppon Moses his face did not looke to the end of that which should be abolished and therefore theyr mindes are hardened and till this day doth remaine the same couering vntaken away in the reading of the olde Testament wee must not be ignorant that it receyueth two interpretations the one hystoricall the other mysticall as Sixtus Senensis and Saint Augustine did well obserue As for example Christ speaketh of Iudas in this maner I speake not of you all I know whom I haue chosen but it is that the scripture might be fulfilled he that eateth bread with me hath lifted vp his heele against me But if ye conferre these wordes with the wordes of the prophet from whence they are taken they do hystorically concerne the person of Dauid and his acquaintance and cannot bee vnderstoode of Christ and Iudas because Christ was without sinne but in the fourth verse of that Psalme he sayth Haue mercy on me and heale my soule for I haue sinned against thee Yet Christ in the new Testament dooth mystically expounde it of himselfe the treason of Iudas against his person Likewise Peter interpreteth this saying of Dauid Let his habitation be void no man dwell therein of Iudas where in that place the prophet speaketh in the plural nūber not of one but of many saying Let their habition be voide and none dwell in their tents speaking of the whole nation of the Iewes that the iust punishment of God should be iustly inflicted

enemies vnder his feet But these things saith he cannot bee that the Serpents head should bee broken that the prince of this world should be cast out that the diuell should bee abolished if yet the greatest part of men are vnredeemed Moreouer the restoring againe of man is in as ample maner as was the fall of man But as by the disobedience of one that is Adam many were made sinners so by the obedience of one that is Christ many are made righteous Where by many all are vnderstood so then as in Adam all are damned so in Christ all are redeemed The kingdome of Christ the conquerour is larger then the kingdome of the diuell which is conquered God willeth all men to be saued He will haue none to perish He spared not his only begotten sonne but gaue him for all The Gospell is preached to all nations God hath reconciled the worlde vnto himselfe And many other places if different in wordes yet parallell to these and in effect one and the same Which places indeede are verie sufficient to prooue that Christ died for all but not that his death appertained to all or that he died effectually for all but onely for the beleeuers And therefore they are but a fallacie in Logicke called Petitio principij they proue onely that saluation is offered vnto all which we doe not denie but they do not proue that saluation is sealed to any more then to the faithfull which is the question in controuersie betweene vs. Besides that some of these places are by him mistaken For the broosing of the serpents head is not to be vnderstoode of the nullitie or paucitie of them which shall bee subiect to the kingdome of Sathan as though the Serpents head beeing broken and the diuell vanquished all mankinde were so deliuered that all were saued and none damned But it is to bee vnderstood of the triumph of Christ ouer the diuell ouer sinne and ouer death that as by the diuell mankinde was ouerthrowne so by man the diuell should be subdued againe that as before all men were bondslaues to Sathan now Satan himselfe should be brought vnder subiection that nowe he should haue no more power but by Christs permission for as much as he hath the key of the bottomlesse pit and the great chaine in his hande and he bindeth the great dragon which before preuailed against vs. Saint Paul maketh comparison betweene our fall by the first Adam and our rising againe by the second and sheweth that a greater good is deriued to man by the obedience of the second thē was the punishment which was inflicted by the disobedience of the first But how Not as then al which before in Adam were damned nowe in Christ were saued But as in Adam all were damned so in Christ some are saued for if all were saued in Christ thē were no vse of hell of the diuell and his angels which are appointed for the tormēting of wicked men But in these three respects appeareth the largenesse of the benefit deriued vnto vs by the death of Christ aboue the losse which we indured by Adams fall First our redēption is a greater worthier worke then our creation Facilius est creare quam lapsos restituere ex nihilo bonū quàm ex malo bonum facere It is more easie to create vs then to restore vs when we had declined from our first integritie of nothing to make vs good thē being euill to make vs good and therfore by our redēption a more rich treasure is heaped vpon vs but so that it is to be vnderstood of the life to come not of this present life Secondly by the fall of Adam was lost a earthly kingdome by the death of christ was gained an heauēly kingdome which is so much the greater benefit by howe much heauen is higher then the earth Thirdly although before the fall of Adam the righteousnes of man was pure and perfect now it is full of imperfections it was thē inherent it is now but onely by imputation for as Paule speaketh of himselfe in mee that is my flesh dwelleth no good yet that righteousnesse which was in man before his fall had not onely annexed vnto it Possibilitatem peccandi Possibilitie to sinne but also Procliuitatem ad peccatum It was verie prone and apt to sinne and continued in him but a verie short time but the righteousnesse which we shall bee indued withall by the death of Christ in the life to come shall farre exceede because it shall also be inherent in vs and that not for a season but for euer and it shall haue all possibilitie of falling taken away So that in a word where the Apostle sayth By the disobedience of one man many are made sinners by many hee meaneth all but where hee sayeth by the obedience of one manie are made righteous by many hee meaneth not all but some yet wee gaine more by Christs death then by Adams fal I meane we which are redeemed but the greatnesse of this benefite bestowed vpon vs by his death doth not consist in the multitude of them which are to be saued but in the great prerogatiue giuen to the paucitie of them which are saued For if we weigh the number Straite is the gate which leadeth to life and few there be that finde it but broad is the way which leadeth to destruction and many there bee that enter in In his second order of common places he commeth nearer to the purpose to shew that Christ died effectually for them which are damned in as much as they were by him redeemed but afterward voluntarily by their owne free will they made an apostacie and renounced this benefite of their redemption whereof they were once made partakers His places are these and others like vnto them For it is impossible that they which were once lightened and haue tasted of the heauenly gift and were made partakers of the holy Ghost if they fall away should bee renued againe by repentance seeing they crucifie againe to themselues the sonne of God and make a mock of him Doe yee not knowe that yee are the Temple of GOD and that the spirite of GOD dwelleth in you If any man destroy the Temple of God him will God destroy for the temple of God is holy which you are Through they knowledge shall the weake brother perish for whō Christ died False prophets shal bring in damnable heresies denying the Lorde that hath bought them and bring vppon themselues swift damnation He that hath not these things is blinde and hath forgotten that hee was purged from his olde sinnes Ye are abolished from Christ who so euer are iustifyed by the lawe yee are fallen from grace I am the true Vine and who so abydeth not in mee is cast foorth Beholde the bountifulnesse of God towardes thee if thou continue in his bountifulnesse or else thou shalt bee cut off Vpon

called Deus huius seculi the God of this world Sometime the name of God is ascribed vnto men Ego dixi vos dij estis I haue sayd ye are Gods meaning kings rulers and magistrates to whom the sword of iustice is committed because they represent the person of God but they shall die like men sometimes to Idols Faciamus Deos qui praecedant nos Let vs make Gods to go before vs. It was the voyce of the people to Aaron when Moses was in the Mount of which Paule speaketh Euen then when they knew not God they did seruice vnto such things as by nature are not gods And When they knewe God they glorified him not as God but became vaine in their imaginations their foolish heart was full of darknesse when they professed themselues wise they became foolish for they turned the glorie of the incorruptible God into the image of a corruptible man of birds and foure footed beasts creeping things Such gods are made with hands and cannot saue themselues they are vanitie abhomination the doctrine of vanitie teachers of lies expressely forbidden in Gods book They haue eyes and see not eares heare not noses and smell not handes and touch not feete and walke not they that make them are like vnto them and so are all they that trust in them But the Prophet speaketh of one God in this place which is omnipotent which is a spirite which is euery where present and seeth al things which is immortall which is called in a word the Lord God and the God of gods Sing vnto the Lord a new song sing to the Lord al the earth sing to the Lord and praise his name declare his saluation frō day to day for the Lord is great and much to be praysed he is to be feared of all Gods For all the gods of the people are Idols but the Lorde hath made the heauens And The God of gods euen the Lorde hath spoken and called the earth euen from the rising of the Sunne to the going downe thereof I conclude this first part with Saint Paule Nowe vnto the King euerlasting immortall inuisible vnto God onely wise bee honour and glorie for euer and euer As I liue As there is but one God to the faithfull which hath but one name that he may haue no fellowship with the gods of the Nations so is he immortall onely hath immortalitie and dwelleth in the light that none can attaine vnto whom neuer man sawe nor can see that hee may bee distinguished from princes which also are Gods but they shall die like men and he is a liuing God that he may be distinguished frō Idols which are but dead Gods and therefore hee sayth As I liue I delight not c. In which wordes I obserue two things to wit the Lord sweareth and he sweareth by his life that is by himselfe He swore in his wrath that they shoulde not enter into his rest None saith he of the men which came out of Egypt from twentie yeares olde and vpward shal see the land concerning which I swore to Abraham Isaac and Iacob because they haue not wholye followed mee excepting Caleb and Iosua And as God swore so sometime man sweare that lawfully notwithstanding the general prohibition wherin oaths are forbiddē Thomas Aquinas alledgeth the authoritie of Saint August Contra mendacium where hee sheweth that all oathes are not simply forbidden but vpō respects Ne iurando ad facilitatē iurandi veniamns deinde ad consuetudinem demum ad periurium Least often swearing breed in vs a delight and delight growe to an habit and at the length to periurie And in another place Si iurare cogeris scias de necessitate venire infirmitatis illorum quibus suades quae infirmitas mala est non male facis qui bene vteris iuramento vt alteri vtiliter persuadeas sed à malo est illius cuius infirmitate iurare cogeris If thou be constrayned to sweare it is long of their weaknesse which will not beleeue thee without swearing which weaknesse of theirs is sin thou art not in fault which takest a lawfull oath to make fayth vnto an other but hee is in the fault whose incredulitie is such that he will not beleeue thee without an oath So to confirme a trueth Iacob and Laban made a couenant betweene themselues by swearing one to the other By an oath Boaz promised marriage to Ruth Abdias being a iust mā and fearing God swore vnto Elias Paule to the Romans God is my witnesse whom I serue in my spirite in the Gospel of his sonne that without ceasing I make mētion of you in my prayers And in swearing diuerse ceremonies haue beene obserued according to the times and places as in the time of Abraham they swore laying their handes vnder their thighes Afterward the Iewes taking the law of Moses in their handes the Christian touching the Gospel But as a learned man sayth Ceremonia iuramenti nihil est modò res iusta sit animus iuraniis bonus religiosum iuramentum It is not materiall what outward ceremonie is vsed in swering so as it be in a lawfull cause the cōscience of him which sweareth being good and the oath religious which hee taketh But whosoeuer sweareth hee must sweare by the Lorde and when the Lorde sweareth he sweareth by himselfe So the Angel swore by him that liueth for euermore there should be no more time By my selfe haue I sworne saith the Lord to Abraham because thou hast done this thing and hast not spared thine onely sonne therfore I will blesse thee and multiply thy seede as the starres of heauen As I liue saieth the Lorde I will do vnto you as you haue spoken in mine eares your carkasses shall fall in the wildernesse But the reason why men sweare by the Lord and the Lord by himselfe is alledged by the Apostle An oath for confirmation is the ende of all strife so God willing more abundantly to shew vnto the heires of promise the stablenesse of his counsell bound himselfe by an oath that by two immutable things wherein it is impossible that God should lie we might haue strong consolation which haue our refuge to holde fast the hope that is set before vs. Now men sweare by him that is greater thē themselues but when God made the promise to Abraham because he had no greater to sweare by he swore by himselfe But I come to the last and essential point where he protesteth that he delighteth not in the death of a sinner That he delighteth not in the death of a sinner we need no further proof then this that hee sent his sonne to die for the saluation of sinners God sent not his sonne to condemne the