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love_n	lord_n	love_v	saint_n	5,636	5	6.4232	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A09386	A C[hristian] and [plain]e treatise of the manner and order of predestination and of the largenes of Gods grace. First written in Latine by that reuerend and faithfull seruant of God, Master William Perkins, late preacher of the word in Cambridge. And carefully translated into English by Francis Cacot, and Thomas Tuke.; De prædestinationis modo et ordine. English	Perkins, William, 1558-1602.; Cacot, Francis.; Tuke, Thomas, d. 1657.	1606 (1606)	STC 19683; ESTC S103581	116,285	285

A C 〈◊〉 N AND 〈◊〉 E TREATISE OF THE manner and order of Predestination and of the largenes of Gods grace FIRST WRITTEN IN LATINE by that Reuerend and faithfull seruant of God Master William Perkins late Preacher of the Word in Cambridge AND CAREFVLLY TRANSLATED into English by FRANCIS CACOT and THOMAS TVKE Romanes 8. vers 29. 30. For those which he knew before he also predestinate to be made like to the image of his Sonne that he might be ●he first borne among many brethren Moreouer whom he predestinate them also he called and whom he called them also he iustified and whom he iustified them be also glorified AT LONDON Printed for WILLIAM WELEY and Martin Clarke 1606. To the Right VVorshipfull Sir Peter Buck Knight And to the vertuous Lady his Wife Grace and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Iesus Christ. RIght Worshipfull amongst the manifold points of Christian Religion the trueth of the Doctrine cōcerning Predestination is worthy serious and sober study for the sound vnderstanding thereof For first it is something difficult obscure Secondly because it is by some eagerly impugned as a friuolous and forged inuention of mans braine Thirdly diuers opinions haue passed from diuers mē diuersly about this one point whereas notwithstanding there is but one truth and one definite and constant sentence to be found in holy writ concerning it Fourthly this one doctrine doth giue very good euidence and an ample demonstration of Gods infinite mercie and exact iustice Fiftly it affordeth some taste of his profound and impenetrable counsell Sixtly it doth notably manifest his admirable wisdome and policie and the incorruptible purity of his nature who wisely disposeth all things and vseth euen euils without iniustice and the least receipt or infusion of corruption and all for the manifestation of the glory of his Name and of the splendour of his renowmed properties Seuenthly it confoundeth the common cauill of many desperate and infatuated Atheists who would make Gods predestination the pillar of their sensuall security and secure sensualitie Lastly it ministreth exceeding comfort vnto those who renouncing the kingdome of Sinne do liue like Saints in the kingdome of Grace First because it is not possible for any such to sinne with full consent of heart Secondly because no personall merits are required of them Thirdly because the Spirit of God abideth in them who is busy within the hiue of their hearts as a Bee and worketh them like waxe Fourthly because God hath eternally predestinated them to eternall ioyes and those also incomprehensible and ineffable Fiftly because God hath in abundance vouchsafed that to them being but an handfull which hee hath denyed to whole heapes besides Sixtly for that they being elected can in no wise perish for the counsell of the Lord shall stand for euer Psal. 33. 11. And hee loueth them with an euerlasting loue Ieremy 3. 4. Though a Mother should forget her Child yet he will not forget them for he hath grauen them vpon the palme of his hand Isay 49. 15 16. therefore hee will confirme them vnto the end 1. Cor. 1. 8. and by his power keepe them vnto saluation 1. Pet. 1. 5. He will loue them cōstantly though he visit their transgressions with rods Psal. 89. 32 33. He will neuer turne away from them though he Iere. 32. 40. Ioh. 16. 12. take them by the neck as Iob speaketh and beat them though he cut their reines and breake them and though he powreth their gall vpon the ground and runneth vpon them like a Gyant Ioseph did affect his brethren entirely though hee spake roughly to them Hee may also sometimes let them fall as a louing Nurse may her child but he will lift them vp againe therefore howsoeuer they may fall yet they shall not fall away Indeed Piptein they may leaue their first loue as the Ecpiptein Church of Ephesus did but they shall neuer leaue to loue at all if euer they loued Reu. 2. 4. truly For as Paul sayth Loue doth neuer fall away it may be lessened but it cannot 1. Cor. 13 8. be lost In like manner their faith may be couered as the Sunne with a duskie cloud in a gloomy day or as the trees are with snow sometimes in winter but yet it continueth firmely fixed though now and then eclipsed in the sphaere of the heart and keepeth sap in the roote For the righteous man is as a tree planted by the riuers of waters Psal. 1. 3. and is built by that great builder of heauen and earth vpon a rock Math. 16. 18. These comforts will this one doctrine affoord being throughly pondered and vnderstood And no doubt these and the like considerations mooued that holy and learned man of blessed memory to publish this present treatise for the benefit of the Church and the same haue also incited vs to turne it out of the toong wherein he wrote it into the English for their profit who are ignorant in the other and the rather because it is contriued and penned very plainely soundly and succinctly as the subiect will permit The which Right Worshipfull assuring our selues of your vnfeigned loue vnto the truth we do present and dedicate to you in token of deserued gratitude for vndeserued kindnesse not doubting of your courteous and kinde acceptance And thus we humbly take our leaues recommending you and all yours to the protection of Iehoua Rochester this 19. of February 1605. Your Worships in all dutie Francis Cacott and Thomas Tuke ¶ To the Right VVorshipfull Master Iohn Hayward Maior And the Worshipfull Iurates his Brethren And the whole Communalti● of the Towne and Libertie of Fauersham RIght Worshipfull as many other wholsome and heauenly doctrines grounded vpō the word of God haue beene and are to this day contradicted and impugned euen so it fareth with the diuine and deepe doctrine of Gods Predestination a doctrine not more heauenly then wholsome nor more commodious then comfortable yet as heauenly as commodions as any doctrine whatsoeuer which the Scriptures do affoord The Pelagians held that God predestinated men to life or death as he did foresee that they would by their naturall free will receiue or reiect grace offered They taught that it was in mans power to beleeue or not to beleeue they placed the causes of saluation in men themselues out of God and held that the Elect might fall from grace and perish Others hold that albeit the Lord electeth some of his meere mercy without respect of any thing in them that yet he reiecteth those which are reiected because he did foresee that they would reiect his grace offered vnto them in the Gospell Some Vbiquitaries hold that Adams fall came to passe without Gods decree or any ordination of 〈◊〉 secondly that no decree of God dependeth vpon his sample will concerning the saluation of the godly or the reiection of the Reprobate thirdly that God doth vtterly nill the reprobation of 〈◊〉 y

away his children by death that they should not see those euils which he h 〈◊〉 purposed to plague his enemies withall Mercifull men are taken away sayth Is● 57. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and no man vnderstand●th that the righteous is taken away from the euill to some So the Lord tooke away good Iosiah 〈◊〉 Chr●n 84. 28. that his eyes might not see all the euill which hee purposed to bring vpon that place Yea such is his loue vnto his Saints that he cannot doe that to the wicked which he would so long as they liue amongst them As the Angell told Lot that he could do nothing till he was gone out of Sodome euen so it may be ●en 19. ●2 truly sayd that Gods loue is so feruent towards his chosen as that it sometimes keepeth him from scattering his iudgements in those places wherein they liue Therefore he doth often remoue them by death that he may more freely poure out the vials of his wrath vpon the vngodly Fourthly by death God learneth vs to seeke a place of rest and to alie●ate our affections from the world which being like vnto bird-lime would otherwise more easily belime our affections that they could not soare vp to the heauens the place of our home Fiftly by death the Lord humbleth vs and teach●th vs not to pra●ke and plume vp our bodies lyke Peacocks as if wee meant to liue euer Sixtly the Lord by their deaths occasioneth their exper●●c● and feeling of the vertue of Christs resurrection Lastly as death is the complement of mortification and endeth the battell betweene the flesh and the spirit so it fully finisheth all earthly calamities and as a ●erry 〈◊〉 it transporteth vs ouer the tempestuous and broad Ocean of tribulations and afflictions into the calme and quiet hauen of endlesse happinesse But as for the Reprobate it is to them as a boat to cary them out of a riuer of earthly miseries into a restlesse bottomlesse sea of infinite ineffable torments And because their felicity if any consisteth in the finite fruition of worldly prosperity God in his appointed time by death as by 〈◊〉 knife cutteth asunder the threed of life and so casteth them out of their paradise and sendeth their soules to the place of the damned where they shall continue terribly tormented till that dolefull and dismall day of vengeance God hath ordeined the writing of his ●ri●●l 10 word the preaching of it the administration of the Sacraments and his dispensers of them principally and properly for the be●●fit of the Elect. Sa 〈◊〉 Paul sayth Whatsoeuer things are written aforet●me are written for our learning that we ●om 15. 4. through patience and comfort of the Scrip 〈◊〉 s might haue hope Iohn saith he wrote that wee might beleeue in the name of 1. Ioh 5. ●3 Christ. Therefore his writings properly belong to the children of God And the Apestle writing to the 〈◊〉 ans sayth that Christ gaue some to be Apostles and some Prephets and some ●uangelists and some Pastors and Doctors But to what end For the reparation of the Saints and for the edification of Christs Eph●● 4. ●2 body And this is no small prerogatiue for the Sacraments are signes and seales of Gods grace The preaching of the Gospell is the power of God to saluation to all that doe beleeue In his word hee hath recorded his will And his Ministers are as it were his Trumpeters which do sound in our eares the trumpets of his Law and Gospell and instruct vs when to stand still when to retyre and when and how to march forward They are through his assistance our spirituall Fathers by whom he doth procreate and beget vs vnto himselfe for our good and his owne glory Now all these things profit the Reprobate nothing at all but do indeed through the rebellions corruption of they● hearts harden and stiften them as the Sunne doth clay The Lord hath vnited all his elect and Priui 1● de●re children vnto Christ by his Spirit and by a true and liuely faith And by reason of this vnion they are after a sort vnited to the whole Trinity Father Sonne and holy Ghost Yea hence it is that we are partakers of Christs benefits For as the members of the body haue neither sense nor motion vnlesse they be vnited to the head and as the science or griffe receiueth no nourishment except it be set in the stock and grow vp with it Fuen so vnlesse we be vnited vnto Christ our stock and spirituall head we haue no spirituall life and motion neither are we actually partakers of his benefits But being once vnited and knit vnto him we receiue sense and sap life and motion All the elect and faithfull people of God are partakers of the prayers of all Priuil 12. the Godly throughout the world The children of God haue fellowship one with an other as with Christ their head Whereas on the contrary they pray for the confusion and finall destruction of his and their impenitent pestilent and irreconciliable enemies and can not but hate and abandon those whom they see to walke peruersly in wicked and reprobate courses without remorse of conscience and all shew of repentance For GOD hath put a secret antipathy and mortall en●●y betweene his seed and the seed of the Serpent Therefore Salomon sayth A wicked man is an abomination to the iust and he that is vpright in his Prou. 29 27. way is an abomination to the wicked And as Dauid sayth The wicked practiseth against Psal. 37. 12. the iust and g●a●●●eth his t●●th against him So he also sayth thus of himselfe Psal. 3●● 6. I haue hated them that giue themselues to deceitfull vanities And againe Doe not I hate them O Lord that hate Psa. 139 21. thee I hate them with the perfection of hatred as if they were mine vtter enemies And in the fifteenth Psalme contemning Psal. 15. 4. of a vile person that is of a wicked wretch and the honouring of the Godly is made an infallible note of a faithfull member of the Church By which it appeareth that there is no sincere and solid communion betweene Gods children and the slaues of the Diuell And therefore it is one of our priuiledges and peculiar dignities to inioy the loue and louely communion of the Saints Faith by which we walke and liue Priuil 13. by which we are iustified and adopted without which it is impossible to please GOD this faith which is a supernaturall Heb. 11. 6. Act. 13. 48. T●● 1. 1. gift of God aboue corrupt and created nature this faith I saye is peculiar and proper to the Elect therefore Saint Paul ●alieth it The ●aith of the Elect and teacheth the Thessalonians 〈◊〉 Thes. 3 2. that it is not common to all men Secondly Hope is an excellent gift of God for it maketh not ashamed and by Rom. 5. 5 it the Apostle sayth we are saued that is by

hope we expect and wait for that saluation Rom. 8. 24. which by faith we apprehend and assure our selues of for the ●●ualuable merits of Christ. Now this grace is not giuen to any besides the Elect. For how can the Reprobate hope to be saued seeing they are appointed for the day of euill and are reserued to the day Prou. 16. 4. Iob. 21. 30. 〈◊〉 Tim. 1 5 of destruction and shall be brought foorth to the day of wrath Thirdly Loue which springeth out of a pure heart and floweth from a good conscience and faith vnfeigned is giuen only to Gods Elect. For it is not possible for the Reprobate to loue God to that end and in that manner which God requireth seeing he hath cast them off from all eternity and purposed not to giue them any sauing grace considering also that they are by nature voyd of pu●itie and do liue and dye in sinne Now this priuiledge is the greater because this grace is very rare and excellent Loue is as it were a knife wherewith faith shareth and cutteth out the duties which we doe owe vnto God and man in some good and acceptable manner Loue is the cock which letteth out the water of Gods graces out of the cisterne of our hearts Loue is the nurse of humanitie the mother of equitie the maintainer of vertue the daughter of faith the preseruer of pietie the mistresse of modestie the badge of Christianitie the bane of discord the staffe of concord Col. 3. 14. Iob. 13. 35. 1. Cor. 1● 13. the keeper of the Crowne the bond of perfection and the note of a true disciple Saint Paul in some sort prefers it to faith and hope when he saith Now abideth faith hope and loue but the chiesest of these is Loue. By which we see that the Lord hath highly honoured vs in that hee conferreth this glorious grace vnto none but vs. Lastly that filiall Prou. 9. 10. Prou. 1● 27. feare which is the beginning of wisdome and the well-spring of life to auoyd the snares of death and which makes a man to keepe the golden rule of mediocritie is giuen onely to Gods Elect. For how can the Reprobate who doe loue sinne and doe not loue God how I say can they feare to displease him because they hate sinne and loue him or how can the Reprobate who are all ordeined to ineuitable and eternall perdition be sayd to feare God as a Sonne feareth his louing Father seeing they be slaues and considering that the word of God pronounceth him happy and blessed who standeth Psa. 112 〈◊〉 in awe of GOD and feareth to offend him If the Reprobate be blessed then of all men the Elect are most accursed But wee shall say that those are blessed whom the Lord hath accursed if we shall say that the Reprobate doe feare God with that feare whereof I now speake Priuil 14. 〈◊〉 Chron. 14. 11. Nahum 1. 9. Act. 〈◊〉 4 GOD accounteth those iniuries as done vnto himselfe which the wicked offer vnto his faithfull seruants Saul persecuted the true professors of Christ yet Christ told him from heauen that he persecuted him The afflictions of Gods children are called in the Scriptures Col. 1. 24 Christs afflictions For such is the vnion and communion betwixt the head and the members that if any of Reuel 11 8. them smart the head is partaker of the griefe If any part be crazed or annoyed the heart is ready to mourne the head to consult the tongue to bewayle and vtter it the foot to run to the Surgeon and the hand is ready to do her duety Euen so it is betweene Christ and his members If any of them bee iniuriously vexed and troubled hee takes the wrong as done vnto himselfe And so Christ may be sayd to be crucified in that great city which is mystically called Sodom and Babylon that is Rome because hee is there put to death in his members and is in them as it were slayne continually by * Romish authority is either heathenish or Popish Christ died by the former but in hi● members he hath died by both and yet doth by the latter Zach. 〈◊〉 8. Math. 25 Romish authority as hee was by it if wee speake properly crucifyed and put to death So in lyke manner the Lord sayeth He which toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye And as Christ esteemeth of those good deeds which men do vnto them as done vnto himselfe euen so hee accounteth the bare neglecting and the not relieuing of them in their wants as if the wicked had been in this kind of duety faultie vnto himselfe God will shorten the World and hasten the comming of his Sonne for the Priui 15 Elect. And so that speach of Christ may be vnderstood For the Elects sake those Math. 24 22. euill dayes shall be shortened Moreouer such is the patience and good wil of God vnto his Elect as that hee stayeth his comming for a time because he would as Peter affirmeth haue none of them to perish but come vnto repentance 2. Pet. 3. 9. that when hee commeth they may bee welcome vnto him and hee to them God doth effectually call the Elect and none besides them and they alone Priui 16 are iustifyed in his sight For hee doth pardon them alone and they only are Rom. 8. 30. clothed with the spotlesse roabes of Christs perfect righteousnes Therefore the Prophet saith The ch●stisement of our Isa. 53. 5 6. peace was vpon him The Lord hath layed vpon him the iniquitie of vs all For the 〈◊〉 transgression of my people was he plagued By his knowledge shall my righteous seruant 11. 12. Math. 1. 21. Iohn 17. 9. iustifie many He bare the sinne of many He doth not say all For he came to saue his owne people only from their sinnes He did not so much as pray for the Reprobate Now this is a very great and admirable priuiledge and honour that God should send his only Sonne to dye for vs few despicable wretches and that Christ should lose his life and shead his heart blood for vs only whereas it was in Act 20. 28. it selfe being the blood of God sufficiēt to haue redeemed a thousand thousand worlds of sinners If a man had a medicine able to cure all diseases and would not giue it any sauing some few they were wonderfully indebted to him The blood of Christ is able to heale all our soule-sicknesses and to deliuer vs from all our sinnes and it hath pleased him to wash vs alone in it and to withhold it from the far greater part of mankind By which we see how highly hee hath honoured vs and how deep we are in his debt If three men were in danger of drowning or burning and a man should come and deliuer one of them and leaue the other two to the danger all men might well say that he fauoured him more then the other By our sinnes we

7. Greg. 14 Innoc. 9. Clemon 8 nine or tenne Monsters her mortall enemies though their slaues continually plotted and practised against her and thought the Prince of the aire thundered against her in his * Pius 5. Greg. 13. Sixtus 〈◊〉 Lieutenants as it were from the clouds with curses and cursed Excommunications Lately also he hath vouchsafed an admirable deliuerance to his Anointed our gracious King and to vs all from a most barbarous and horrible confusion And of this kinde of fauour and fauourable dealing vsed of the Lord we may reade plentifully in Diuine and Ecciesiasticall stories And no doubt the wicked haue sometimes fared the better for the Electsake as Laban did Gen. 30. 27. Gen. 39. 5. Act. 27. 24. Gen. 18. 32. Iob. 22. ●0 for Iacob and Potiphar for Ioseph and those which say led in that dangerous voyage to Rome for Paul who was in their companie God told Abraham that if there were but ten righteous persons in Sodom hee would not destroy it for their sakes Eliphaez saith that the innocent shall deliuer the Iland meaning that God doth often deliuer a whole countrey from perill for the iust m●ns sake For his Elect GOD hath altered the course of nature He diuided the waters Priuil 6. of the red sea that his people might passe dry-shod through it He caused the Sunne Exo. 14. 22. I●sh 10. 12. to stay and the Moone to stand still till his people had auenged themselues vpon their enemies For Gideons sake he caused the dew to fall only vpon a fleece of wooll and kept it from falling vpon the ground Iud. 8. 38 40. and afterwards at his request he let it fall on the earth and kept the fleece drie For Hezekiah his sake he brought the shadow in the dyall of Ahaz ten degrees Isa. 38. 8 backward by the which degrees the Sunne was gone downe GOD doth often preserue his chosen Priuil 7. children from pe●●is then when he doth persecute the wicked Many sorowes Psal. 32. 10. 〈◊〉 Dauid shall be fall the wicked but he that trusteth in the Lord shall be compassed of mercy Noah was deliuered when the wicked were drowned The Israelites Gen. 19. 16. passed whē the Egiptians perished Whē Sodo● was burned Lot was brought foorth When Ierico was sacked Raha● was saued When Abab was slaine Iebosaph●t escaped When Ierusalem was to be destroyed the Lord commanded Ezek. 9. 4. the godly to be brāded that they might be preserued Moreouer when the Lord deliuereth his own people then he doth sometimes thrust the wicked into their dangers The righteous sayth Salomon Pr●● 11. 8. escapeth out of trouble and the wicked shall come in his stead And as he doth vsually crosse their cursed counsels so he doth often times curse theyr malicious and bloudie enterprises and cracks them vpō their owne crownes and breakes them vpon their own backs Haman was hanged on that galowes which he himselfe Hest. 7. 9 had prepared for Mordecai whom the King did greatly aduance Daniel was brought●om the Lions and his accusers Dan. 6. 23 24. being cast into the den amongst them were deuoured of them God preserued Shadrak Meshak Abednego in the hot Dan 3. 22. fiery furnace and ●lew the men with the flame of the fire that brought them forth to be burned The Lord deliuered good Ieh●shaphat and caused his enemies that 2. Chron. 20. 23. came against him to help forward their owne destruction The Lord hath deliuered vs frō their barbarous and blood-thirsty Catholiques and hath for the honour of his mercy pulled the rotten house of their diuelish muentions vpon their owne heads His name be praysed for euer and euer Amen Christ hath altered the nature of affsictions Priuil 8. vnto his elect and faithfull members For whereas they are cast vpon the wicked as punishments due vnto them for their sinnes wherein they liue they are inflicted vpon the Godly by Psal. 8● 31 32. Hab. 12. 6. God as a mercifull Father that desireth the amendment of his children Because our hearts are drossy the Lord as our most skilfull founder casteth vs into the furnace of afflictions that he might refine vs. Because we are subiect to transgresse and goe astray the Lord imparketh vs within the pales of aduersitie and hedgeth vs about with the thorny quick-set of the crosse that we might be kept in some compasse Dauid sayth Psa. 119 67. Before I was afflicted I went astray but now I keepe thy word Because wee are by nature vntoward to that which is good the Lord vseth the crosse as a Schoolemaster to instruct vs. Therefore Dauid sayth It is good for me that I haue beene afflicted that I may learne Psa. 11● 71. thy Statutes Because wee are by nature inclined to the loue of the world the Lord as our Nurse doth weane vs from the loue thereof by affliction as the Mother or Nurse driueth her Child from the brest by rubbing it with some bitter thing To be briefe the Lord by afflictions ex 〈◊〉 eth our faith and patience ●●a●neth vs humility and teacheth 〈◊〉 to esteeme of prosperity By aff 〈◊〉 s bee maketh vs to take experience or his loue and of those graces which he hath giuen vs. By afflictions he learneth vs to be mercifull vnto the miserable for the sense of sicknes and the feeling of pouerty through Gods blessing is a notable meanes to make vs pity the poore and the sick The Apostle sayth Our light affl●ction which is but for 2 Cor. 4. 17. a moment worketh vnto vs a far most excellent and an eternall weight of glory though not as a cause procuring it for wee are Ephes. 2. 8. Rom. 6. 23. saued by grace and euerlasting life is the free gift of God in Christ yet as a way and meanes directing and leading vs thereto Christ hath two Crownes the one of thornes the other of glory hee that will be honoured with the last must bee humbled and tryed with the first Thus it is euident that God sheweth himselfe a Father in afflicting his Children But as for the Reprobate his erosses are curses and his afflictions are fore-runners of further iudgements inflicted and sent of God as a seuere and dreadfull Iudge God hath altered the nature of death Priuil 9. vnto all the elect For Christ by his death hath been the death of death and the death of sinne which is the sting and strength of death First of all God by death teacheth vs to detest sinne and to acknowledge the seu 〈◊〉 ty and sharpnes of his anger against it Secondly by death he deliuereth vs vtterly from the body of sinne Till death we attaine not vnto perfection and at death sinne is wholy con 〈◊〉 ed. When we dye sinne dyeth For sinne is so nething like ●uy which falleth downe and dyeth when the tree on which it hanged is cu● d 〈◊〉 Thirdly the Lord doth sometimes take