ashes but yet it continueth in the heart The fish may be in the water though she floate not alwayes aloft There is sap in the roote when the leaues are faine off and the top naked and in appearance withered So faith liueth though it haue lost some signes of life The Sâ—â—ne and the Moone may be indeed eclipâ—eâ—â— euen so the eye of faith may be dimmed But as the Sun and Moone do not perish in their eclipses nor lose their light for euer euen so faith doth not perish when it is eclipsed It may indeede receiue a buffâ—t whereby it may as it were reele and stagger and fall to the ground and there for a time lye like a man in a â—woone or fit of the falling sicknes but it cannot dye because God the welâ—pâ—ing as well of spirituall life as of naturall will neuer forsake it The Thâ—mâ—s may suffer an ebbe but it is not stâ—rke dry at any time so faith may come to a very low ebbe but yet it will haue water alâ—â—yes in the bottome As a great riuer may befrozen ouer with hard ice for a time and so couered with snow as that it seemeth rather a Rock then a Riuer or like to other ground euen so faith may be as it were frozen ouer with thicke yâ—e and so hild with the snow of sinne as that it may not bee seene at all for a time But as there is water in the Riuer which is deepe notwithstanding the frost though it be not seene euen so there is life in faith though for a time it do not appeare But when the weather is broken when the holy Ghost begins to make a thawe with the fresh fire of his grace when the South wind blowes hard and when the Sunne of righteousnes hath melted the ice then Faith will appeare and flow amayne as a Riuer after rayne and as the waters do after a thawe Then grace which was couered before will shine bright and cleare as the Sunne doth after a showre as is euident by the repentance of Dauid and Peter Moreouer our Sauiour sayeth that his sheepe shall i Iohn 10. 28. neuer perish The k Isa. 40. 11. Lord sayth Esay shall feede his flock like a Shepheard he shall gather the Lambs with his arme and carry them in his bosome Hee l Psal. 23. 2. maketh them to rest in greene pastures and leadeth them by the still waters m Psa. 41 12. He vpholdeth them in their integrity and doth set them before his face for euer As n Zach. 4. 9. Zerubbabel layed the foundation of the Temple and did finish it so o Phil. 1. 6. God that hath begun his good worke in the temple of our hearts will finish it vnto the end They can not be taken from him by strong hand p Iohn 10 29 30. For hee is greater then all and his will to saue them is answerable to his power therefore hee sayth q Iohn 10 28. Hee giueth vnto them euerlasting life adding also that none shall pluck them out of his hands Master Tindaâ— sayth well Christ is thine and all his deeds are thy deeds neither canst thou be damned except he be damned with thee They cannot perish by seduction for the Elect cannot be r Mat. 24. 24. seduced Neither can they of themselues fall away For s Iere. 32. 40. God hath put his feare in their hearts that they shall not depart from him A man may for a time cease to laugh but he cannot lose the faculty of laughing The drunkard loseth sometimes the vse of reason but the faculty neuer so the graces of God may be crazed but yet they are not vtterly abolished Finally God forsaketh not them For his loue is t â—â—re 31. 3. euerlasting those whom he loueth once he u Ioh. 13. 1. loueth to the end w Rom. 8. 39. Nothing can separate vs from hiâ— loue It is like the x Deut. 29. 〈◊〉 Israeâ—ites shooes which waxed not old It is like the tree of life he that once truly tâ—stâ—th of it shall not dye eternally As a Father doth not reiect his Child when he hath broken his face by falling but rather seekes a playster he will it may be lash him but he will not leaue to loue him Euen so our heauenly Father dealeth with his Children For he hath sayd that hee will y Iere. 32. 40. neuer depart from them to do them good hee z Heb. 13 6. will not faile them nor forsake them but a 1. Thess. 5. 23 24 will saâ—ctifie them throughout and keepe them sâ—fe vnto the comming of Christ. Indeed our enemies may wound vs but they shall not win they may vex vs but they shall not vanquish they may perhaps presse vs but they shall not oppresse vs they may cut vs but they cannot kill vs. For GOD who is greater then all will not suffer vs to be 1. Cor. 10. 13. Psa 127 4. Priuil 30. Ioh. 1. 12 Math. 14 31. Rom. 4. 20. 2. Cor. 5. 1. tempted aboue our power and is very vigilant for vs. For he that keepeth Israel neither slumbereth nor sleepeth The Elect may assuredly be perswaded in this life that they shall be saued in the life to come For a speciall and certaine perswasion of Gods mercy is the very heart and marow the life and soule of true faith Therefore Paul sayth We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be destroyed we haue a building of God that is an house not made with hands eternall in the heauens Furthermore if it be not possible for men to know that they shal be saued how could Saint Iohn say These things haue I written vnto you that beleeue in the name of the Sonne of God that ye may know that ye haue eternall life To conclude if it were impossible for a man to be in his conscience assured that hee is the elect and faithfull seruant of God effectually called in time ordeâ—ned to glory before time to what end should Dauid inquire who of all professors are the true meÌ„bers Psal. 15. of the Church miliâ—aÌ„t on earth and shall be of the Church triumphant in the heauens and to what end shuld he set down y â— marks wherby they may be discerned And to what purpose should Paul exhort vs to prooue our selues whether we are in the faith Or why should he speake after this maner vnto vs Know ye not your owne selues how that Iesus Christ is in you 2. Cor. 13. 5. 2. Peâ— 1. 10. except ye be reprobates And wherefore should Peter bid vs be diligent to make our calling election sure It remaineth therfore as an vndoubted truth that the elect may be truly assured of their election and may assuredly know without speciall reuelation that they shall be saued Now this is a very great prerogatiue and the greater first because it may be iuioyed to the end secondly because the longer it is inioyed
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 â—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 coÌ„cerning 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 meÌ„ 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 coÌ„stantly 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 Communaltiâ— of the Towne and Libertie of Fauersham RIght Worshipfull as many other wholsome and heauenly doctrines grounded vpoÌ„ 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
in Christ Ephes. 〈◊〉 10. Iesus vnto good works which hee hath ordeined that wee should walke in them As the Scripture teacheth vs that God hath elected vs vnto saluation so it doth also teach vs that hee sent his Sonne to saue vs. As God had determined that Christ should not dye in his infancie as the euent declared so hee did appoynt his father in lawe Ioseph to take hym and his Mother and to flye into Egypt when Herod Math. 2. 13. sought to destroy him By which wee see that as GOD hath predestined the end so hee hath also predestined the way and meanes thereunto Hee therefore that desireth to be saued must vse the meanes which God hath appointed His damnation may not without cause be feared who following the sway of his carnall affections contemneth oâ— neglecteth the meanes of grace and will not 1. Sam 2 25. walke in the way which leadeth vnto glory But wee Beloued reiecting all the fansies and fantastike inuentions of man must rectifie our iudgements by the rule of Gods word and with discreet diligence and sobrietie we ought to labour for the true knowledge and right vnderstanding of this celestiall and solacious doctrine of Gods eternall Predestination 〈◊〉 doctrine not so profound as profitable and not so â—bstruse and intricate as many doe imagine A notable furtherance hereunto this treatise following will affoord penned pithily concisely and perspicuously by a very learned and iudicious Diuine Now my Brethren amoÌ„gst many other things which belong to this doctrine there be two things which I do commend to your Christian consideration First the priuiledges of Gods elect and adopted children Secondly the notes of Election vnto saluation and the practise of those things whereby a man may come to be in his conscience soundly perswaded that he is a chosen vessell predestinated to eternall life For the first Many and excellent are the prerogatiues and immunities wherewith the Elect are priuiledged and adorned therefore the Psalmist saith Glorious things are spoken of thee O thou Citie of Psal 8â— 3. God And yet as glorious and numerous as they be they are not easily discerned and acknowledged of the world first because their disgrace is common and publique by reason of the spitefull and inueterate malice of the Serpent and his â—eed whereby it commeth to passe that the faithfull in all ages haue acted a part longer or shorter in a dolefull tragedy vpon the stage of the world so as that of all men they haue alway for the most part seemed most miserable and least respected of man and priuiledged of God Secondly because sundry slips and sinnes haue bin obserued in them Thirdly the vpright Proâ— 2â— 27. man is such an abomination to the wicked as that through his cankered spite his spitefull and rancorous hatred he cannot behold and fansie his sweet and louely condition Fourthly the principall ornaments of the Godly are darke and spirituall as the Psalmist saith The Kings daughter Psal. 45. â—3 iâ— all glorious within and their outward estate is vsually obscure course and ragged not much vnlike to the Curtaines of the Tabernacle whose outwarde couerings were of Goates haire Rams skins and Badgers but the inward were of fine twined linnen blue silke purple skarlet with the most exquisite embroydering of Exod. 26 the Cherubins vpon them The World vnto Gods Children is as a Step-mother and may be tearmed Gods Schoole-house in which hee trayneth vp his Children as Schollers vnder the crosse often correcting them with his rod of affliction Whence it is that the world accounts them infortunate and beeing vnable to iudge of colours through the dimnesse of her sight thee considereth and commendeth none but such as are light though they weare and lose their brightnesse whiles shee is poaring on them But although the World bee bleaâ—e-eyed and diâ—sighted yet those which are elected out of the world do feele and see and can say much And the word of God conteyneth in it many royall and notable priuiledges and dignities properly belonging vnto those whom God hath elected and adopted some whereof I will briefly and plainely heere set downe The first dignitie is their glorious and Priuil 1. honorable stiles and titles They are called in the Scriptures The people the redeemed the sonnes the building the husbandrie and houshold seruants of God the brethren the spouse the members the seed the sheep of Christ the temples of the holy Ghost the seed the sonnes and the daughters of Abraham They are called liuely stones a spirituall house heires of the promise Saints faithfull Kings Priests yea an holy princely priesthood a peculiar people chalenged of God a chosen generation and an holy nation The faithfull and chosen children of Priuil 2. God alone haue true title to all the outward blessings of God for they only beleeue Isa. 1. 19 1. Tim. 4. 3. and they are only Gods obedientiaries Reprobates are butindeed vsurpers of them in his sight We lost them in Adam and we receiue right neither in them nor to them but by Christ. His passions haue purchased our possessions The Elect only can vse Gods blessings Priuil 3. to a right end and in a right maner For they only are pure being purged in the bloud of Christ and they only can pray with a true faith The wicked make their riches their owne ruine and Gods benefits their owne bane and either abuse them or vse them not as he commandeth them and causeth his owne children by his grace to vse them God hath appoynted his holy Angels Priuil 4. which for their strength and fortitude are called Gods to guard and protect his Psa. 8. 5. people The Angell of 〈◊〉 Lord saith Dauid pitcheth round about them that foare him â—sal 34. 〈◊〉 And the Apostle sayth that they are all ministring spirits sent forth to minister for their sakes which shall be beires of saluation The Lord hath honoured his Elect and Priuil 5. no doubt yet doth and will when it pleaseth him by preseruing them and prouiding for them very effectually and sometimes â—erâ— 36. 26. also very wonderfully Hee saued Noah from drowning Lot from burning â—lias from famishing Mordecai from murder and Paul from those bloudy Votaries by prouiding for them very kindly Hee saued Samson miraculously from perishing by thirst and Daniel from the teeth of the Lions Dauid saith The Lord drew him out Psal. 18 16 48 50. of many waters and deliuered him from the cruell man and gaue him great deliuer ancâ—s He did often and strangely also preserue our late Queene of holy and happy memory from the desperate and malicious attempts of Popish Traytors set a worke by the Diuell to murder her He prolonged her dayes he held the Crowne on her head and kept the Scepter in her hand with peace and prosperitie the time and tyranny of * Paul 4. Pius 4. 5. Greg. 13. Sixtus 5. Vrban
that these and such like vertues haue taken deep roote in the heart and are grounded vpon an earnest and constant affection that they may neuer be ouercome of temptations Obiect I. Sin and the grace of the holy spirit cannot stand together Ans. This is true of the sinne that raâ—gneth or which is committed with full consent of will but the regenerate do not sinne with a whole or full will And I lay this foundation of this our iudgement In tentation we must consider two things the beginning or ground and the degrees The ground is our owne concupiscence that is our inbred corruption The subiect thereof is the whole man but especially the faculties of mans soule the mind will and affections And in these it doth immediatly exist and reigne alone before a sinner bee conuerted And a man being not regenerated be he what he will be he is flesh euery iot of him But after that a man is regenerated the flesh is no more alone or seuered by it selfe but mixed with the spirit and the spirit with the flesh although both these qualities remaine as touching nature distinct in one subiect as in the twilight the light doth not appeare alone but with darkenesse and darkenesse is not alone but with the light And the man that is regenerated is not onely flesh nor onely spirit nor flesh in one part and spirit in another but the whole man is flesh in euery part and the whole man is spirit in euery part And because those things which are contrarie cannot consist together in the highest degrees therefore albeit the whole man bee flesh yet he is not flesh in the highest degree nor spirit in the highest degree but in remisse and lower degrees partly flesh and partly spirit as luke-warme water is remissely and indifferentlie colde thoroughout and remissely also hot thoroughout Hence it followeth that concupiscence may exist and bee with the grace of the holy spirit so that it beare not rule The degrees of tentation are as Iames teacheth in number sine Iam. cap. 1. 14. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The fi 〈◊〉 Abstraction or drawing away when the mind receiueth a thought cast into it about the committing of euill and by this meanes suffers herselfe to bee drawne away froÌ„ her duty to other things The second is inescation or entising when the mind conceiueth a morose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thought for the committing of sinne together with a certaine delectation of the affection as when fishes delight themselues with the bait hanging vpon the hooke Thus farre all Diuines think a regenerate man may come and it is most certaine For hence it is that Paul complaineth that hee was held captiue of Rom. 7. 23. sinne The third degree is conception namely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when there is a will consent and a purpose to commit euill And when corruption doth come thus farre there bee some that say that all repentance and faith is driuen out and gone but not truely There is indeed in the vnregenerate in whom sinne reigneth a full consent but in the regenerate in whom the flesh and the spirit are two contrarie foundations of actions the consent is more remisse and vnperfect for they doe so will as that they nill and so nill as that they will As Paul hath taught by his owne example The fourth degree is birth of sinne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when after consent an euill is actually committed And in this act the same man being regenerate doth at the same instant both sinne and not sinne He sinneth onely according vnto the flesh and in that part wherein he is renewed hee doth not sinne but before and after the fact detesteth his sinne And as when the spirit preuaileth the action is not free from all pollution of the flesh so when the flesh preuaileth the action is not so corrupt in the regenerate as it is in those in whom sinne reigneth Neuerthelesse I confesse that in euery grieuous fall the flesh doth get the masterie and that the gift of true faith after the receit of the wound lieth flat and in a swoone for a time but that it is not for all that abolished and quite put out The last degree is perfection namely 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when sinne being perfited and ripened by often iteration and custome groweth as it were vnto a habit So saith Gregorie Sin alwaies is finished in a worke by those same Moral lib. 4 cap. 27. foure waies For first the sinne is committed closely after that it is discouered in the sight of men without blushing at the fault then it is brought into a custome And at the last either it is nourished with the deceit of vaine hope or with the obstinacie of wretched despaire And Isidore Action bringeth foorth custome and custome necessitie And so a man being fettered with these linkes lieth fast bound as it were with a chaine of vices This last degree befals not the regenerate and if it did saith and the holy spirit should be shaken out and banished Obiect II. Adam when he was voide of corruption sell wholly away therefore much more they who being borne and regenerated after Adam shall beleeue Answ. The reason is vnlike For wee haue De eor grat c. 11. saith Augustine by this grace of God in the receiuing of that which is good and in the constant keeping of the same not onely power to doe that which we will but also will to doe that which we can which Adam wanted For one of these was in him but the other was not For to receiue good he wanted not grace because as yet hee had not lost it But to continue in it he wanted the helpe of grace without which he was not able at all to doe it and he receiued power if he would but he had not will answerable to his power for if it had been in him hee should haue perseuered Obiect III. * PropositioÌ„ The member of an harlot cannot be the member of Christ * AssumptioÌ„ But he which beleeueth truly who is actually a member of Christ may be the member of an harlot * Conclusion Therefore one that truly beleeues may come to be no member of Christ. Ans. The member of Christ is diuersly distinguished for there is either a true or an apparent member An apparent member is that which is not a member according to election nor in it selfe but in shew onely that is iudged by meanes of outward profession to bee in the visible Church And it is like a woodden legge fastned to the bodie by art A true member is either by destination and appointment or now actually one Members by appointment are all those who are elected although they be not as yet regenerated or borne An actuall member is either one that is liuely or halfe dead A liuely member is that which is according to election and in very deede ingrafted into Christ
his kingdome so as that he should not want a man to be a Ruler in Israel And albeit in that place he requireth that he should do according to all his commandements whereby he may seeme to exact perfect and therefore impossible obedience yet if we consider all things well it will plainely appeare that hee meaneth no other thing then that hee should labour and seeke to please him in all things because hee setteth his father Dauid before his eyes as a patterne to follow and because else-where we reade that hee maketh the same promise vnto him onely requiring of him To indeuour himselfe to doe hiâ— commandements 2 Chron. 28. 7. as hee had begun Now this is a very comfortable doctrine For when a man considereth that GOD respects his weake obedience and honest heart and accounteth the will to doe for the deed done his heart is eased his conscience is appeased his mind is setled and beholding the infinite loue of God he is rauished with ioy and prouoked to magnifie his mercy and to struggle against the corruption of his heart to please him in doing all things which are pleasing in his sight Now lest we should beguile our selues for mans heart is a mine of subtilty in thinking we desire will to beleeue repent obey wheÌ„ as we either do not at al or do but as a reprobate may doe I will set downe some rules which as the touch-stone trieth gold and as Salomons sword found out the right mother so these may serue to discouer the truth of our desires and to deserte the goodnes of our wils First of all if we be grieued that we can desire and will no better then we do secondly if we do desire and will to do these things for the glory of God and because we are perswaded that both these things and the willing of them are pleasing vnto God thirdly if we striue to increase in willing and desiring and if we feedâ— them with the diligent hearing of Gods word with holy meditations with often prayers and with setting before vs the ensamples of excellent men as the Priests kept the fire vpon the altar and fed it continually and suffered it not to Leuit. 6. 12. go out fourthly if to our wills and desires we ioyne reformation of our liues and in our seuerall callings labour accordingly to serue God fiftly if in our hearts we prefer eternall seruing of God in heauen before all momentany profits and pleasures whatsoeuer Sixtly if we had rather liue in a continuall crosse all our life long but yet pleasing God and being in his fauour then spend the same in sinfull pleasures continually displeasing his Maiesty Seuenthly if we desire and will to sâ—rue him and to returne home vnto him from 〈◊〉 sins though wee were verily perswaded that there were no hell Lastly if 〈◊〉 had rather please God his rod of correction being alwayes exercised vpon vs then liue without remorse of conscience against our knowledge in profitable and pleasant sinnes continuâ—lly 〈◊〉 ing and displeasing GOD our grâ—cious Father though wee were certainely as it were by oracle from heauen assured that we should at the last gasp repent and be saued notwithstanding our former rebellion and horrible disloyaltie If we desire and will to beleeue repent and obey and find these things in vs then our desires will goe for currant God will accept of them and approoue them The Lord indeed suffereth his children Pri 〈◊〉 28. to fall but it is to let them see that their standing is by his grace and to shew them that he is not obliged with any bond of their meritâ— which are iust none to sustâ—ine and vphold them he dotâ— it also to make theÌ„ cling the closer about him and to seeke more earnestly for his assistance as the little child skrecâ—â—th one for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is falne lieth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wling vpon the ground be doth it to hi◠〈◊〉 the and to abate their naturaâ—l â—ridâ—â—nd as 〈◊〉 lets theÌ„ ralâ—â—â— loue so by their fâ—lâ— he maniâ—esteth his wisdome â—â—tegrity and sheweth his admirable coÌ„p 〈◊〉 humanity in forgiuing and in raising them vp againe But the fals of the reprobate kindle the coales of Gods weath against them and further their full finall perdition they serue to increase their 〈◊〉 and consequently their paines they serue for punishments sometimes of former offences and by committing one sinne in the neck of an other they put out the light of nature they harden their hearts and sit themselues for further wickednes euen as the stithy becomes the harder by striking I graunt indeed that oftentimes they are greuously galled perplexed with their sins But it is not a sorow that causeth repentance vnto saluation neuer to be repented of And vsually it â—areth with them 〈◊〉 it doth with yong Hat-makers or such as vse to play at Stoole-ball In the beginning their fingers may blister and their hands may ake but after a while their hands become â—ard and brawny and are well armed for such works and the more they practise the lesse paine they feele so the custome of sinning takes away the sense of the sin And as y â— dropsy maÌ„ the more he drinks the drierhe is so the reprobate the more he falleth the more he â—â—nsieth falling It is not possible that any of the Elect Priâ—i 29 should be damned or that any of them being soundly conuerted should â—holly for a time much lesse for euer fall away from God and perish For Gods decree of a 2. Tim. 2. 19. Election is constant and his b Isa. 46. 10. counsell shall stand c Iohn 6. 37. Him that commeth vnto me saith Christ I cast not away that is I do not cast off or eiect him that embraceth me with the hand and armes of a liuely faith and testifieth the same with the fruites thereof And whom God hath predestinâ—ted called and iustified them d Rom. 8. 30. he will also glorifie For his couenant with them is an e Iere. 32 40. euerlasting couenant and his gifts are wâ—â—hout f Rom. 11. 29. repentance g Cant. 8 6. Loue is strong as death much water can not q 〈◊〉 h loue neither can the floods drowne iâ— Prety which 〈◊〉 was neuer prety And true faith though as small as a graine of mustâ—â—d seed cannot altogether vanish and bee extinguished For God will 〈◊〉 it hee will not h Isa. 4â— 3. breake the bruâ—ed reed nor quench the smoking flexe Indeed faith may be shaken but it can not be shiuered in peeces it may be mooued but it can not be remooued it may 〈◊〉 and wax dry but it can not weare away quite and die Sathan may siâ—t and towze it he may lay siege against it but he cannot sack it he shall neuer destroy it The Sunne may set and for a time lye hid but it remayneth in the heauen and faith may be couered as fire with