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cause_n	election_n	faith_n	work_n	2,826	5	6.4066	4	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

ex praeuisis operibus for the good workes which God foresawe in him as also of Huberus and other Lutherans of our times the brochers of straunge opinions which holde that some are predestinated to bee vessels of honour but expreuisa fide because of theyr fayth which God did foresee to bee in them others of dishonour but ex mero contemptu aut neglectu non ex Dei decreto not by anie decree of God but because hee had in them a foresight eyther of neglect or contempt as if the causes of theyr predestination were in themselues and not in God whereas in deede these wordes Not by workes but by him that calleth do ende all controuersie shewing that the whole causes of election and reprobation are in himselfe and not in vs and therefore not long of any fayth or workes of ours And as Saint Augustine sayth Si futura opera quae Deus vtique praesciebat vellet intelligi nequaquam diceret non ex operibus sed ex futuris operibus eoque modo istam solueret quaestionem immo nullam quam solui opus esset faceret quaestionem If the Apostle did vnderstād any good works foreseene in Iacob to be the cause why God did loue him he would not say as he doth Not of workes but he would rather say God loued him because of his workes which hee foresaw in him and so he would not onely ende this controuersie but make it so plaine that it should be indeed without all controuersie Againe the Apostle doth explaine his owne meaning that he loued Iacob and hated Esau without respect of any thing in them worthy of loue or hatred by the obiection following where he sayth What shall wee say then Is there iniquitie with God God forbid Because it seemeth to flesh and blood not to stand with the iustice of God to condemne men before they are borne but to be crueltie in him to hate thē which neuer did euill therefore the apostle preuenteth that obiection and purgeth God of that suspition which men might cōceiue against him which he should not need to do if God did loue or hate vpon anie foresight of faith or good works in the one or neglect and contempt in the other for that were in the iudgement of men a sufficient cause of loue and hatred without all shewe of iniustice Thirdly he maketh it yet more plaine by the wordes which follow vers 18. where he saith Hee will haue mercie on whom he will haue mercie and whom he will he hardeneth He maketh two causes of saluation and damnation and both subordinate to an higher and more principall cause the subordinate cause of saluation beeing mercye because none is saued but by mercie of damnation hardening or obdurating for they which be damned are hardened in their sinnes that they cannot repent and both those inferior causes are subordinate to his will as the highest cause and onely in himselfe and these inferiour causes doe both proceed from his will And finally when he sayth It is not meaning election in him that willeth that is in the indeuors of man nor in him that runneth that is in the workes of men but in God onely that sheweth mercy hee teacheth that the onely rule of predestination and reprobation whereby God is directed and the only law which he tieth himself to obserue therin is his will so that no part of our electiō is ascribed to our selues or any thing which may be in vs. Secondly to answere this obiection Is there iniquitie with God God forbid He cleareth that two maner of waies First God is not vniust by being partiall in sauing hee dooth not erre in his choyse by preferring Iacob before Esau when the case of them both was one both vnborne neither of them had done good why hee should bee chosen or euill why hee should be refused For God will haue mercy on whom he will haue mercy Non potest peccare in dolectu cuius voluntas est iusticiae regula Hee cannot erre in his choyse when that is iust whatso-soeuer is his will When two theeues haue committed murther and both deserued death may not the King without suspition of iniustice shewe mercie in pardoning the one and doe iudgement in executing the other Iacob and Esau were both as we all are by nature the children of wrath could not God iustly haue compassion on Iacob and let Esau die in his sinnes That anie are saued it is his mercie and hee may haue mercie on whom hee will It is worthie of obseruation that the Apostle dooth say when they had done neither good nor euill But hee dooth not say when they were neither good nor euill For true it is that they had done neither good nor euill because they were vnborne and therefore coulde not commit anie actuall sinne but they were both of them euill for both were infected with originall sinne in their mothers wombe which they drewe by inheritance from Isaac theyr father and Rebecca their mother and therefore sayeth Augustine Ambo gemini natura filijirae nascebantur nullis quidem operibus proprijs sed originaliter in Adam vinculo damnationis obstricti Iacobum igitur dilexit per miscricordiam gratuitam Esaum odit per iudicium debitum quod quum deberetur ambobus in altero tantum alter agnouit non de suis meritis sibi gloriandum sed de diuinae misericordiae largitate quia non est volentis neque currentis sed Dei miserentis Cap. 94. Remanentibus reprobis in aeterna poena sancti scient planius quid illis contulerit gratia tum vebus ipsis apparebit quod Psal 100. scriptum est misericordiam iudicium tibi cantabo domine quia nisi per indebitam misericordiam nemo saluatur nisi per debitum iudicium nemo dānatur Cap. 95. Ex duobus paruulis alter assumiter per dei misericordiam alter relinquitur per Dei iudicium in quo is qui assumitur agnoscit quid sibi per iudicium debebatur nisi misericordia subueniret Cur iste assumitur magis quam ille cum vna causa esset ambobus eadē est causa cur apud quosdam nō sunt factae virtutes nempe in Tiro Sidone Mat. 11. Quae si factae fuissent poenitentiam egissent sed in Corazin Bethsaida factae sunt qui non erant credituri Cap. 99. Quum Dei misericordiam commendasset dicens non est volentis neque currentis c. deinde iudiciū commendat quoniam in quo non fit misericordia non fit iniquitas sed iudicium They were both by nature the children of wrath not by reason of any offence which thēselues had cōmitted but for y ● first offēce of Adam they were in state of damnation as all the rest of Adams posteritie wherefore that God loued Iacob it was free mercy and vndeserued grace that hee hated Esau it was no wrong but iustice a punishment due vnto his sinnes which punishment being due vnto them

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 predestinated 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 Printed by T. C. for R. Dexter 1597. To the Right Honorable Sir Thomas Egerton Knight Lord Keeper of the great Seale of England RIght Honorable my singular good Lord Your integritie in bestowing spirituall liuings and making choyse of learned men vpon whom you bestow them hath satisfied the common expectation and fully answered that great hope which the Cleargie of Englande hath conceiued of you It is the voyce of all them which are religiously affected that God in his mercy hath raysed you vp to bee an especiall instrument of his glorie My selfe among many other of both the Vniuersities had set my heart at rest as one resolued to die within the precinctes of the Colledge like a Monke shut vp in his cell or an Heremite mured vp within the compasse of a wall without hope of euer being called to any Ecclesiastial preferment in this corrupt and simoniacall age had I not bene by your Honor preferred VVherfore in dutie I could do no lesse thē for my poore portiō of learning to offer vnto you this my labor as a schollers myte which here I humbly present vnto your Honour as vnto my good L. vnto whom I am especially bound It may please your Lordship to weigh it not accorcording to my skill which is but weake but according to the soundnesse of the doctrine therin conteined which is warranted by the authoritie of the scriptures the same scriptures being rightly vnderstood as it appeareth by the analogie of the scriptures the consent both of the Fathers of the primitiue Church and the new writers of our times which do concurre in iudgement and agree vpon the same interpretation The Lorde continue this your great loue of godlinesse and singular zeale in furthering of religion that here you may liue long to his glory and hereafter liue for euer to your owne euerlasting comfort Your Honours in all humble dutie Iohn Doue A Sermon preached at Paules Crosse the sixt of Februarie 1596. Ezech. 33. 11. As I liue sayth the Lord God I haue no delight in the death of a sinner A Protestation against the house of Israel In which three things offer themselues to our consideration The maiestie of the person which doth protest the maner how he maketh his protestation and what hee protesteth The person beeing God the maner by swearing by himselfe he protesteth that he hath no delight in the death of a sinner Of the person I say with Augustine Huius mysterij profunditatem mens humana non potest concipere nec oratoria lingua narrare nec bibliothecarum volumina explicare si vniuersum mundum libri repleant His maiestie is an hidden mysterie whose depth bottom the wit of man can not sound the tong of sinfull man can not vtter the whole world beeing supposed to bee but one librarie of bookes would bee a briefe and compendious epitomie not large and voluminous enough to expresse it To whom Abraham the nearer hee approached the more hee perceyued himselfe to bee but dust and ashes at whose presence the Cherubins and Seraphins do hide their faces as not able to behold his glorie at whose appearance the Moone shall be abashed and the Sunne ashamed whose face Moses could not see without present death who is wise in heart mightie in strength remooueth the mountaines out of their places causeth the pillars of the earth to shake commaundeth the Sunne and it riseth not closeth vp the stars as vnder a signet spreadeth out the heauens and walketh on the height of the sea maketh the starres Arctuarus Orion and Pliades and the climates of the South whose wonderfull workes are infinite and without number whose perfection is higher then heauen deeper then hell longer then the earth wider then the sea When the Prophet sawe the Lorde sitting on an high Throne and the Seraphins stoode vppon it and one cryed to another and sayde Holie holie holie is the Lorde God of hoasts the whole worlde is full of his glorie and the lintils of the doore cheekes mooued at the voyce of him that cryed and the house was filled with smoke hee sayde wo is mee for I am vndone because I am a man of polluted lips for mine eyes haue seene the King and the Lorde of hoasts Then flewe one of the Cherubins to him with an hote cole in his hand which he had takē from the aultar with the tongs and he touched his mouth and sayde Lo this hath touched thy lips If the Cherubin had sanctified my lippes as he did the Prophets in this place if he had giuen mee the tongue of the learned as hee did vnto him in another place or if he had put his words into my mouth as hee did to Ieremie yet should I not be able to expresse it for neither Esay nor Ieremie could expresse it For betweene his reach and the shallownesse of mans heart there is as great a wirlepoole or swallowing pitte as that which is betweene hell mouth and Abrahams bosome If I shoulde wade in the channell thereof I should sinke into as deepe a gulfe as the water of Ezechiel which the first time came vp to his ankles the second time to his knees the third time to his loins the fourth time it was a deepe riuer and and not to bee passed ouer that hee was faine to bee brought backe againe to the brinke therof so that the farther he waded the deeper he was plunged The Philosophers compare him to a circle because he is infinite without beginning and without ending but such a circle as is repugnant to the principles of Geometrie whose centre is euery where but his circumference is no where his throne is heauen his footstoole earth his holy citie Ierusalem He is al eye for he seeth all things all eare for he heareth all things all arme for he comprehendeth al things and yet he is none of al these for he is a spirit and in spirit to be worshipped He is great without quantitie good without qualitie euerlasting without time in his greatnesse infinite in his power omnipotent in his wisdome inestimable in his counsels terrible in his iudgements iust his thoughts secret his wordes true his workes holy inuisible yet seeing all things immutable yet chaunging all things immoueable himself yet in whom all other things haue their being and mouing As I liue saith the Lord God We reade of many Gods in the holy scriptures for Satan is

worlde but that through him the worlde might bee saued And notwithstanding the enmitie betweene God and vs continued no longer then vntill wee were reconciled vnto him through his sonne yet vnlesse hee had of his free mercie loued vs from the beginning hee had neuer sent his sonne to reconcile vs. For so writeth Augustine Incomprehensibilis immutabilis est Dei dilectio non enim ex quo ei reconciliati sumus per saenguinem filij eius cepit nos diligere sed ante mundi constitutionem dilexit nos vt cum eius vnigenito nos filij eius essemus antequàm omnino aliquid essemus Incomprehensible and immutable is the loue of God for his loue towardes vs did not then first begin whē we were reconciled to him by the death of his son but his loue was frō the beginning for he ordeined vs when as yet we wer not sons to be heires with his only son Ita deus dilexit mundū c. So God loued the world that he gaue his onely begotten son for vs that whosoeuer beleeued in him should not perish but haue life euerlasting In which wordes of our sauiour Christ I note six things which al do sauour of the infinit mercy of god shewed to sinful men The first is that god is the only author and efficient cause of y t saluation of sinners The 2. is what moued God to saue sinners his great loue towards them the 3. how far this loue of god is extended euen to all sinners for he so loued the world the 4. the means how he wrought the saluation of sinners by which saluation he made his loue knowē vnto thē by giuing his son y t highest degree of cōpassion hee gaue the innocent for the nocēt the righteous for the vnrighteous that not a stranger but a kinsman not a kinsman but a son not a son onely but an onely son The 5. what sinners take hold of this his mercy not simply al sinners but all beleening sinners the 6. is the end of his compassion vpō sinners that they should not perish in their sins but haue life euerlasting These things being so that we haue so many argumēts of his mercy shewed to sinners that he is the only author of their saluation and that it proceedeth from his loue and for the working of it he spared not his onelie sonne and that it extended not to a fewe but to all for as much as hee loued the world And which is a more euident proofe of his mercie seeing he woulde haue none to perish but all to come to repentance seeing he would haue all men to be saued and to come to the knowledge of the truth for as much as there is one God and one Mediator betweene God and man the man Iesus Christ which gaue himselfe a raunsome for all men to be a testimonie in due time seeing euery one which calleth on the name of the Lord shall be saued And our Sauiour Christ inuiteth them saying Come to mee all that bee laden and I will refresh you if Gods mercie be greater then all his workes if he bee more ready to saue then to destroy to absolue then to condemne as it appeareth in that immediately vpon the sinne by Adam committed in Paradice he pronounced the sentence of saluation before the doome of cōdemnation promising the Messias the blessed seed before he threatned him with misery death that he might raise him vp to a liuely hope and not throw him downe into the pitte of desperation And as saint Augustine sayeth Quando peccauit homo miserabiliter condonauit Deus misericorditer When man sinned most miserably God forgaue him most mercifully Et licet ô Deus in cunctis tuis operibus mirabilis es tamen mirabilior esse crederis in operibus pietatis Though he be wonderfull in all his workes yet hee is more to bee wondered at for his workes of pittie In so great a clowde of witnesses of Gods mercie which is extended to all and that hee delighteth not in the death of any sinner how can it be that many are called and few are chosen that great is the way that leadeth to perdition and many there bee that finde it and narrowe is the gate which leadeth to saluation and fewe there bee that enter therein That when Esau and Iacob had done neither good nor euill that the purpose of God might remaine according to election not by workes but by him that calleth before they were borne God loued Iacob and hated Esau chose one and refused the other that he will haue mercie on whom he will haue mercie and shew compassion on whom he wil shew compassion That it is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercie That he hath mercy on whom hee will and whō he will he hardeneth though the children of Israel were in number as the sandes of the sea but a remnant shall be saued I haue thought good to handle this poynt at large and for the better discussing therof to collect and gather out these three conclusions The first that it is not the will of God that all men should be saued The second that the absolute wil of God his secret decree from all eternitye is the cause why some are predestinated to saluation others to death and destruction and not any foresight of faith or good workes in the one or of infidelitie neglect or contempt in the other The third that Christ died not effectually for all Of the first S. Augustine disputeth in this maner That God will not haue all men to be saued it is manifest forasmuch as our Sauiour wrought many works in the vnthankfull cities Corazin Bethsaida Capernaum which he knew would not repent but he refrained from shewing any such examples in Tire and Sidon and Gomorrha and Sodom which if he had done there Tire and Sydon had repented in sackcloth ashes Sodom had remained vntill this day Moreouer saith he I giue thee thanks ô father lord of heauē earth because thou hast hid these things meaning the misteries of saluation frō the wise vnderstāding hast opened them to babes it is so ô father because thy good wil was such But how then saith he shall we answer the obiectiō of S. Paul Quo modo dicit apostolus deus vult omnes homines saluari quum plurimi non fiant salui If God will haue all men to be saued as the apostle writeth how is it that the greatest part are dāned Deus multa potest quae non vult sed nihil vult quod non potest his power is greater thē his will and his will extendeth not it selfe so far as his power his will is not to do all that he can but he can do whatsoeuer is his will as the prophet speaketh Our god is in heauen

thing he commaunded an other thing by them to be done We must not inquire after his secret will but wee must follow his written commandement Secondly howsoeuer the wicked do the wil of god yet they do it not to that ende to obey his will but to satisfie their owne desire As Hugo writeth Non sua voluntate diriguntur ad implendam Dei voluntatem sed occulta illiu dispositione They are not moued by their owne will to fulfill the will of God for they meane nothing lesse but by Gods secret inclination wherby hee moueth them so to do they doe his wil not knowing themselues that God hath appointed them to do so And as Augustine sayth Quum pater tradidit filium Dominus corpus suum Iudas dominum cur in hac traditione Dominus est iustus Iudas reus nisi quod in vna re quam fecerunt causa non erat vna ob quam fecerunt When God the father gaue his Sonne and the Sonne gaue his owne bodie and Iudas gaue our Lorde the action beeing one and the same why were God the father and the sonne iust but Iudas guiltie vnlesse because the thing being one which they did the end and intent was not one for which they did it For God gaue his sonne for the redemption of mankinde the sonne gaue himselfe to be our redeemer but Iudas gaue him for thirty peeces of siluer because he was a theefe and loued the purse As in another place saint Augustine speaketh most fitly to this purpose in this maner Quandoque bona voluntate ho●mo vult quod Deus non vult quum tamen dei voluntas sit bona vt si bonus filius velit patrem viuere quem Deus bona voluntate vult mori Et potest fieri vt homo velit id voluntate mala quod Deus vult bona vt si malus filius velit mori patrem velit hoc etiam Deus Tantum interest quid velle homini quid Deo congruat ad quem finem suam quisque referat voluntatem vt approbetur vel improbetur Deus quasdam voluntates suas bonas implet per hominum voluntates malas sicut per Iudaeos maleuolos bona voluntate patris Christus occisus est quod ita bonum fuit vt Matt. 16. quando Petrus id fieri nolebat Satanas ab eo qui occidi venerat diceretur Sometimes the will of man is contrary to the will of God and yet his will is good sometimes againe the will of man concurreth with the will of God and yet the will of God is good the will of man euill As for example A good sonne desireth that his father may liue when the will of God is that hee shall die there the will of man is pleasing to God though the one be contrarie to the other Likewise an euil sonne is willing that his father shal die God willeth the same the will of God and man are the same yet one is iust the other is sinne c. I come to the second conclusion The absolute will of God and his secret decree from all eternitie is the cause why some are ordayned to saluation others to death and destruction and not any foresight of faith or good works in the one or of infidelity neglect or contempt in the other This conclusion is the doctrine of no lesse Doctor in diuinitie then Saint Paule himself most learnedly and profoundly deliuered in the Epistle to the Romans cap. 9. from the 11. to the 23. verse where he writeth in this maner 11 For before the children were borne and when they had done neither good nor euill that the purpose of God might remain according to election not by works but by him that calleth 12 It was said vnto her the elder shall serue the yonger 13 As it is written I haue loued Iacob and hated Esau 14 VVhat shall we say then Is there vnrighteousnesse with God God forbid 15 For he said to Moses I will haue mercie on him on whom I will haue mercie and will haue compassion on him on whō I will haue compassion 16 So then it is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercie 17 For the Scripture saith to Pharao for this purpose haue I stirred thee vp that I might shew my power in thee and that my name might be declared through all the earth 18 Therefore he hath mercie on whom he will haue mercie and whom he will hee hardeneth 19 Thou wilt say then vnto me why doth he yet complaine for who hath resisted his will 20 But O man who art thou which pleadest agaynst God shall the thing formed say to him that formed it why hast thou made me thus 21 Hath not the potter power ouer the clay to make of the same lumpe one vessel to honor and another to dishonor 22 VVhat if God would to shew his wrath and to make his power knowen suffer with long patience the vessels of wrath prepared to destruction 23 And that he might declare the riches of his glorie vppon the vessels of mercie which he hath prepared vnto glorie In which words are cōtained three things first the conclusion it selfe Secondly That notwithstanding he loueth some and hateth others before they are borne when they haue done neyther good nor euill yet God in so doing is not cruell or vniust Thirdly Albeit God hardeneth the harts of men to do euill as hee did the heart of Pharao and that according to his owne will and pleasure and it is not in the power of man to auoyd it for who can resist the will of God yet Gods wrath is iustly kindeled agaynst them whome hee hardeneth The conclusion in these wordes For before the Children were borne meaning the two twinnes of Rebecca Esau and Iacob and when they had done neyther good nor euill it was saide to her that is to Rebecca Gen. 25. the elder shall serue the yonger that is Esau shall serue Iacob And because it may bee a question what is meant by these words The elder shall serue the younger hee dooth interprete them by a playner place of Scripture out of Malachy that is God hath loued Iacob and hated Esau The reason why God loued the one and hated the other before they were borne and when they had done neither good nor euill is alleaged in the parenthesis that the purpose or secret decree of god in choosing one refusing the other might remain according to electiō not by works but by him that calleth which is God alone There is plainly set downe the eternall decree of God in choosing some and reiecting others proceeding meerely from himselfe without any respect or regarde of the persons which are elect or reprobate or any thing foreseene in them where hee sayth Not by workes but by him that calleth And here is preuented the aunswere of the Papistes which confesse that Iacob was loued before hee was borne but

both was in iustice inflicted vpon one and in mercie but vpon the one that as one was an example of his iustice so the other might bee a vessell of mercie that none may boast of his owne merits because it is not in him that willeth nor in him that runneth but in God that sheweth mercie When the wicked shall be tormented in hell fire then shal Gods saints clearly perceiue howe much his grace and mercie did auaile them then shall they find it true by their owne experience as a thing verified in themselues which Dauid speaketh in his hundred Psalme My song shall be of mercie and iudgement For that they are saued it is free mercie that the other are damned it is iust iudgement When of two infants one is chosen through mercie the other refused in iustice he which is chosen cannot but confesse what in iustice was due vnto himselfe had not mercy beene shewed vnto him So then where mercye is not shewed there is not iniquity but iust iudgment inflicted I remember Saint Augustine speaketh very fitly to this purpose in an other place though vpon an other occasion for in his 157. Epistle to Optatus he proposeth this question why God hath ordained so few to be saued and foreseeing that so many millions of men are to bee damned for their sinnes why he doth creaate them Why so mercifull a God should be glorified more by the damnation then saluation of his owne creatures For if his glorie did consist in sauing rather then in destroying it should seeme without doubt that the greatest number shoulde bee saued and that hee would not create those whom he doth foreknowe to be but reprobate Hee maketh this answere Meritò iniustum videretur quòd fiunt vasa ad perditionem nisi esset vniuersa ex Adam massa damnata Indeede it might seeme verie iniurious that anie shoulde be ordayned to bee vessels of wrath if it were not that the whole lumpe of which the vessels of wrath are framed had beene damned before in Adam but nowe Quod fiunt nascendo vasa irae pertinet ad debitam paenam quod fiunt renascendo vasa misericordiae pertinet ad indebitam gratiam That manie are borne vesselles of wrath it is but a iust punishment due to theyr originall sinne that a fewe by their regeneration are made vessels of mercie it is vndeserued fauour But if all which are borne of Adam shoulde bee regenerate and borne anew and none should bee damned then Lateret beneficium quod donatur indignis Then Gods mercie which is extended to them that are saued which indeede are all vnworthy of their saluation would not bee so apparent as nowe it is when but a fewe are saued Plures Deus fecit damnandos quam saluandos incomparabili multitudine vt reiectorum multitudine ostenderetur quàm nulli momenti sit apud Deum iustum quan● talibet numerositas iustissimè damnatorum atque vt hinc quoque intelligant qui ex ipsa damnatione redimuntur hoc fuisse massae illi vniuersae debitum quod tam magnae eius parti redditum cernerent But therefore GOD hath ordayned without all comparison more to bee damned then to bee saued for these two causes First that it myght appeare by the great multitudes of them which are damned howe little GOD which is most iust regardeth the outcryes of whole multitudes of sinners which are iustlye punished Secondlye that they which are redeemed from that damnation may by their owne redemption confesse when they see the greater part damned that that damnation was due to the whole lumpe and therefore to their owne selues which was adiudged to the greater part Secondly he is not vniust by any parciality in punishing because first hee may because it is his will and pleasure iustly condemne some as it appeareth by Pharao secondly as in election so in reprobation between his decree and the execution of his decree there bee subordinate causes for although his will be the first principall cause that he decreeth who shall be saued and who shall bee damned yet between his decree to saue and saluation it selfe there is mercie for none is saued but by mercie and betweene his decree to condemne and the damnation there is hardening that men can not repent but continue in their sinnes So that albeit the cause why he decreed that men shoulde bee damned is only in himself because his owne wil is the cause of that decree there is found cause of damnation inherent in themselues which is infidelitie and hardnesse of heart so that none are condemned but first there is found in them matter enough worthy of condemnation as the Prophet speaketh Perditio tua ex te salus ex me Israel Thy saluation ô Israel commeth onely from me but thy damnation from thy selfe And as the apostle speaketh These which as bruit beasts lead with sensualities speake euill of the things they knowe not shall perish through their owne corruption Lastly where it is written Thou wilt say vnto me why doth hee yet complaine for who hath resisted his will Hee graunteth two antecedents that God hardeneth whō he will And that no man hath power to resist his will And yet the argument is denied as a weake consequent that therfore Gods wrath is vniustly kindled against them whō he thus hardeneth and constraineth to do his will shewing that man may not thus expostulate which hee proueth by two reasons First an argument called in Logicke à comparatis where he saith Nunquid deo non licebit quod figulo licet The potter may of his owne clay make vessels for the bedde as well as for the boord and may not God much more of the same lumpe make vessels of wrath The second is Ab optimo fine diuini concilij drawn from the end which God doth propose where he saith What if God woulde to shewe his wrath and to make his power knowen suffer with long patience the vessels of wrath prepared to destruction And that he might declare the riches of his glorie vppon the vessels of mercie whom he hath prepared to glorie who can accuse him of vniustice Then he sheweth that neither the saluation of the elect nor the damnation of the wicked is the last ende of his eternall decree and purpose but that he proposeth a further and better end which is his owne glorie that he may shewe his wrath and make his power knowne as also he may declare the riches of his glorie A poynt of so deepe diuinitie woulde require both a learned and large discourse especially before so honourable frequent and iudicious an auditorie but two houres are too short a scantling I am cōstrained to be briefer then I woulde But that you may bee fully satisfied concerning this poynt I will with as great breuitie as I can aunswere three obiections which doe seeme to make agaynst this doctrine of predestination which I haue deliuered vnto you The first is of