Selected quad for the lemma: death_n
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A41001
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Universal redemption offered in Jesus Christ in opposition to that pernicious and destructive doctrine of election and reprobation of persons from everlasting. By Jane Fearon.
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Fearon, Jane, 1654 or 5-1737.
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1693
(1693)
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Wing F576A; ESTC R218275
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16,377
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57
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Vniversal Redemption OFFERED IN JESUS CHRIST In Opposition to That Pernicious and Destructive Doctrine of ELECTION and REPROBATION of Persons from Everlasting By JANE FEARON For Zions sake will I not hold my Peace and for Jerusalems sake I will not rest until the Righteousness thereof go forth as Brightness and the Salvation thereof as a Lamp that burneth Isa LXII 1. Printed in the year 1698. Vniversal Redemption OFFERED IN JESUS CHRIST c. HAving for some time had an Unusual Weight upon my Spirit and many times being deeply Exercised in Mind I waited upon the LORD that my Understanding might be clear in what he required of me whose mighty Power reached unto my Soul and by his Living Presence my Heart was affected and could say Amen to what the LORD required of me because of the Day of his Power which otherways would have been a great Cross to my own Will which was to go to the Meeting of the People called Anabaptists at Great Broughtoun in Cumberland where I stood for some time till their Minister had done waiting upon the LORD in much Trembling and Bowedness of Soul and Spirit And that which I had to Declare amongst them although not with Inticing Words of Mans Wisdom yet in the Demonstration of the Spirit and Power for my Heart was filled with the Love of GOD to such whose Day of Visitation was not Expired was to shew unto them the great Benefit of the New Covenant which GOD Promifed to make with his People as also the Universality of GOD's Love to the Sons and Daughters of Men. But being opposed by Joshua Ware their Minister was not suffered to Ease my Spirit nor clear my Conscience in the sight of GOD but he spake with great Earnestness That none should be suffered to speak there but who could give an Account of their Faith and asked me What I hoped to be saved by To which I answered Not by Works of Righteousness that either I or any other could do but according to his Mercy he saved us by the washing of Regeneration and the Renewing of the Holy Ghost c. with several more Questions which I Answer'd to which he could not by the Scripture contradict in expectation I might have had liberty to clear my self of the aforesaid weight but instead of that he with some others called to some to put me out and said A Woman should not be allowed to speak which matter I desired often to speak to but could not be heard they despising and rejecting the Message I had to bear altho in much love to their Souls and the said J. W. endeavoured to make it appear by perverting the Scripture that GOD's Love was not to all contrary to the Message of the Angel Luke 2. 10. And some of them said I preached false Doctrine in holding forth that Christ was a Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World But with J. W. time after time I offered a Publick Dispute and to maintain by Scripture that Doctrine I did hold forth amongst them but was denied as some Friends there with me can witness except on these terms That only one Man of my Friends should dispute with him in my stead and neither I nor any other should be suffered to speak a word And unless I would promise not to speak I should not be suffered to be where the Dispute was and that it should be agreed upon that two Persons should be made choice of to be present at the Dispute to be Moderators neither of their Judgment not ours to see that good Order was kept and to Judge who is in the Right and who in the Wrong so it is evident the Moderators must have been of a different Faith and Principle from us Both. Now how this would consist with true Christianity and a right Contending for the Faith delivered to the Saints according to the Apostle Jude's Advice let it be seriously considered for us to give up our Faith and Testimony and to be concluded whether it 's Right or Wrong by Men not of the same Faith we thought it very Improper and that no true Christian can do and therefore could not answer his Proposals therein And yet finding a Concern to remain upon my Mind and so far as the LORD by his holy Spirit shall assist me by bringing into my Remembrance what may be suitable to the present Subject shall bear Testimony to in these following Lines in order to ease my Spirit and clear my Conscience Concerning the Vniversality of GOD's Love AND ALSO The Saving and Spiritual LIGHT wherewith every Man is Lighted GOD out of his Infinite Love who delighteth not in the Death of a Sinner but that all should Live and be Saved hath so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life Joh. 3.16 And by his Light Lighteth every Man coming into the World John 1.9 Which Light maketh manifest all things that are reprovable Ephes 5.13 And teacheth all Temperance and Righteousness and Godliness and this Light lighteth the hearts of all Mankind in order to the Salvation of all if not refisted nor is it less Universal than the Seed of Sin being the Purchase of his Death who tasted Death for every Man For as in Adam all died so in Christ shall all be made alive 1 Cor. 15.22 As for that Doctrine viz. Absolute Reprobation according to which some are not afraid to assert That GOD by one Eternal and Immutable Decree hath Predestinated to Eternal Damnation the far greater part of Mankind without any respect to their Disobedience or Sin but only for the Demonstrating the Glory of his Justice And that for the bringing this about he hath Appointed these Miserable Souls Necessarily to Walk in their Wicked Ways that so his Justice may lay hold on them And that GOD doth therefore not only suffer them to be liable to this Misery in many Parts of the World by with-holding from them the Preaching of the Gospel and Knowledge of Christ but even in those Places where the Gospel is preached and Salvation by Christ is offered whom though he Publickly Invites them yet he Justly Condemns them for Disobedience notwithstanding he hath with-held from them all Grace by which they could have laid hold on the Gospel viz. Because he hath by a Secret Will unknown to all Men Ordained and Decreed without any respect had to their Disobedience or Sin that they shall not Obey and that the Offer of the Gospel shall never prove Effectual for their Salvation but only serve to aggravate and occasion their greater condemnation I say As to this horrible and blasphemous Doctrine our Cause is common with many Others who have both Wisely and Learnedly according to Scripture Reason and Antiquity refuted it Seeing then that so much is said already against this Doctrine that little can be added except what hath been already said I shall be short yet because
that it should not be possible for them to Receive it would not this make the LORD to send forth His Servants with a Lye in their Mouths which were Blasphemous to think commanding them to bid all and every one believe that CHRIST died for them and had purchased Life and Salvation whereas it is no such thing according to their afore mentioned Doctrine But seeing CHRIST gave a Commission to Preach Repentance and Remission of Sins and Salvation to All it is manifest he died for All For he that hath Commissionated his Servants thus to Preach is a GOD of Truth and no Mocker of poor Mankind neither doth he require of any Man that which is Impossible but is a Principle of Truth Engraven in every Just Man's Mind And seeing He is both a most Righteous and Merciful GOD it cannot at all stand either with His Justice or Mercy to bid such Men Repent or Believe to whom He has made it Impossible Moreover If we regard the Testimony of Scripture in this matter where there is not one Scripture that I know of that affirmeth CHRIST not to have died for All there are divers that positively Assert He did 1 Tim. 2.1 2 3 4 5 6. I exhort that first of all Supplications Prayers Intercessions and giving of Thanks be made for all Men c. for this is good and Acceptable in the sight of GOD our Saviour who will have ALL MEN TO BE SAVED and to come to the Knowledge of the Truth who gave Himself a Ransom FOR ALL to be testified in due time Except we will have the Apostle here to intend quite another thing than he asserted there can be nothing more plain to confirm what we have here asserted and this Scripture doth well Answer to that manner of Arguing which we have hitherto used For first The Apostle here exhorts him to Pray for All Men and to withstand such an Objection as if they had said with our Adversaries CHRIST prayed not for the World neither willeth He us to pray for All because He will not that All should be Saved but hath ordained many to be Damned that He might shew forth His Justice in them He withstands I say such an Objection telling them That it is good and acceptable in the sight of GOD who will have ALL MEN TO BE SAVED I desire to know what can be more expresly affirmed Or can any two Propositions be stated in Terms more Contradictory than these Two GOD willeth that Some Men shall Not be Saved GOD willeth All Men to be Saved or GOD will have No Man Perish If we believe the last as the Apostle hath affirmed the first must be destroyed seeing of Contradictory Propositions the one being Placed the other is Destroyed Whence to conclude he gives us a Reason of His willingness that All Men should be Saved in these words Who gave Himself A RANSOM FOR ALL As if he would have said Since CHRIST died for All Men since he gave Himself a Ransom for All therefore he would have All Men to be Saved This CHRIST Himself gives as the Reason of GOD's Love to the World in these Words John 3.16 GOD so loved the World that He gave His only begotten Son that WHOSOEVER Believeth in Him should not Perish but have Everlasting Life compared with John 4.9 This is very positively affirmed Heb. 2.9 in in these words But we see JESUS who was made a little lower than the Angels for the Suffering of Death Crowned with Glory and Honour that He by the Grace of GOD SHOULD TASTE DEATH FOR EVERY MAN He that will but open his Eyes may see this Truth here asserted If he tasted Death for EVERY Man then certainly there is NO Man for whom He did not taste Death then there is no Man who may not be made a Sharer of the Benefit of it For He came not to Condemn the World but that the World through Him might be Saved John 3.17 He came not to Judge the World but to Save the World Joh. 12.47 If He never came to bring Salvation to great part of Mankind but that his coming though it could never do them good yet shall augment their Condemnation from thence it necessarily follows that He came not of Intention to Save but to Judge and Condemn the greater part of the World contrary to His own Express Testimony And as the Apostle Paul in these words above-cited doth assert Affirmatively that GOD willeth the Salvation of ALL so doth the Apostle Peter assert Negatively that he Willeth Not the Perishing of any 2 Pet. 3.9 The LORD is not slack concerning his Promise as some Men count slackness but is long suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that All should come to Repentance And this is correspondent to that of the Prophet Ezekiel Chap. 33.11 As I live saith the LORD I have no pleasure in the Death of the Wicked but that the Wicked turn from his Ways and live If it be safe to believe GOD and to trust in him we must not think he intends to cheat us by all these Expressions through his Servants but that he was in good Earnest And that this Will and Desire of His hath not taken effect the blame is on our parts which could not be if so be we were never put in any capacity of Salvation and that CHRIST had never died for us but left us under an Impossibility of Salvation What means all those Earnest Invitations all these Serious Expostulations wherewith the holy Scriptures are full As Why will you die O House of Israel Why will you not come unto me that you might have Life I have waited to be gracious unto you I have sought to gather you I have knocked at the Door of your Hearts Is not your Destruction of your selves I have called all the Day long If Men who are so Invited be under no capacity of being saved if Salvation be impossible unto them why doth the Psalmist express himself thus The LORD is gracious and full of Compassion slow to anger and of great Kindness or Mercy The LORD is good to all and his Tender Mercies are over all His Works of which Man is the Noblest Part. This Doctrine is abundantly confirm'd by the Apostle 1 John 2.1 2. And if any Man sin we have an Advocate with the FATHER JESUS CHRIST the Righteous and He is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but also for the Sins of the WHOLE WORLD Here the Apostle John tells us plainly That CHRIST not only died for him and for the Saints and Members of the Church of GOD to whom he wrote but for the WHOLE WORLD Let us then hold it for a Certain and Undoubted Truth notwithstanding such as oppose If we Regard the Testimony of the Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans we must conclude that the Death of CHRIST was as large to Save as Adam's Sin was to Condemn Rom. 5.15 18. where he says