Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	dead_a	life_n	raise_v	9,308	5	6.9695	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43111	Absolute election of persons, not upon foreseen conditions, stated and maintained in some sermons preach'd at Hartford : with some animadversions on some Pelagian passages in a book entituled, Vulgar errors in divinity removed, written by Mr. Ralph Battell ... / by Will. Haworth ...	Haworth, William.	1694 (1694)	Wing H1193; ESTC R15048	42,137	40

ruin the Innocent whenas we heartily declare that God never determined to ruin any but for Sin and never did execute his Will and Determination and so actually ruin any but for Sin contumaciously continued in to the end And is this to ruin the Innocent When the Decree was made Man was neither nocent nor innocent for the Creature had no Existence before the Creation nothing had a Being but the Decree and so that of Reprobation had a Being before the World was The Nature of God he saith cannot come so nigh the Nature of the Devil as to be a Murderer from the beginning intimating that by our Doctrine we make God to be like Satan a Murderer from the beginning But I doubt not but this Author will by this Crimination make himself like Satan a Liar and false Accuser of the Brethren Ad triarios ventum est Cannot we defend our selves Satan was the moral Cause of Eve's sinning and so of Destruction Did we ever say that God was the moral Cause of Eve's sinning I trow not And then how can he be said to be the Murderer He that is not Causa Causae how can he be said to be Causa causati Is the Judg that passes Sentence upon a Criminal a Murderer or the Sheriff that executes the Sentence We profess constantly steadily that God never did sentence any to Death but for final Sin we are speaking of the Adult neither did he decree any to Hell but for final Impenitency in Sin much less doth he execute any inflict Death eternal upon them but for persevering obstinately in Sin to the end of their days without Repentance And to say that the Judg of the Earth in executing Judgment upon Sinners is to make him like the Devil is Monstrum horrendum c. This is all that can be laid to our Charge that God denies Faith and Repentance to some which he gives to others and hath decreed so of his meer Will and Pleasure according to that in the 9th of the Romans He will have Mercy on whom he will have Mercy and whom he will he hardens not by infusing any Hardness into any but by not infusing Grace Is this to make God like Satan a Murderer Is Satan Sovereign Lord Hath he Power over the Creature as the Potter over the Clay But this Man doth apprehend God to be like Satan a Murderer because he wills to punish some for their Sin persisted in and because he will not give Faith and Repentance to all Who can think but he is for universal Salvation The Adversaries do much insist upon this Theam crying out that we render God cruel in this Point of absolute Reprobation One of them hath this strain 'T is contrary to sound Reason which cannot but argue such a Decree of extreme Cruelty c. But doth not sound Reason also argue the Prescience of God of as extreme Cruelty as this Doctrine of Reprobation and they cannot without offering Violence to the Light of Nature deny the Fore-knowledg of God and whatever Absurdity they would fasten upon us from our Tenet of absolute Reprobation shall necessarily divolve upon themselves in every respect if they preserve but the undeniable Doctrine of God's Prescience Another vulgar Error is concerning Free-will in Mr. Battell's Book why he should call the Calvinistical Tenets vulgar Errors is uncouth whenas the Pelagian Heresy sutes the Reason and Affections of all natural Men and is very plausible to the common People There is Popery and Pelagianism in every ones Belly by Nature whole Towns and Countries espouse this Harlot and wonder after her but strait is the Gate and narrow is the Way of Truth and few find it I have read over the Treatise of Free-will and find nothing but what is in Cardinal Bellarmine the Jesuit The Author describes Free-will in the same Terms with the Jesuit but how well does he agree with his Mother the Church of England hath he not undoubtedly spit in her Face while he contentedly sits in her Lap and sucks her Breasts Did he ever subscribe or swear to the tenth Article of Free-will is it not diametrically opposite to his Book Let the Reader judg The Condition of Man after the Fall is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself mark that by his own natural Strength and good Works to Faith and calling upon God wherefore we have no Power to do good Works pleasant and acceptable to God without the Grace of God by Christ preventing us Mark that that we may have a good Will But the Import of all this Treatise is viz. That there is a Free-will-in-fallen Man to spiritual and supernatural Acts tho indeed he calls it a remote Free-will to supernatural Acts that this Will of Man is not subject to the special Motion of God in the Act of Conversion so that the Grace of God is irresistably powerful P. 73. This as the Opinion of our Divines he disputes against that this Will is ready tho with some Remoteness to act with God's Grace and is as bent to chuse Good as to refuse and chuse Evil is not dead but sick and lame and this Power waits for God's Power that they may act evenly and jointly in the working out of Salvation pag. 81. And that Man's Will together with the Grace of God casts the Scale in Conversion not to wrong him he saith Grace hath the chiefest Stroke in it pag. 91. But which of them moveth first he saith not and surely the first Mover hath the greatest Stroke Now Bradwerdine asserts God to be the first Mover in all Actions and it 's most consonant to right Reason and if in all then surely in good Actions He hath it 's true mentioned preventing Grace In pag. 77. he is there setting forth the difference betwixt one dead naturally and one spiritually dead and the first difference is this viz. The one is capable of preventing Grace and the other is not but is not he that is naturally dead as capable of the miraculous preventing Power of God in raising him up from that kind of Death to Life as he that is spiritually dead is capable of Grace preventing to convert him And must not this Grace as really go before Conversion in Order of Nature at least as the other miraculous Power precedes the Resurrection or quickening of him that is naturally dead He saith one may be raised by Means the other only by Miracles we query what those Means are External only or Internal i. e. infusing of spiritual Life as a Principle and is not this a Miracle Job 5.25 compared with 28. there you plainly perceive there is as much Power exerted in raising the spiritually as the naturally dead but the Author supposeth external Means only according to that he writes p. 79. Efficacious Grace is nothing but Perswasion which doth not determine the Will This is noisom Pelagianism Our Opinion is plainly this and we have Boldness in the Truth viz. In our Conversion Free-will

elected or no 1. Look after your Faith 2. Whether the Love of God be in you through Jesus Christ Beside these I shall propound no more for tho there be a great help oft-times in the number of Signs and Marks as many Stars make the Darkness Light yet it comes to pass oft-times that being weak in Understanding and not well able to manage them we are more perplexed by Number He that hath many Notions and is not able to master them is but the weaker for them so he that hath many Signs and Marks and hath not his Mind truly instructed that is not able to go into the bottom of them grows but into more Doubts and Perplexities and as I instance but in two so in these two because they are such as are in all Christians every one that is born of God believes on him and loves him And I may truly call these two to be as the two great Lights that God hath given to the Souls of Men in this Business like the two great Commandments all that can be said on any other Head hangs on these take what you will as a Sign what Duty you will if it comes not from Faith and Love take what Graces you will if they be not all turned upon these two Hinges Faith and Love they will give no Assurance at all if you can find Faith and Love you may be sure there are other Graces for they are never alone 1. Faith is a Sign of a Man's Election and that I take to be the meaning of all those Scriptures which make Calling and Conversion to be the Fruit and Mark of Election the out-going of Election 2 Tim. 1.9 Who hath called us according to his own Purpose 1 Thess 1.4 5. Knowing your Election for our Gospel came not unto you in Word only but in Power And Calling and Conversion is put sometimes for Election 1 Cor. 1.26 You see your Calling Brethren ver 27. But God hath chosen c. All these prove that Faith is a Sign of Election By Faith we answer God's Call He that hath heard and learned of the Father comes to me Joh. 6.45 The Gospel comes unto Men in Power when it is the Power of God to make Men believe Rom. 1.16 For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the Power of God to Salvation to every one that believeth the meaning is not that first Men have Faith and then the Word of God is the Power of God to Salvation for that implies a Contradiction he that believes hath Salvation and a Power whereby he may come to Eternal Life but it is the Power of God to Salvation to every one that believes i.e. by making every one that shall be saved to believe whether they be Jews or Greeks But to make it more clear 1. Faith is in no Person but one that is elected that particular Person is elected which hath Faith therefore the Apostle describes Faith by the Subject of it and calls it the Faith of God's Elect i.e. the Faith which the Elect and only the Elect have Tit. 1.1 Act. 13.48 As many as were ordained to Eternal Life believed For the opening of which you must know that the Apostle doth not mean by ordaining to Eternal Life Mens disposing of themselves or being in a good Disposition or Aptness to improve and make use of the Means of Eternal Life and whatever be meant by ordaining Faith doth follow upon it certainly but it doth not follow upon Mens disposing of themselves till such time as Men do believe they are natural and what can that which is natural do to that which is supernatural We neither by Nature are able to resist the Temptation of Satan nor are able to ingenerate in our selves a Principle of Faith no more than a Beast can do the things of a Man or a Man the things that belong to the Being of an Angel By ordaining the Apostle means God's ordaining and they and they only believed so the words as many are to be understood As many he doth not mean that all that were in that place believed but only those were ordained Faith is a meer Fruit of Election there had been no such Grace but for Election other Graces are necessary to make a Man innocent other Graces come from God's Holiness and the love of his Creation God cannot but make Man good if he will make Man at all but Faith comes from God's Love to save Man and it is nothing else but only a Soul 's reposing it self for Life being guilty and liable to Condemnation upon God the Father through Jesus Christ this Adam had not this God would not have bestowed but that he would throw a Cord from his Love for sinking Man to lay hold on that he may be saved 2. It is a Sign of Election for where God begins it he never leaves it till it be grown up from the least degree to Perfection till the small Mustard-seed become a great Tree This is the Character of all things that come from Election that God never repents of them Rom. 11.29 for the Gifts and Calling of God are without Repentance he sets out the Certainty of God's Election by this God never repents of the Work of Faith But he that believes shall have Eternal Life As in Joh. 6.35 He that believes shall never thirst Ver. 37. He that comes I will in no wise cast out Every one that believeth on him shall have Eternal Life Ver. 40. This is the Will of him that sent me that every one that seeth the Son and believeth on him may have Everlasting Life and I will raise him up at the last day These words are put in because Men will be apt to say Death and the Grave will devour and how can this sinful Dust scattered into all the Corners of the Earth ever come to be Partakers of Glory Take you no care for that my Father hath said I have Power enough to do it it shall be my Work I will raise him up at the last Day Ver. 47. he saith it and he saith it with an Oath Verily verily I say unto you he that believeth on me hath Everlasting Life Rom. 10.11 For the Scripture saith Whosoever believeth on him shall not be confounded So 1 Pet. 2.6 Behold I lay in Sion a chief Corner-Stone elect precious and he that believeth on him shall not be ashamed This might be brought as a Sign of Election because it is of such Power with God as to prevail with God for every thing Mat. 21.22 And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in Prayer believing ye shall receive it Object If any say that the Scripture speaks of many that believed and yet perished and therefore how do you say Faith is the Gift of Election and is only in those that are elected What was Simon Magus and those in Joh. 2. that Christ would not commit himself to them Answ They are called Believers after the manner of