18 Th D9' er. of thee¡raja r_. Ismpeono veflltodtibosour,crndanotherto honour. Therefore theLord, accordingto hisgoodpleafure,hath moll certainlyde- creed eueryboth thing and anion, whether paft,prefent,or tocome, togetber with their circurm fiances ofplace,time,meanes,andend. Yea,he bath molt i :fflydecreed the wicked workes of the wicked. For if it had not fopleafedhim,theyhad neuer been at all. And albeit theyof their ovinenature,are and remaine wicked ; yet in refpec ofGodsdecree, theyarc tobe accountedgood. For there is not anything abfolutelyeui11, r.Pet.3.17. Forit isbetter (if the will fGodbefa)tbatyefitfferförz.elldoing,thenfor emit! doing. The thingwhich in the ownnature is euilI,in Gods eternal! counfell comes in the place ofagood thing ; idthat it is force occauion and Way to inanifcfl the glorieofGod in his iuflice,and his mereie. God hisforeknowledge,is conioyned vv ithhis decree ; and indeede is inna- ture beforeit : yet not in regardof(.icd but vs ; becaufeknowledge goethbe;. fore the will,and the cfr"eBeingofa worke.Forwe doenothing,but tholethings that we haue before willed,neitherdoe we will any thing which weknownot before. God his foreknowledge in it fèlfe, is nota caufewhy things are, but as it is conioyned with his decree. For things doe not therefore come topaffe,. be- caufe that Goddid foreknow them; butbecaufe he decreed and willed them.: therefore theycome topaffe. The executionofGods decree, is that by which all things in their time are accormplifhed which were foreknowne,ordecreed,and thateuen as they were foreknovvne and decreed. The fame decreeof GOD, is the ñrfl and principali working caufe ofall things, which allo is in order, and timebefore all othercaufes. For withGods decree isalwaies his will annexed,by the which he can willingly effect that he bathdecreed. And it were a fgneof impotencie,to decree any thingwhich he couldnot willingly compaffe. And withGodswill is conioyned an effeau- allpower,bywhich theLord canbring topaffe, whatfoeuer he hath freelyde- creed. This firfi and principallcaule, howbeit in it felfe it be neceffarie,yetit Both not take away fleedome ofwill in eleaion, or the nature andpropane of fe- condca.ufes,but onlybrings them into a certain order,that is,it direeteth them to the determinate ende: whereupon the of e s and euents ofthingsare con- tingent or neceffarie, as the natureofthe fécond caufe is. SoChrift according tohis Fathers decree dyed neceffarilie, AO . r 7.3 . But yet vi'IingIy, Match. 25.3 9. And ifwee refpedt the temperature ofChrilts bodie, hemight haue prolonged his life; and therefore in this refpc l may bee fayd to haue dyed contingently. The execi.ttionofGods decree, bath two branches, his operation,;and his operatiue perniifsion, Cods
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