A commentary or, exposition upon the divine second epistle general, writtenA commentary or, exposition vpon the diuine second epistle generall, written

First, that it may be made sure: there is a Rule, Nemo tenetur ad impossibile: no man is bound to an impossible thing: the Apostle would never set us about th•• work, which could not be done. It were uncharitable tyranny to impose that task, whereof there is no possibility of performance, The ground of this assertion is the stability of Gods purpose, Rom. 9.11. That the purpose of God according to election might stand. But how then is it said, Revel. 3.11. Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy Crown. ¹Now saith, Augustine; Si alius possit accipere, tu potes perdere. If another may take it, thou mayest lose it. The answer is easy; the Crown of outward profession may be lost; but the Crown of eternal Election stands unmoveable, to whomsoever it is decreed. The^q Soul that is bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord, cannot be lost. To say the elect may fall away, and be damned, is a comfortless doctrine, Luk. 10.20. Rejoice because your names are written in heaven. Saint Paul speaking of Himeneus and Philetus, who were fallen from the faith; lest the Church should be discouraged by the apostasy of two such notable pillars, as they were thought; comforteth them thus, 2 Tim. 2.19. Nevertheless (albeit those men fell off from Christ to their own damnation, yet Nevertheless) the foundation of God standeth sure, having the seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. His Election is a foundation that shall never be removed. But Paul calls the Thessalonians, Elect; yet they fell away, I answer; they are called elect, not from the greater, but the better part. It is called an heap of corn in the barn, though the bigger part of it be chaff. Again, by the Law of charity we grant all those that profess Jesus Christ to be elect. But David prays, Psal. 69.28. that his enemies may be blotted out; blot them out of the book of the living. This was not Precantis votum, sed Prophettis vaticinium: not the desire of a petitioner, but the knowledge of a Prophet: blot them out, that is, I know they were never written there. But