And to things spiritual and eternal
II. Predestination may be considered as special, and as relating to particular persons
And to things spiritual and eternal
Whereas predestination in general respects all creatures and things, even things temporal and civil.
First, Christ himself is the object of predestination; he was fore-ordained to be the mediator between God and man; to be the propitiation for sin; to he the redeemer and saviour of his people; to be the head of the church; king of saints, and judge of the world: hence he is called, God's elect, and his chosen one; and whatsoever befell him, or was done unto him, was by the determinate council and fore-knowledge of God; even all things relating to his sufferings and death in proof of which read the following Scriptures.
Romans 3:5—Whom God hath set forth, proeqeto, fore-ordained to be a propitiation.
1 Peter 1:20—Who verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world, that is, to he the Lamb slain. See chapter 2:4.
Luke 22:29—And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me.
28:31—Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. See also chapter 10:42.
Isaiah 43:1—Behold my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. See Matthew 12:18.
Luke 22:22—And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined, but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed.
Acts 2:23—Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of God, ye have taken, etc Chapter 4:28—For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
Secondly, Angels also are the objects of predestination, good and bad; the blessed angels are chosen unto life, and to continue in their happy state to all eternity: and their perseverance therein, and eternal felicity, are owing to the eternal choice of them in Christ their head; I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things (1 Timothy 5:21). The evil angels are rejected of God, and left in that miserable estate their apostasy brought them into, without any provision of grace and mercy for them: they are delivered into chains of darkness, to be reserved to the judgment of the great day; and everlasting fire is prepared for them, according to the determinate counsel and will of God, (2 Peter 2:4; Matthew 25:41).
Thirdly, Predestination which the Scriptures chiefly treat of, is what respects men, and consists of two parts, election and reprobation; the one is a predestination unto life, the other unto death.