“And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.”—Genesis 6:3. It will be necessary, in order to understand the sense of this text, to inquire, I. Who is meant by the Spirit of God; and whether the Holy Ghost, the third Person in the Trinity, is designed or not. 1. Some of the Jewish writers[1] think, that the soul of man is intended; which is called not only the spirit of man, but also the Spirit of God; as in those words of Job, All the while my breath is in me, and the Spirit of God is in my nostrils.[2] Some of them[3] derive the…

“If thou dost well, shalt thou not be accepted?”—Genesis 4:7 I. It will be proper to inquire, whether a wicked, an unregenerate man, as was Cain, can perform good works. To which may be answered, 1. Adam had a power to do every good work the law required; which men, since the fall, have not. Men indeed, in an unregenerate state, might do many things which they do not; such as reading the Scriptures, attending on public worship, etc. No doubt but the persons in the parable, who were invited to the dinner, could have gone to it, had they had a will, as well as the one did to his farm, and the other to his merchandise. Men have an equal power, had they…

In the year 1735, the First Part of this work was published, in which are considered the several passages of Scripture made use of by Dr. Whitby and others in favour of the Universal Scheme, and against the Calvinistical Scheme, in which their arguments and objections are answered, and the several passages set in a just and proper light. These, and what are contained in the following part in favour of the Particular Scheme, are extracted from Sermons delivered in a Wednesday evening's lecture. Examination of 1. Genesis 4:7 2. Genesis 6:3 3. Deuteronomy 5:29 4. Deuteronomy 8:2 5. Deuteronomy 30:19 6. Deuteronomy 32:29 7. Psalm 81:13,14 8. Psalm 125:3 9. Psalm 145:9 10. Proverbs 1:22-30 11. Isaiah 1:16-17 12. Isaiah 1:18-20 13. Isaiah 5:4…

The Cause of God and TruthIn Four PartsWith a Vindication of Part IVFrom the Cavils, Calumnies and Defamations of Mr. Henry Heywood, &c.By John Gill, D.D.London, 1838 It should be known by the reader, that the following work was undertaken and begun about the year 1733 or 1734, at which time Dr. Whitby’s Discourse on the Five Points was reprinting, judged to be a masterpiece on the subject in the English tongue, and accounted an unanswerable one; and it was almost in the mouth of every one, as an objection to the Calvinists. Why do not ye answer Dr. Whitby? Induced hereby, I determined to give it another reading, and found myself inclined to answer it, and thought this was a very proper and seasonable…