Walker:

1)

Quest.

Is there any hope of deliverance, from this soul stain and guilt of sins, and from death, and all evil of wrath, which are the fruits and effects of it?

Answ.

There is no hope of deliverance in anything which man’s wit and reason can devise, or man by his art, skill, and power can perform. All creatures in the world can yield him no help. God only of his infinite mercy, free grace, love and kindness to mankind has from all eternity, ordained an all-sufficient Savior and Redeemer, even his only begotten Son, who immediately after man’s sin and fall, did undertake for man, stayed the execution of the sentence and punishment of death, and was promised to become the seed of the woman and by suffering death and all the punishments due to our nature, to redeem mankind from sin and death, and to destroy the Devil, who had the power of death, and to dissolve all his works [Heb. 2:14 and 1 Joh. 4:8.].

Quest.

Who is the Son of God, which did undertake to redeem man?

Answ.

It is the Lord Jesus Christ, who was first promised under the name of the seed of the woman, Gen. 3:15, which should break the serpents head, and afterward was promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, under the name of the blessed seed, in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed [Gen. 12:8.]. And to David, and by the prophets, by the name of Messiah, that is the anointed Savior of the seed of David. And at last in the fullness of the time, when he was made flesh, took our nature upon him, and was born of a virgin, did bear the name of Jesus; and is now preached and made known to the world, under the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  George Walker, The Key of Saving Knowledge, Opening out of the holy Scripture, the right way, and straight passage to Eternal life (London: Printed by Tho. Badger. 1641), 36-37. [Some reformatting; some spelling modernized; marginal references cited inline; original italics removed; and underlining mine.]

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Hughes:

D. In a hearty compassion and affectionate love to all mankind.–There is not a parallel instance of compassion and mercy, of good-will and love, to be produced in the whole world. And if Christ so loved us, we ought also to love one another [1]: the objects of his love should command ours. Shall we refuse to be tender-hearted and kindly affectionate towards those, for whom the eternal Son of God has discovered such amazing compassion and love? The general love of God to the world, should induce an universal love amongst all mankind: his peculiar love to his church and saints and produce un us a peculiar affection to such. We ought to banish all remainders of ill-will, envy or malice, and with much affection to be united to one another; to love all men, especially such as are of the household of faith, and heirs with us that salvation and eternal life, which Christ was born into the world to procure for us. It was observed by the heathens concerning the primitive Christians, that they were eminently illustrious in the exercise of this grace: it was a common saying among themselves concerning the first disciples; behold, how they love one another. Oh would to God this blessed temper might more prevail in our day! Christ came to unite us all in the bonds of love; and therefore, though possibly we may see reason to differ from one another in our judgments about particular matters; yet nothing hinders (I am sure nothing should hinder) our being strongly united in mutual affection and love.

Obadiah Hughes, The Nativity of Christ considered and improved. In Two Sermons Preached at the Merchants Lecture at Salters-Hall And at the Protestant Dissenters Chapel in Long-Ditch, Westminster (London: Printed by James Waugh, for Richard Hett, in the Poulty; James Buckland, in Pater-noster Row; and Mrs Winbush, at Charing-Cross, 1749), Sermon 2, Luke 2:10-11; p., 42. [Some spelling modernized; italics original; and underlining mine.]

Calamy:

2. Let us put things together, and take notice, that general grace and special are very reconcilable: For God may be so far willing of the salvation of all, as to be ready to shew mercy to them if they repent and believe; from which they are hindered by nothing but their own wilfulness: And yet he may be so much farther intent on the salvation of some, as to use effectual means to bring them to repent and believe, to will and run, that so they may be secured within the compass of his special mercy. The Scripture appears clear as to both; and where’s the inconsistency? why must we deny general grace to exalt that which is special? or deny and depress special grace, to advance that which is general? Is not the honor of God’s special grace and mercy sufficiently secured by our acknowledging that it is that that brings any of the fallen race of Adam to will and run, and so makes the difference between them and the rest of the world, who live and die in their unbelief and impenitency? and is not this very consistent with our owning that God so loved the world in general; as that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but might have everlasting Life? And on the other side, is not general grace sufficiently secured by our maintaining god’s love to the world, and his willing the salvation of all men, on condition they turn to him? And is not this consistent with our owning that a special divine excitation alone can bring any that are in a state of corruption, to will and run in the ways of God? And that he takes away the heart of stone, and gives an heart of flesh to all that become his real people? And why then should we go about to dash these truths against each other which are fairly consistent, and agree well together? Let us beware of extremes: and stand upon our guard, least for fear of one error, we fall into another.

Edmund Calamy, Divine Mercy Exalted: Or, Free Grace in its Glory (London: Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and 3 Crowns in Cheapside; J. Robinson at the Golden Lion in St. Pauls Church-yard, and J. Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultry, 1703), 44–45. [Some spelling modernized; italics original; and underlining mine.] [The reader should keep in mind that this is not the Edmund Calamy of the Westminster Assembly, known as Edmund Calamy the Elder.]

Credit to Tony for the find.

Overall:

So that out of the side of Christ’s dying upon the Cross, not only the Sacraments of the Church, but likewise all saving Goods and Graces must be understood to flow. And this opinion is so manifest in the Scriptures, that Calvin has every where interpreted them of All. Thus upon Heb. 9.20 he says, that [Many] is taken for [All.] So again upon Rom. 5.18, 19. “It is certain,” says he, “that all men do not receive advantage from the death of Christ, but then this is owing to their own infidelity that hinders them (who was otherwise sufficiently rigid about Predestination) in explaining those very places, which others brought to take away the universality of Christ’s death (as in some it is said that he died for Many). Which words do plainly enough favor the common opinion.

John Overall, “The Opinion of the Church of England Concerning Predestination,” in A Defence of the Thirty Nine Articles of the Church of England by John Ellis (London: Printed for H. Bonwicke, T. Goodwin, M. Wotton, S. Manship, and B. Tooke, 1700), 133. [Italics original and underlining mine.]