whom they appertain Levit. 20. 26. Ye shall be holy unto Me For I have severed you from other people that ye should be Mine Deut. 7. 6 The Lord thy God hath Chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are on the face of the earth Chap. 26. 18 19 The Lord this day hath Avouched thee to be His peculiar people and to make thee high above all Nations Deut. 10. 15 The Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them and He Chose their Seed after them even you above all people c. But were they as farr above other Nations in goodness in greatness or excellent demeanor And was that it which intituled them to this honour No such matter As appeares 1 by the Reason there assigned Exod. 19. 5. Ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people For all the Earth is Mine It is as if the Lord had said There is no difference between you and other Nations All the earth is Mine and I may take where I will I am not tyâ—d to any I might take of them and discard you They cannot carry it more unworthily than you have done and will do I looked from Heaven and considered their works and yours I see that your hearts are fashion'd a like And 2 Their afterâ—demeanour did abundantly verifie it and the Lord foresaw it I know that thou wouldst deal treacherously Isa 48. 8. ver 4. and wast called a transgressâ—r from the womb That thou wouldst to obstinate thy Neck an iron sinew Jer 32. 30. and thy brow brass and that thou wouldst do only evill from thy youth up c. What then was the Cause or Motive of God's choosing them above others It was His undeserved love and favour to them Deu 7. 8. â—h 9 4. He loved them because He loved them Come to David God had provided Him a King among Jesse's Sons and Samuel must go to anoynt him but it must be Him whom the Lord should Name to him 1 Sam. 16. 1. 12. Not the eldest or good liest person And therefore sayes he when they pass before him The Lord hath not Chosen this Nor this Nor these But David 'T is true the Lord did not mention David's name to Samuel but He did what was equivalent for when David comes in He tells him This is He Anoynt him And observe This he was the youngest the meanest and most unlikely scarse reckon'd as one of the family for he was not brought in among the Rest Then Note his Circumstances Hâ—s employment was to keep the shéep His exercise what was it but such as is reckon'd effeminate He addicted himself to Musick see also his Complexion or Constitution of body White and Ruddy no promising character of a Martial Spirit And yet this Man or rather this lad and stripling thus qualified and thus educated he must be the Captain of the Lord's host who yet had the greatest enemies to deal with and therefore had need of a Man of courage and conduct to be over them Well! let David's birth complexion employment education be what it will Never so unlikely in all humane respects yet this David is and he must be the man whom the Lord will honour to Rule his people to fight their battels and to do exploits In this choice the Lord was pleased to set-by whatever is taking with men He seeth not as Man seeth i. e He regards not Men for their Natural accomplishments If for any thing it must be probably for some excellent endowment of the Mind and that of Wisdome is of as weighty consideration in the choice of a Prince as any other But this is no Inducement or Motive to God He respects not any that are wise of heart Job 37. 24. And if He did it Was not here to be had David had no Prince-like qualities above his brethren until afterwards Which thing is plainly intimated in the thirteenth verse where it is said The Spirit of the Lord came upon Him from that day forward Then for Jeremy The Lord ordains him to be a Prophet sets him over Nations and Kingdoms commissionates him to Root out and pull down To build and to plant c. Why what had Jeremy done that the Lord should call him to so Imperial a work Sure no great matter for this he was ordained to before he was born Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee I sanctified thee and ordained thee a Prophet Jer. 1. 5. It also appears by his own Confession how unmeet he was for such a work and how unwilling I cannot speak for I am a Child ver 6. Another Instance may be Cyrus This man was decreed to a great and noble work Isa 44. 28. Ch. 45. 1. 6. v. 13 It was in brief to destroy the Golden Monarchy To break in pieces the hammer of the whole Earth To Release God's people out of Captivity and to build His Temple and this more than an hundred years before Cyrus was born The Lord styles him his Anoynted His Elect Hâ—s Shepheard and One that should perform His pleasure ver 4 5. And He calls him by his Name too which is twice repeated as a thing to be remark'd And to inforce it the more He adds a note of Narrower observance I have called thee even by thy Name Was Cyrus thus chosen because he would be a puissant Prince Or did the Lord make him puissant and victorious because appointed to such a work Hear what the Lord Himself who best knows the ground of His own Designation says of him Ch. 45. 1. Thus saith the Lord to His anointed to Cyrus whâ—se right hand I have holden i. e. I gave him strength and taught him how to use it I will loose the loyns of Kings and open to him the two leafed Gates I will go before him ver 2. I will break in pieces the Gates of brass and cut in sunder the bars of iron c. But what shall Cyrus have done That the great God should do him this honour He did not so much as know the Lord which also is twice repeated as a matter worthy our observation Lastly Paul The Lord from Heaven commissionates him His Preacher General among the Gentiles to bear His Name before Kings To Mawl and Ransack the devil's kingdom and to turn the World upside-down Witness his doings at Ephesus Athens and other places And this he was called to even whiles in the heat of his persecuting fury against that Name which now he is sent to preach And that there was no motive on Paul's part himself is witness where speaking of that his Call he ascribes it to the pleasure and power of God as much as he doth his natural birth Gal. 1. 15. I might also bring in the Stories of Sampson Josiah John Baptist and others to the same effect but that time would fail Now These instances may not be valued as Historical
His Soul an Offering for sin He should see His seed Or it may be intended of both 2 The Righteousness of Christ is concerned in it two ways 1 As the Meriting or procuring Cause thereof and so this Faith belongs of Right to every one He died for according to Phil. 1. 29. Or 2 As He is that faithful Servant who gives to every One according as He hath received of the Father for them In all which respects it evidently flows from Election To confirm which he says expresly in his former Epistle That they were Elected unto Obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1. 2. So in the 1 to the Ephes The Mystery of His Will is said to be Made known to them Eph. 1. 9. According to His good pleasure which He had purposed in Himself The same Intendment we have in the Corinths The preaching of the Gospel is to them that perish 1 Cor. 1. 18. foolishness but to Vs who are Saved it is the Power of God And in Timothy Who hath Saved us and Called us with an Holy Calling In both places Saving is put afore Calling and then it must be afore Faith And how Men are Saved before they Believe unless by Election or Redemption which is commensurate with Election doth not appear to us To this purpose 't is further Observable that in Rom. 8. the Apostle sets Predestination afore Calling as in Timothy and the Corinths he doth Saving And in Rom. 9. He puts Calling in a tense subsequent to Election or Preparing unto Glory Ro. 9. 23 24. The Apostle Jude his sentence also accords with it He directs his Epistle To them that are Sanctified by God the Father Jude 1. And Preserved in Jesus Christ and Called Where by Sanctified he means Elected separated or set apart In this sense the word is used elsewhere where it will not admit of any other Exod. 31. 13 I am the Lord that doth Sanctifie you And more plainly in Numb 8. 17 All the First-born of the Children of Israel are Mine On the day that I smote every First-born in the Land of Egypt I Sanctified them for my self Here no other thing but Choosing Selecting or Setting apart can be intended And I see no Reason why it should not be so understood in that of Jude And it is termed an Holy Calling Not only as it Calleth us to Holiness but as it is Sacred Peculiar Set apart and appropriated to an Holy People viz. Those whom the Lord hath set apart for Himself Whose Eternal Sanctifying them in His Decree was the Original Cause of their being Sanctified Actually He loved them with an Everlasting love and therefore with loving kindness doth He draw them Jer. 31. 3. And this their Actual Sanctification is so indubitable a Consequent of the Decretive and so Appropriate to the same persons that the same word is used for both as it is also for Redemption For their sakes says Christ I Sanctify my Self Joh. 17. 19. A lightsom Instance of this we have in Numb 11. 26. Eldad and Medad though they came not up to the Tabernacle with their Brethren yet being of them that were Written the Spirit came-upon them and they Propheâ—ied in the Camp Election finds out Men when they think not of it So the Lord first Determines Jeremy to his Office Jer. 1. 9â— Then puts-forth His hand and fits him for his Work Even Christ Himself was first appointed to His Mediatory Office Isa 61. 1. And then the Spirit came upon Him because so appointed Quer. In the 1 John 16. it is said That to them which Received Him He gave power to bâ—come the Sons of God which seems to put their believing before their Sonship Sol. Albeit that Faith goes afore the Manifestation of our Sonship yet not afore our Sonship it self The Adoption of Sons is That we were Predestinated-to before the foundation of the World Eph. 1. 4 and 5. That therefore in John must be understood with that of Moses when he pleads with God for His presence with His People So shall we be separated from all the People that are on the face of the Earth Not Exod. 33. 13. that this Separation was Now to be made It was done afore Deut. 7. 6. Levit. 20. 24. But his meaning is That by the Lord 's going with them this their Separation should be Manifested The same sense of the word ye have in Matthew 5 Matth. 5. 44. Love your Enemies Bless them that Curse you That ye may be that is that ye may appear to be the Children of your Father which is in Heaven v. 45. In like Manner We become the Sons of God by Faith Gall. 3. 26. The budding of Aaron's Rod was not the Cause of God's Choosing him to the Priesthood Numb 17. 5. Acts 1. 24 26. Nor the falling of the Lot upon Saul and afterwards upon Matthias the Reason Why God designed them the One to the Kingdom and the other to the Apostleship They were both appointed before and those Events were but the Effects of that their fore-appointment and Evidences of it So the Giving of the Spirit is that which follows Election Because Sons Gall. 4. 6. God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts Although the Manifestation of our Adoption and our actual enjoyment of its privileges Eph. 1. 4 5 9 11 are in time yet the Thing it self is from Everlasting Pursuant to this our Saviour manifests the Father's name to the Men He had given Him out of the World Joh. 17. 6 8. ch 10. 26 27. And These receive it The Sheep hear his voice and follow Him Of others he saith expresly Ye believe not because ye are not of my Sheep ch 8. 47. He that is of God heareth God's word ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God The same Reason He gives for His different Ministration towards His own Mat. 13. 11. and Others To the One it was given to know the Mysteries of the kingdome of God To the other it was not given And therefore having ended His parables He dismisses the Multitude as having noe more for them but to His Disciples He expoundeth every thing in private and ye see He puts it upon Election as that which had invested them with this prerogative above the Rest To you it is given i. e. It belong'd to them by God's Donation and appointment They are first Saints by Election Then Saints by Calling When Christ appeared to Paul going to Damascus they that were with Him were all in a Maze A voyce they heard but knew not what it spake Why so since they were as likely to yield as he Truly it was not intended for them and therefore their Ears were not boared Nor the speech directed to them but to Paul and to Paul by Name But why to Paul above the Rest since he was the Ringleader and Chief
of Men who commonly pitch upon things for some Natural Aptness or Meetness of them for their Work They will not take a knotty cross-grain'd or wind-shaken piece of Timber to make a Pillar of State But the Lord pitches upon such and such to choose the poor base weak foolish things of the world the worst of Men and chief of Sinners The instances of Paul Manasseh Mary Magdalen and others make it evident and of these He is pleased to make Pillars for the House of God Pilluis of State indeed whereon to write His own Name to manifest thereby His Sovereignty Holiness Wisdome Power Righteousness and Free Grace to Eternity The Lord's way and method in bringing His Sons to Glory is the best Demonstration of the Right order of Causes For though there be a Concurrence of many things as Causes and Effects one of another yet if observ'd in their Order they will still lead us up to the Goad Pleasure of God as First and Supream and perfectly Independent The Current of the New Testament Runs wholly this way and hangs the whole of Salvation both Means and End expresly on the Divine Will Luke 1â— 32 It is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the Kingdom Chap 10. 21 Thou hast hid these things from the Wise and revealed them to babes For so it seemed good in thy sight Rom. 11. 5 A Remnant according to the Election of Grace Ephes 1. 5 Predestinate to the Adoption of Children according to the good pleasure of His Will Redemption also and the forgiveness of Sins according to the riches of His Grace the same Grace that Elected Ver. 7 The making known the mystery of His Will this also is according to that His Good pleasure which He had purposed in Himself Ver. 9. Yea all the operations of God whether for us upon us or by us they All have their Rise from the same Spring and are Carried by the same Rule He worketh all things after the Councel of His Own Will Ver. 11. And for the Old Testament you have it sufficiently exemplified there in the Instances before given and especially touching the ground of God's love to the People of Israel who in that respect Deut. 7. 8. Ch 9. 4. Ch. 10. 15. were the Arch-type of the Spiritual Election viâ— That His own good pleasure was the only cause of His Choosing them above other Nations He loved them because He loved them And good Reasons there are why Election should be founded upon Grace and why it could not with respect either to God's Glory or the Elect's Security be founded otherwise And the I. Is from the Sovereignty of God Whose Will being the Supream Law admits not a Co-ordinacy Much-less will it stand with Sovereign Power to be Regulated by the will of another That would be a Contradiction to Sovereignty For that which Regulates is superiour to that which is regulated by it Sovereign Princes to shew their Prerogative affirm their acts of Grace to be of their own meer Motion And their Grants are reputed the more Authentique for being so exprest The like we find in Scripture frequently ascribed to God That He will have Mercy on whom He will have mercy Rom 9. 18. That He worketh all things not by Motives from without Eph 1. 11. but after the Councel of His own Will Rom 9. 16. That it is not of Men's Willing or Running but of God who sheweth Mercy When the World had been drown'd for their obdurate impenitency the Few that remain'd were as bad as before and those that should come after the Lord foresaw would be the same One would think now The natural Result of this Experiment should be I will utterly cut them off and be troubled with them no more But the Lord's thoughts are not our thoughts He argues and concludes in another Mode I will not again any more Curse the ground for man's sake And He is pleased to give the same Reason here why He Will not as before why He would asis seen by comparing Gen. 6 5 and 7. with Chap. 8. 21. See also the Instance of God's dealing with Ephraim He was wroth with Him and smote Him and Ephraim so far from Relenting That he went on frowardly i. e. Stubbornly as Resolved in his Course I hid me sayes the Lord and was wroth Esa 57. 15. This one would think if Ephraim had in him but a spark of Ingenâ—ity should have Moved him to alter his Course But what cares Ephraim He still keeps the same way and it was the way of his heart not an inconsiderate Pet or sudden Temptation but Natural and fixed All which the Lord sees and considers and having laid all together Resolves to heal him Isa 57. 18. and Restore Comforts to him On the other hand Those good Soules who feared the Lord and Obeyed the voice of his servant Isa 50. â—1 They yet walked in darkness and had no light ye may be sure They would gladly have understood their Condition namely That they were such as feared the Lord Their Will could not be Wanting to a Thing so greatly importing their Comfort Nor they were not Idle in seeking for it They Walked though in the Dark but could not Walk themselves out of it They are still as they were They had no light By these contrary Examples ye may see That the Sovereignty of God still keeps the Throne and His dispensments of Mercy whether in purpose or in Act are not Governed by the Wills of Men They are things too low to be Councellors to God And if it be thus in things of temporary Concernment much more in that great business of Eternal Election which is the Sublimest Act of Sovereign Power And yet This hinders not but That every Man at last shall be judged according to his works II. Arg. 2. Election must be founded onely upon Grace because Grace and Works are Inconsistent in the Cause of salvation The scripture is every Cautelous of admitting any thing as a Concomitant with Grace in this Matter yea although it be a Thing that doth alway accompany Grace and That without which a Man cannot be Saved The Apostle puts them in opposition and is very intent on the Argument as a thing of great Moment in Rom. 11. Where first he shews That amidst that general Defection of the Iewish Nation there still was a Remnant whom God had Reserv'd These he terms The Foreknown ver 2. and in the 7. ver he calls them plainly The Election And then lest any should ascribe it to a false cause as in that paralel Case he resembles it to viz That they had not bowed the knee to Baal but stuck to the True Religion when others fell off he tells us No Their Election was founded upon Grace And as for Works they had no place in the Causality of it By Grace he means the Free Favour of God who is not moved by any thing without Himself But what He
teach Themselves Rom. 2 from 17 ver to 21. And in Rom. 3. where they are Ranked together he proves them to be All under Sin None Righteous None that understandeth None that seeketh after God None that doth good No not One Yea This depravement of Nature was so deep and indelibly fixed That the Lord Himselfe tells them The Blackmoor might as soon change his skin as they learn to do well All which with abundantly more be speaks a condition extreamly remote from yielding a Cause of this blessed Election IV. If God's love to Men had its Rise and Beginning from their love to Him it would not have that singular eminency in it Joh. 3. 16. that is justly ascribed to it So God lâ—ved the World So as not to be exprest So as not to be paralel'd So as not to be understood until we come to that State wherein we shall know as we are known By this it is 1 Cor. 13. 12. that God's love to Men is so highly celebrated in 1 Joh. 4. 10 Herein is love Not that we loved God but that God loved us And Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed up on us 1 Joh. 3. 1. Which surely then is not after the manner of Men Matth. 6. 46. For even Publicans do so Luke 6 32 35. and Sinners love those that love them But to love Enemies and whiles Enemies as to love a Woman a Wife that is an Adulteress this is according to God's love to His Chosen But Notwithstanding these Scriptures with others seem purposely written to obviate such conceptions as would feign our loving of God to be the ground and Motive of His love to us Yet great endeavours there are to Father Election upon foreseen faith and works which That They call the Covenant of Grace has they Say qualified and capacitated all Men for and which certain more pliant ingenuous and industrious persons as they speak would attain unto by the helps they have in common with other Men But this pedigree of Election is excepted against as being not rightly deduced For 1. Men having in Adam devested themselves of all that was holy and good the Lord could not foresee in them any thing of Worth or Desirableness but what Himself should work in them Anew and that of pure Grace and favour For sin and deformity could not be motives of love And that the Elect of themselves were in no wise better than other Men is evident by the Scriptures late-quoted where the Holy Ghost asserting the universal depravement of humane nature exâ—empts not one But if such excellent and distinguishing qualifications as Faith and Holiness had been foreseen and so imputable to them the Spirit of Truth would not have Rank'd them Even with the Children of wrath as He doth Eph. 2. 3. But 2. If they were otherwise what could they add unto God Job 37. 24. Ch. 35 7. Ch. 41. 11. Or whereby could they oblige Him He respecteth not any that are wise of heart If thou be Righteous what givest thou Him And who hath prevented Me says the Lord that I should repay him i. e. Who is he that is a fore hand with God Deut. 10. 17. in doing ought that might induce His favour He regardeth not Persons nor taketh Rewards He is not propitious to any for what they can do for Him or bring to Him Take Paul for an Instance He walked up to the light he had Was blameless lived in all good Conscience knew no evil by himself a rare degree of legal Righteousness But that it was not this moved God to make him a Chosen Vessel he thankfully acknowledgeth with self-abasement upon every occasion Tit. 3. 5. Tin 1. 14. 15. 2. Tim. 1. 9. 3. Faith follows Election God respects the person before his offering you 'l say perhaps Abel was respected as a Believer and his offering for his Faith True But that Faith of his was not the primary cause of God's respecting him If Abels Person had not been respected first he had never been a Believer For Faith is the work and gift of God and according to the course of all judicious Agents he that will work must first pitch on the Subject He will work upon and he that gives on the person he will give unto Heb. 11. 6. Besides Rom. 14. 23. Abel could do nothing before he Believed that might move God to give him Faith therefore it could not be Abel's foreseen Faith that was the Cause of his Election The Scripture speaks often of iron-sinew'd-Necks and Brazen Brows and of Men's being in their blood when the Lord said They should live As also that God loved Jacob before he had done any good thing and that the Saints love God because He loved them first But no-where of Foreseen Faith and Holiness as the Cause and Ground of God's love to Men. 4. Faith and Holiness are Middle things They are neither the Foundation nor Top-stone of Election They are to Sovereign Grace as Stalks and Branches are to a Root by which the Root conveyes its virtues into its principal fruit Ephes 2. 8 By Grace ye are saved through Faith 2. Thes 2. 13 Chosen to Salvation through Sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth They are no more the Cause of Election than the Means of an End are the first Cause of Purpose Nay no more than Tatnai's propension to build the Temple and to provide Sacrifices for the God of Heaven was the Cause of Darius his Decree that those things should be done Ezra 5. and 6. Chapters 5. If men be Predestinate to Faith and Holiness as they are according to Rom. 8. 38 â—9 and 1. Pet. 1. 2. Then they were not seen to be such before their Predestination Or if they were then their Election as to that particular would seem impertinent There can no Rational account be given why Men foreseen to be such should be so solemnly predestinate thereto So likewise If Salvation be the inseparable product of Faith and Holiness according to John 5. 24 He that believeth hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation 1. Pet. 1. 9. Receiving the End of your Faith the Salvation of your Souls Then to ordain to Salvation those foreseen to be so qualified would seem a thing both needless and insignificant It would look like the sending of Men where they would have gon of Themselves Such sapless irregular and injudicious Notions are very unworthy that Celebrious and for ever Adorable Act of Predestination And if duely weighed would set us further off from the doctrine of Self-advancement which stands in so point-blank opposition to the Doctrine of God's Grace V. Arg. 5. It could not stand with the wisdom and Goodness of God to found the Salvation of His People on a failable bottom Which it must be said to be if dependent on any thing besides His own Immutable Will For whatever it was that Election had being from
spilt on the ground But though this Promise of Christ be virtually a Promise of all Grace yet because of our slowness of heart to believe and to win us off from our legallizing Notions the Lord condescends to gratify His People in Words as well as Substance And therefore V. To make it expresly evident that all Spiritual blessings are perfectly free He hath put them all into Absolute Promises Not that all Promises run in that tenor Many of them have Conditions annex'd which also in their place are of very significant usefullness Gen. 22. 12-18 Joh. 3. 16. chap. 14. 6. Math. 5. 8. 2 Cor. 7. 1. Mark 16. 16. Joh. 10. 9. 1. As proofs of our willing Subjection to God 2. Directives by what Mediums we must get-to the Blessedness design'd us 3. How we must be qualified for the enjoyment of it 4. As Marks and Evidences of our being in the way to it and of those to whom it doth belong But this Annexion of Conditions does not imply a power in Men to perform them tho' perform'd they must be before we enjoy the promised Good Nor does the effect of those Promises depend upon any Act to be done by us which some other Promise doth not provide us with But That Great Fundamental Promise on which is founded our hopes of Eternal life Tit. 1. 2. was Absolute 't was given afore the world Though dearly conditional to Him with whom the Compact was made yet perfectly free and Absolute to us And therefore the adding of Conditions to After-Promises may not be taken as invalidating that First Promise Or as a Defeazance to it It 's a Scripture Maxim That the Covenant which was before confirmed of God in Christ Gal. 3. 17. the Law which was Four hundred and thirty years after cannot disannul that it should make the Promise of none effect The like may be said of Promises made in Time viz That the Conditionalness of Some does not make-void the Absoluteness of Others As the Law was to Christ such are Conditional Promises to the Absolute They shew what we should be and do and by consequence that we can neither be nor do as we should and thence Inferr The Necessity of Divine Grace to undertake for us And then indeed is the Freeness of Grace adorable which promiseth help in terms of an Absolute tenor And accordingly we find That whatever is in one Scripture made the Condition of Acceptance with God and Eternal life In other Scriptures those very Conditions are promised without Condition Some of which we have a Prospect of in the following ballance Conditional Promises Wash ye make you clean Cease to doe evil learn to doe well Come now and tho' your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow Isa 1. 16 18. Repent and turn so iniquity shall not be your ruin Ezek. 16. 30. Make you a new heart and a new spirit v. 31. Hear and your Soul shall live Isa 50. 3. If thou shalt seek the Lord thy God thou shalt find Him if thou seek Him with thy whole heart Deut. 4. 29. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart Deut. 10. 6. Return O backsliding Children Jer. 3. 14. If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good of the land Isa 1. 19. I will yet for this be enquired of by the House of Israel Ezek. 36. 37. He that endureth unto the end the same shall be saved Math. 24. 13. Promises of the Condition Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean From all your filthiness will I cleanse you Ezek. 36. 25. I will forgive your iniquity and your sin I will remember no more Jer. 31. 33. I will put a new spirit within you Ezek. 11. 19. A new heart also will I give you and a new Spirit will I put within you chap. 36. 26. Thou shalt return and obey the voyce of the Lord Deut. 30. 8. They shall return unto Me with their whole heart Jer. 24. 7. I am found of them that sought me not Isa 65. 1. The Lord thy God will Circumcise thine heart Deut. 30. 6. I will heal their Backslidings Hosea 14. 4. Thy People shall be willing Psal 110. 3. I will cause you to walk in my Statutes Ezek. 36. 27. Phil. 2. 13. I will pour upon the House of David the Spirit of Grace and Supplications Zach. 12. 10. They shall not depart from me Jer. 32. 40. Who shall confirm you unto the End 1 Cor. 1. 8. Jer. 3. 19. These are some of those Many exceeding-Great and Precious promises 2 Pet. 1. 4. by which we are made partakers of the Divine Nature And if duly consider'd would much conduce to establish the present Truth which asserts the Absolute free-giving of All things pertaining to life and Godliness ver 3. And this nothing more plainly contradicts than to make the Dispensments of Grace to depend on the Wills and improvements of Natural Men To shut-out which is a principal scope of Absolute Promises 1 Cor. 1. 29. Ch. 12. 6. Phil. 2. 13. That no flesh should glory in His presence Since it is God that worketh all in all and That of His own good pleasure Now If any should ask by the way Wherein the special love of God to Elect persons discovers it self before their Conversion I cannot assigne any plain or Open discoveries of it by which the Elect may be known from other Men All outward things fall alike to all The heir whiles a Child differs nothing from a Servant altho' he be Lord of all by Election Gal. 4. 1. Yet there are divers gracious operations of that love towards them even in common providences Albeit they are not perceiv'd till afterwards As 1. In keeping-alive the Root or Stem they were to grow from which might be a principal cause of His adding 15. years to Hezekiah's life viz. for Josiah's sake who was to come of his lineage Manasseh his grandfather not being yet born So those dayes of tribulation were shortened and many of the Jewes kept alive by the Providence of God for the Elect's sake that should be of their progeny perhaps two thousand years after 2. In preserving the Elect themselves from many a death which they were obnoxious to before their Conversion As He also did Manasseh And this was the Cause when Satan had them in his Nett and had drag'd them to the pits brink That the Lord sent from Heaven and saved them Psal 57. 3. Job 33. 24. Deliver him I have found a Ransom He is Mine and I have designed him to another end 3. In keeping them from the unpardonable Sin Thus Paul being a Chosen Vessel was kept without that knowledg of Christ which some of the Pharisees had For otherwise his persecuting the Church of God had bin uncapable of pardon as appears by 1 Tim. 1. 13. I obtained Mercy because I did it ignorantly 4. In casting the lot of their habitation where He hath planted
ever Shaken you may be and tossed with tempest but never Over-turn'd because ye have an Eternal Root Electing love is of that Sovereignty That it Rules and Over-rules all in Heaven and Earth Christ Jesus our Saviour and Lord The Holy Ghost our Sanctifier Councellor and Comforter in all that they have done do or will do do still pursue that scope All Ordinances Providences Temptations Afflictions and whatever can be Named be it good or be it bad in it self Life death things present and things to come are all made Subservient to the Decree of Election And do all Work-together To compass and bring-about its Most glorious designment If the Course and Conduct of Common Providences were truly lined-out It would yield an illustrious Prospect How much more the Conduct Order and End of those special Providences which are proper to and conversant about Election When all the peeces therof shall be brought-together and set-in-order how beautifull will it be Angels and Men shall shout for the Glory of it Then 't will be evident God has done nothing in vain or impertinent to your blessedness That what ever hath befallen you here however contrâ—ry to your present sense and opinion of it was dâ—spensed in very faithfuâ—ness to you That if any of those manifold and seemingly Cross Occurrences you have been exercised-with had been omitted it would have been a Blank in your story a blot in your Scutcheon of honour When you shall see What Contrivances have been against you what Art Subtilty Malice and Power they were agitated-with How unable you were to Fore see prevent avoid or repell them And how all the Attributes of God and His Providences each one in its time and place which was always most seasonable came-in to your Rescue Retorting on your adversaries and safeguarding you yea how that which was death in it self was made to work life in you How amiable and admirable will the story of it be That when your faith was weak the Lord did not withdraw from you That when it was at its height and strength He then did for you above all you could believe or think and through an unspeakable Preass of Difficulties and Contradictions He carried-on his work in you even bearing you on Eagle's Wings until He had brought you to Himself How will you Magnifie His work and Admire it then Begin it Now. Secondly Infer II. Let us study more the Knowledg and Contents of this Great truth of Believers Invincible Perseverance the Rise Progress and Tendency of it and what advantages it yields us which indeed are many and very considerable 1. As it is a part of the Doctrine of Election which teacheth That Nothing in us but Grace and love in God was the only Original Cause of our Salvation The knowledge whereof will work in the Soul an holy Ingenuity and love towards God whom nothing offends but Sin Simon answered right Luke 7. 43. when he said He that had most forgiven him would love most Whence it follows That he who believes the Free Remission of all his sins from first to last must needs love God more than One who believes only the pardon of those that are past and that so as that they may all be charged upon him agen Or if not That yet he may possibly perish for those to-come perhaps in the last Moment of his life For he is not sure Nay 't is very doubtfull if dependent on his own natural will That Faith or Repentance shall be his last Act. Now This Grace of Love being the strongest and most operative Principle he that is led by it must act accordingly that is 2 Cor. 4. 16. Vigorously and without weariness as Paul did And Joseph having received large Tokens of God's love to him and expecting more yet argues against and with an holy disdain and sleight of hand puts-by the Temptation How can I doe this and sin against God who hath dealt and will deal so bountifully with me 2. As it teacheth the soul to Depend upon God for its keeping as having His Almighty Power absolutely engaged for it Whereas if the efficacy and event of all that God doth for Me should depend upon something to be done by Me who am a frail Creature and prone to Revolt I should still be in fear because still in danger of Falling and losing all at last And this Fear being an enfeebling passion must needs render my Resistance and all my endeavours both irregular and weak Whereas a Magnanimous and fearless spirit who sees himself Clothed with a Divine Power shall have his Wits as we say more about him to discern Dangers and Advantages and consequently how to eschew the one and improve the other 3. As it gives assurance Our labour shall not be in vain This made those believing Hebrews to endure that great fight of afflictions and to take joyfully the spoiling of their Goods Heb. 10. 33 34. because they knew they had in Heaven a better and more-enduring substance All manner of Accomplishments put-into-one and made your own would not so invincibly Steel your foreheads and strengthen your hearts as To be Sure of Success and to come off Conquerour The Apostle therefore brings it in as the highest encouragement in our Christian Warfare in Rom. 6. 14. and chap. 8. 37. And our blessed Lord Himself who of all others had the hardest Chapter to Run-through It made His Face as a Flint Isa 50. 7. because He knew He should not be Confounded Thirdly Infer III. Make it one and that a Mayn part of your business to foyl and disprove the Objections that are brought against this Doctrine And your Nearest way to it is Growing in Grace 2 Pet. 3. 18. with chap. 1. from the 5th verse to the 10th 1. Lay-aside and Cast-away every weight especially the sin that doth most easily beset you your bosom sin whatsoever it be Isa 2. 20. 1 Thes 5. 5 6 Cast them to the Moles and to the Batts They are not fit-Mates for Day-light Creatures It is a Noble prize you Run-for Therefore Clogg not your self with any thing that may hinder or retard your pace 2. Keep your selves in the Love of God that is keep-up and maintain a spiritual sense of His love to you and a lively answer of holy affections towards Him Whatever may tend to obscure or lessen your sense of it have nothing to doe with that unjust thing keep your self from Idols let nothing have an interest in your love but God and all things els but in subordination and with respect to Him onely 3. Watch against the Beginnings and first Motions of sin Nip it in the bud Abstain from all appearance of evil and walk not on the brink of your liberty It is easier to keep-out an Invader than to Expell him being Entred To keep-down a Rebel and prevent his Rising than to Conquer him when he is up Great and black Clouds have small beginnings the bigness
to reveal His purposes concerning this lower world as appears by many Scriptures They are His Chariots Ps 68. 17. His Reapers Mat. 13. 39 49. The Executioners of His Judgments 2. Sam. 24. 16 2 K. 19. 35. and Christs attendants at His coming Math. 25. 31 The Apostate Angels or wicked spirits though the testimony we have from them is not from love or good will yet is it as great an evidence of Gods Sovereiguty as any other in that being enemies to God proud and imperious they are yet over-awed and constrained to submit we find them subject to His rebukes Zech. 3. 2. And hence it was that the Devil answerd not again when that dreadful sentence was pronounced upon him for seduceing our first Parents we have him also presenting himself before the Lord to give account of his actions and touch Job Job 2. 1 6. or any thing he had he durst not without leave from God nor vary a jotâ— from the rule prescribed him In the Evangelists are many instances of Christs commanding them forth with authâ—rity yea a whole legion at once Luke 8. 30. 32 33. Nor could they so much as enter into the Swine without his leave Mark 5 12. And which is more they were subject to the Apostles who had but a delegated or second-hand power committed to them Luk 10. 17. Fifthly we have the Lord himself asserting His Sovereign Prerogative In how lofty a stile and with what Imperial authority doth He utter himself to Pharaoh And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up for to shew my power on thee Exod. 9. 1â— The Apostle quotes the place to prove that God may raise up men and appoint them to what use and service he will Rom. 9. 17. Who hath made the seeing or the blind have not I the Lord Exod. 4. 11. I kill and I make alive Deut. 32. 39. I will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy Exod. 33. 19. I am the first and I am the last and besides me there is no God and who as I shall call and shall declare it and set it in order before me since I appointed the ancient people and the things that are coming and shall come Isa 44. 6 7. My Councel shall stand I will do all my pleasure ch 46. 10. ch 40. 12. to the end My word shall accomplish that which I please it shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it Isa 55. 11. And if the Prophet be deceived I the Lord have deceived that Prophet and I will destroy him Ezek. 14. 9. A remarkable story to the same purpose we have in the 1 Kings 22. touching the lying spirit and the effectual Commission he had from God to perswade and also to prevail How should we tremble before God at the hearing of such a word But yet I do not reckon the last two as acts of pure Sovereignty but rather as punishing one sin by leaving to another Because that when they kneâ— God they glorified Him not as God Nor liked to retain Him in their knowledge God gave them over to a Reprobate minde Rom 1. 21 28. Notwithstanding which there is an impression of Sovereignty in that he deals not so with all who are alike obnoxious to it Sixthly Another Ensign is form'd of those several Acts and Institutes which cannot be derived at least so properly and immediately from any other Attribute as that of Sovereignty I shall instance a few viz. The putting of Man's everlasting condition upon his eating or Not-eating the fruit of such a Tree Gen. 2. 16 17. In not destroying Adam presently upon his disobedience And in the free promise of a Saviour unsought unto for it Gen. 3. 15. In protecting Cain when he had forfeited his life to Justice Gen. 4. 15. In Preserving Ham from the deluge though as wicked as those that perished ch 7. 13 16. In ordering the blessing to Jacob who sought it unduly and denying it to Esau who sought it diligently and to whom it belong'd of natural Right Gen 27. 19 34 38. In the sudden turning of Esau's heart to love Iacob whom he had inveterately hated and came with full purpose to destroy him yet in a trice his heart is melted he weeps on his Neck and offers himself and soldiers to be his Convoy Gen. 27. 4â— with chap. 32. 6. and ch 33. 4 12. In causing a fear to fall on the Amoriâ—es that they did not pursue Iacob when highly provoked by his Sons cruelty on the Men of Sechem Gen. 35. 5 In sending to Sihon a message of peace when He had determin'd to cut him off and to that end had hardened his spirit and made him obstinate Dâ—ut 2. 26 27 28 29 30. In causing those nations to destroy one another who came leagued to destroy His people 2 Chron. 20. 1 22 23 verses In destroying Esau's mount Irrepairably and for ever when as Israel whose land also was full of sin shall not be forsaken Obad. ver 9 16 18 21. and Mal 1 4. Especially considering that these were the several effects of His loving the One and hating the other and that before they had done either good or evil ver 2 3. and Rom. 9. 11 13. In sending Ezekiel to a rebellious house that would not hear and not sending him to them that would Math. 11 21. Acts 16. 6 7. Mark 4. 11 12. Luke 8 10. Ezek. 3. 6 7. ch 12. 2 and 3. In hiding the Mysteries of His kingdom from the wise and prudent and revealing them to Babes Math. 11. 25. And speaking in parables to the Multitude lest they should be converted In punishing sometimes for lesser trespasses and that sâ—verely and in his own whiles winking at those oâ— a greater magnitude in other men Moses is excluded Canaan for a hasty word though smartly provoked when Jonah's but mildly reproved for passionately expostulating Vzzah dies for but touching the Ark 1 Sam. 5. 1. 1 Chr. 13 9 10. when the Philistims bore it away in triumph Hezekiah but shews the Ambassâ—dours from Babylon his house and treasures 2 K. 20. 13 17. and for this his sons and all must go into captivity Not that any sin is little in it self or punished beyond the demerit of it but the Lord is pleased thus to doe partly to shew his displeasure against sin and that will not bear with it even in those that are dearest to Him but partly also if not chiefly in such like cases to set forth His Sovereign Greatness Job 33. 18. and the uncontroulableness of His matters The 73 Psalm is full to the same purpose That also of Job and the manner of God's dealings with him is much to be remark'd He had lived a very strict and holy life Not a Man like Job Job 1. 8. in all the earth the Lord himself seems to glory in him unto which all outward blessings were promised and freedom from such sufferings and when bereft of all Job
suffering under them c. The Sum of this kind of Duties we have in that Standing Uncontrollable Rule Of Doing to Others as we would they should do unto us On the Contrary there is Nothing forbidden but what tends to our hurt As if it were needful might be Demonstrated by Instances Innumerable To this also might be added the strict Injunctions that God hath laid upon the Subordinate Dispensers of His Law as namely To Judge the People with Just Judgment Deu. 16. 18 19. Deut 27. 19. Job 13. 10. Not to Wrest Judgment Nor respect persons yea He Curseth them that pervert Judgment And will surely Reprove them that accept persons Ch. 4 17. c. And shall Mortal Man be more just than God Will He under such penalties Command Men to do thus and not do so Himself Fifthly Arg. V. Another Beam of the Righteousness of God shines forth in His putting the Matter of our Duty into such a Way and Method as renders it most Facile and is mostly conducible to our Chief End As 1 To Remember our Creator in the days of our youth For the Work of Conversion and Turning to God must needs be much easier Then than when habituated in an evil course For Long impenitency besides the provocation it is to God estranges the Mind more from Him Makes the Spirit more Inflexible and harder to be wrought upon It Multiplies our Work and Substracts our strength For One accustomed in evil to learn to do well and for a Blackmoor to change his skin are things of a like possibility It 's a very Rare and Difficult thing for a Man to be born again when he is Old 2. To Watch against and suppress the first motions of sin and to avoid what ever might be an Occasion or have Tendency towards it Mal. 2 15. and in order thereto To take heed to our Spirit Pro. 4. 23. 1 Thes 5 22. Jud. v. 23. Job 31. 1. To keep the heart with all diligence To abstain from all appearance of evil to hate the garment spotted by the flesh and to make a Covenant with our eyes as Job did For the professed practise of some Saints is Directive to Others and Equivalent to a Command To keep an Enemy from Rising is much easier than to Quell him being up yea To Nip sin when 't is young is the ready way Not only to keep it low but to kill it as the continual plucking off Buds from a Tree or Plant destroys the Root 3. Ro. 14. 23. Not to do any thing the lawfulness whereof is dubious to us Which as it is a sin in it self so it tends to obscure to us the true sight of things and emboldens to farther attempts So also Not to Mind only the Lawfulness of things but their Expediency 1 Cor. 6. 12. The not-heeding of which proves often an occasion of sin to Others whereof we cannot be Guiltless So likewise 1 Thes 5 19. to Cherish all Motions to Good Not to quench the Spirit and to hearken or listen diligently what the Lord God will speak Exod. 15. 26. 1 K. 19. 12. Who oft times delivers His Mind with a Still and a small voice which doubly obligeth our Attention 4. In His pressing with so much weight and Necessity those great Duties of Faith Love Patience Self-denial c. 1 Faith which consists in Submitting to the Righteousness of God Taking hold of His strength and Following the conduct of His Wisdom And in order thereto shewing us our own sinfulness weakness and folly with the vanity of all Created Bottoms which have always failed at the greatest need and so drawing our hearts to lean on Himself In whom alone we have Righteousness and strength 2 Love This is a powerfull Active Candid and Obligeing Principle It bears all things Thinks no evil Takes all in good part Makes That both portable and pleasant which without Love would be both harsh and burdensom 3 Patience and Meekness of Spirit These mitigate the Dolour of any suffering Judges 8. 3. and often prevent or allay the storm that is rising A soft Answer turns away wrath Prov. 15. 1. It also breeds Experience 1. That any affliction may be born through Him that strengthens 2. That afflictions are all for our profit 3. That we could not well have been without them 4. It also gives to understand the Lords meaning in them which the Noise of tumultuating passions would drown to us And as a Means to work this Patience the Lord sets before us 1. That there is a Cause of every Chastening and that cause is from our selves and therefore no cause to Complain 2. That He afflicts not willingly Onely when there is Need and no more than Needs must 3. That He hath many Gracious Ends in afflicting 1 Pet. 16. As 1 To humble for sin committed as in Joseph's rough dealing with his Brethren 2 To Purge out Dross as in the case of Manasseh 2 Chr 33. 11 and 13. and the Whole Church Isa 27. 9. 3. To Prevent sins we should otherwise fall into 2 Cor. 12. 7. Thus He kept Paul from being Exalted above measure Jer. 45. 4 5. Ps 73. 25. 4 To Wean us from the World This He expected from Baruch And this effect it had upon Asaph 5 To Exerâ—ise our Graces As Abraham's great faith by his various temptations And Paul was much under Infirmities That he might Magnify the power of Christ 6 By lesser temptations and deliverance from them we are fitted for Greater and â—ur Faith strengthened both to bear and to get through them Which Greater had they come afore might have Overturned us 4. Self-denial This is a duty of neerest concernment to us since we have no such enemies as self-love and fleshly lusts to warr against our souls These things considered will shew that David's Conclusion is Right and Genvine Good and Vpright is the Lord therefore will He teach Sinners in the way Even Reason it self might tell us to be sure Sanctified Reason and experience will That thus to Command and Direct is To lead in the Right way and it highly Commends to us the Righteousness of God Sixthly Arg. VI. It is yet farther made out by His affixing Rewards and punishments to Good and Evil works respectively according to what is the proper Result and Natural product of them Gall. 6. 7. Whatsoever a Man sowes that shall he Reap 1 Cor. 15. Every Seed shall have its own body He will give to every One Isa 3. 10. 11. Jer. 32. 19. Pro. 3. 18. 1 Pet. 1. 9. according to His wayes and the fruit of his doings Holiness hath in it a Natnral Tendency to life and peace It is a Tree of life Grace and Glory grow from the same Root Salvation is the End of Faith the Flower that grows upon it Isa 32. 1â— The Work of Righteousness is Peace and the Effect thereof Qâ—ietness and Assurance for ever
state can never be lost And the Reason is because Grace hath out-done Sin and gone beyond it Grace hath abounded much more Rom. 5. 20. Which super-abounding of Grace cannot referr to the Subjects of Grace as if they were more in number than the Subjects of Sin for sin came upon All and Grace cannot come upon more than all But 't is meant of the prevalent efficacy of Grace and the permanency of its effects towards all that are the Subjects of it Rom. 5. 21. And thence it is that Grace is said to Reign and that to Eternal life IV. If the End of Christ's death might possibly be frustrate Arg. 4. as possibly the very end of God's making the World might suffer disappointment All things were made for Himself and by this scale they ascend to Him The World for the Elect 1 Cor. 3. 22 23. The Elect for Christ and Christ for God All His works praise Him but above all that of Redemption as of highest note and eminency Most conspicuously doth the Glory of God shinâ—-forth in the face of Christ as Dying and as dying for such an End viz. the Salvation of His People It is the chief of the wayes of God the very Meridian and height of His Glory not essential but manifestative both in this world and that to come It therefore behoved Him so to lay it that of all his designments This might be sure to succeed For do but subtract the sureness of its Effect and leave His Redeem'd in a perishable condition and it draws a blemish instead of beauty upon all the Divine Attributes 1. The end of God's setting forth Christ a Propitiation Rom. 3. 25 26. was to declare His Righteousness in the Remission of sins which it does doubly 1. That without satisfaction sin could not justly be remitted 2. That satisfaction being given it could not justly be imputed Who shall condemn It is Christ that dyed Rom. 8. 34. But if those for whom this plenary satisfaction has been given should not be justified and effectually saved Divine Justice would be as liable to impeachment as if He had saved them without And so the thing designed for the honour of His Righteousness would turn to its disparagement 2. It would not accord with the love and goodness of God towards His Elect that That which was meant for their Recovery Joh. 3. 19. and was also a price well-worthy their Ransom should possibly turn to their deeper condemnation for so it must if they be not effectually saved This could not be that Pleasure of the Lord which should prosper in the hands of Christ 3. It would not be according to the Faithfulness and Truth of God that Christ should fail of That He was promised and earnestly looked-for as the fruit of His Sufferings which was a Seed to serve Him Isa 49 6. ch 53. 10. Prov 8. 31. The thoughts of which were matter of complacency to Him from Everlasting But if those He died for should not only abide in the same condemnation He came to deliver them from but under a much sorer vengeance than if He had not undertaken for them How grievous would it be to Him and contradictious to the Faithfulness of God! 4. Another End of Redemption was That the manifold Wisdom of God might shine-forth in the sight of Angels and Men. Christ crucified is the Wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1. 24. But if it were so contrived that the Thing chiefly design'd might possibly miscarry it would be no illustration of Wisdom Will one of common prudence part with His Jewels and choycest treasure and that in such manner as never to be regain'd and leave his purchase knowingly under hazzard Men â—â—deed may possibly waste their Estates in Tryals and Essayes that come to nothing but did they foresee the success they would not so expose their prudence to reproach 5. The Greatness and Power of God would suffer an eclipse if it were in the power of Creatures to defeat His most wise and holy Designments and hinder the accomplishment of His greatest work What would the Aegyptians say but that He destroyed them because not able to go through with what He undertook Numb 14. 16. 6. Lastly If the end of Christ's death might possibly be frustrate Then that blessed project for glorifying the Grace of God might possibly be disannulled and come to nothing For None but Saved Ones do or can glorifie that Grace V. Another Argument for the Sure effect of Christ's death Arg. 5. is because He hath the Management of the whole work committed to Himself as well the Application or Redemption as the procurement of it He is the Repository Root and Treasury wherein all the benefits of Redemption are laid up and the Great Almoner by whose hand they are dispensed Adam was no more a publique Person after his fall The new Stock was not intrusted with him but put into the hands of Christ who will give a better account of it For VI. There is Nothing wanting to Him who is our Redeemer which might any way conduce to the final Compleatment of His Work Arg. 6. There are Five things mainly requisite to make a great undertaking Successeful viz. Authority Strength Understanding Courage and Faithfulness All which the Captain of our Salvation is eminently invested with Joh. 3. 35. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hand 1. Authority He was appointed to His Office For as Mediatour the Father is Greater than He He came not of Himself but the Father sent Him Joh. 9. 42. He was called of God Isa 42. 6 Heb. 7. 21. Heb. 5. 4 5. It was laid on Him and undertaken by Him in the way of a Covenant And Confirmed hy an Oath Never to be Reversed which also may partly be the Meaning of God the Father's Sealing Him Joh. 10. 18. Isa 61. 1. Joh. 6. 27. The Government is laid upon His Shoulder He hath the Key of David committed to Him Rev. 3. 7. Which shewes the absoluteness of His Authority Gen 41. 44. Without Him No man can lift up his hand or his foot in all the Earth 2. Strength or Power These cannot be wanting to Him if All in Heaven and Earth be sufficient for it Matth. 28. 18 And this he hath That He might give Eternal life to as many as He dyed for Joh. 17. 2. Which if they should miss oâ— it would be said That all power was not able to Save them He that made the World is surely well able to Govern it and to over-rule whatever comes into it He would never have suffered sin the onely enemy to invade it if He could not have quell'd it at pleasure Isa 63. 1. Ch. 9. 6. Their Redeemer is strong The Lord of Hosts is His name He shall thorowly plead their cause Jer. 50. 34. He must reign until He shall have put all enemies both under His own feet and ours 1 Cor.
it And hence it is that we find those Imperial terms I will and Ye shall so much in use about this Matter Thus the Lord began with the Serpent which was a leading Case to all that follows It shall bruise thine head In which compendious word the destruction of Satan and Sin is effectually provided for And elswhere He speaks as much for quick'ning the Soul I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My Statutes Ezek. 36. 27 28. Ye shall be my People and I Will be your God They shall Return unto me with their whole heart with many Others The Lord still utters Himself in tearms of Omnipotency as putting-forth an Almightiness of Power which as it needs not so it will not yea it cannnot with a Salvo to his honour admit the least Dependence upon Created power to make it successfull Isa 55. 11. His word shall not Return unto him void It shal accomplish that which He pleaseth and prosper in the thing whereto He sends it John 11. 44. He that was dead comes forth at his word though bound hand and foot II. Conversion is a Creation-work II. which though done by degrees must be gon-thorow with and that by Him who layd the foundation Or all the foregoing parts for want of a Cap-stone will moulder and come to nothing As when Adam was to be made The Lord first prepares the Earth then moulds it in such a form and then breathes into him the breath of life Els that lump had never been a living Soul So in the New Creation The Lord works and goes-on to work and leaves it not until He hath set it going He doth not onely cause the light to shine into darkness but gives withall a suitable understanding 1 Joh. 5. 20. Joh. 1. 5. a faculty connatural with the object as without which the darkness would never comprehend it Ezekiel might have prophecied till Doom's day ere those dry bones would have liv'd if the Lord Himself had not caused breath to enter into them Jam. 1. 17. 2 Cor. 4. 6. And probably He is called The Father of lights plurally to denote that as well the light comprehending or capacitating our comprehension is from God as That to be comprehended Psal 36. 9. In His light we see light III. God's Effectual Working in this Matter III. and the Necessity of His so working may also be Argued from the common sense of those already wrought upon and brought-in by whose Prayers and Confessions it is evident That they still needed a powerfull and effectual influence to Carry-on the Work already begun Turn Thou Me and I shall be Turned Quicken us and we will call upon Thee Draw me and We will Run after thee Not that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing but our sufficiency is of God I live Gall. 2. 20. yet not I but Christ liveth in me c. Hence it readily follows That if those already Turned and made partakers of the Divine nature whose hearts are in the good wayes of God and who desire Nothing more than to Walk in them cannot yet keep themselves Going without a Continued Efficacious Influx and Spring from Above Much-less can the Natural Man without the like Supernatural and Divine Efficacy effectually bend himself to a Compliance with them Prov. 13. 19. It is It is an abomination to fools to depart from evil IV. IV. If the Lord did not Work Effectually He should loose the honour of His work If the Efficacy of Grace should depend on the humane Will i. e. If Grace be rendred Effectual by some Motion or Act of the Will which Grace is not the Author of Then will Nature assume the Priority Works will glory over Grace and Free-will will be said to be better then Free Grace For that the less is blessed of the Better Heb. 7. 7. is without contradiction And that that which sanctifies is Greater than that which is Sanctified by it is so obvious That Christ appeals it to the Reason of Fools and Blinde Math. 23. 19. If therefore you will grant That Grace is Better than Nature Follow it must That the Will is Blessed and Sanctified by Grace viz. by its powerful and effectual operation upon it And here indeed lyes the honour and efficacy of Grace Not in a Vincible Moving Exciting Perswading or Threatening the Will to a complyance but in making the Will actually and willingly complyant with It self And thus the Lord Doth and thus He will Do where ever He will be Gracious tho never so muchagainst the present minde and natural propension of the subject And yet there no such thing as Forceing the Will As you may see afterwards V. V. The Doctrine of Effectual Calling is further confirm'd from the office of Christ as a Redeemer which was not only to purchase Eph. 1. 7. Eph. 2. 13 16. Heb. 2. 17. Rom. 5 9 10. Coll. 1. 20. 21 22. Dan. 9 24. but to put us in actual possession of the good things He purchased for us Redemption and Reconciliation are Relates Comensurate and Inseparable It is not onely a Reconcilable state that Redemption puts us into but a state of actual Reconcilement It slayes the enmity makes an end of Sin and brings-in everlasting Righteousness On this accompt our Saviour bears that glorious title Thou shalt call His name Iesus Math. 1. 31. for he shall save His people from their sins and For this Cause was the Son of God manifested that He might destroy the works of the Devil Now 1 Joh. 3 8. of these works Blindness of mind is the first-born and foster-mother to all the Rest 2 Cor. 4 4. 't is this keeps the soul in unbelief as under locks and bars and therefore must of necessity be dispell'd which can onely be done by causing the true light to shine Effectually as He did the light of this world in the first Creation which the Apostle in 2 Cor. 4. 6 Resembles it to Isa 42. 7. Luke 1. 79. Isa 49. 9. Hence those frequent mentions of His being sent To open the blind eyes To give light to them that sit in darkness And to bring forth the Prisoners from the Prison-house which may not be valued as things in design yet lyable to obstruction but to be as certainly perform'd as that Christ should dye In the 107 Psal it is spoken of as done already He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death Ps 107. 14. and brake their bands in sunder And that he speaks it of Redeemed-Ones appears by v. 2. First take them as in Darkness and he is so to give them light as to guide their feet into the way of peace Mark 8. 13-25 That story of the blind Man in the 8 Mark is a pertinent shadow of it Christ spits on his eyes and puts His hands upon him as yet he saw but darkly Men as Trees
also an important Argument for proof of this Doctrine The Lord's manner of dealing with His People of old and the Reason of it is an Instance above Contradiction The Promise of giving them Canaan was not more Absolute than the Promise of Salvation to Believers Nor was it less clog'd with Conditions Threatnings and Cautions which were afterwards added But the promise being once made absolute Gen. 15. 18. To thy seed will I give this land the Lord held Himself obliged in honour Chap. 12. 7. to make it good How often did He seem to be pouring out His wrath to destroy them First in Egypt Then in the Wilderness as appears by Ezek. 20. 8 13 21 22 and 40 verses And what was it that kept it off It was the Interest of God's Honour This put Him upon finding out Wayes to deliver them Ezek. 20. 14. I wrought sayes He for my Name 's sake The Lord did as it were labour and work to suppress His righteous fury incensed by their intolerable provocations His Name and honour were concern'd and that held His hands He had once made an absolute Promise which therefore must be made-good tho' they made themselves never so unworthy of it The like ye have in Isaiah 48 They had dealt very treacherously than which Nothing is more provoking But sayes the Lord For my Names sake will I deferr mine anger v. 9. And Agen v. 11. For mine Own sake even for mine Own sake will I do it For how should My Name be polluted The Lord will over-look a Thousand transgressions rather than expose His Name and honour to Reproach as once it was by a temporary suspension To Recover which and that His Name might be sanctified He will bring them home agen yea tho' it be in the eyes of Men a Thing impossible and they themselves doe think so likewise For Our hope is lost and we are cut off say they Ezek. 37. 11. and Lam. 3. 18. My hope is perished from the Lord. Whether at home or abroad they still caused His Name to be prophaned And for this His Holy Name He had pitty on them Ezek. 36. 20 21. For if He should have cast them off for ever It would have been said Either That He did not foresee how unworthy a people they would be Or He was not able to keep them in their own Land Or to bring them back agen Or els That He was Changeable in His Purposes and not true to His word c. some reflexion or other they would cast upon Him which He could not bear All which much more of like kinde is applicable to Belivers with respect to their Perseverance 4. Justice or Righteousness There can hardly be found a firmer support or more plenary consolation to Believers than That the Justice of God is engaged to save them For The Righteous Lord will doe no iniquity He would not Justify No Not His very Elect but in a way consistent with His Righteousness For which cause He set-forth Christ a Propitiation for sin Surely then having received the Attonement He will not expose His Justice to censure by leaving them in any wise obnoxious to comdemnation Salvation Now is their due Rom. â— 1 7. His Grace hath made it so By both giving and accepting such a price for it as engageth Righteousness it self to save them For Who shall eondemn ver 33. 2 Thes 1. 7 8. since 't is Christ that dy'd It is as Righteous a thing with God To give Rest to His People as tribulation to those that trouble them Paul therefore builds his expectation of the Crown upon this Attribute as well as any other Henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness 2 Tim. 4. 8. which the Lord the Righteous Judge shall give me at that day Yea this Righteousness of God secures to them Their holding out To finish their Course andto keep the Faith as well as the Reward when their work is done God is not unrighteous to forget His Peoples labour of love Much less Christ's This gave the Apostle to be perswaded better things of those he writes to than to be subject to Falling-away Heb. 6. 9 10. The blood of the Everlasting Covenant is engaged to make them perfect in every good work ch 13. 20 21. to doe His will Yea They shall bring forth fruit in their old age Ps 92. 14 15. and this To declare that the Lord is Vpright and no Vnrighteousness is in Him 5. The Faithfulness or Truth of God is also concern'd in the final Perseverance of Believers For having drawn them from all Created bottoms to a total Relyance on Himself He cannot but give them That they have trusted Him for The Lord will not be to His people as that broken staff Egypt was to the Jews to fail them at their greatest Need which is when they are lost driven away broken and sick and perhaps have no mind to Return as Ephraim who went on frowardly Then is the fit time for the Faithfulness of God to discover it self Isa 57. 17. 18. by seeking them out Ezek. 34. 16. Bringing them back Binding them up Healing and Comforting them To heal their backslidings as it shews the Freeness of God's love so His faithfulness The Lord will not behold iniquity in Jacob Numb 23. 21. i. e. He will not take notice of it so as to Recede from His Word For He could not but see their perversness and Murmurings for which He punished them severely and sometimes made as if He would disherite them but still He Remembred His Covenant and that Restrain'd it that He could not Cast them off The Lord had blessed and therefore Men should not Reverse it Neither themselves by their insufferable Contumacy nor Balaam by his Inchantments The Lord loveth Judgement Numb 23. 20. i. e. Truth and Faithfulness and therefore He forsaketh not His Saints Ps 37. 28. They are preserved for ever The Saints are in league with God Ps 50. 5. They have made a Covenant with Him by Sacrifice And it is a league of His own propounding by which He hath obliged Himself to protect them And tho' Men may break their Compacts the Holy One of Israel will not Numb 23. 19. He is not Man that He should lie Ps 16. 1. nor the son of man that he should Repent David having made God His Fortress Ps 31. 3 4. concludes from thence that the Name of God was engaged to lead and guide him Those Corinthians were as lyable to temptations as other Men who fell by them for they had strong Remainders of Corruption as appeares by both the Epistles and a subtil Adversary to observe and draw it out Besides They were highly gifted and so thought themselves above the Rank of ordinary Christians than which nothing could more expose them to danger But notwithstanding all these disadvantages they shall be kept The Faithfulness of God that
And therefore as sayes the Apostle We are alwaies confident That when absent from the Body we shall be present with the Lord ver 6 8. This is also further confirm'd by that compendious Promise Jer. 31. 33. I will be their God and they shall be my People Every word here hath a peculiar emphasis 1. That He will be a God to them 2. Their God and 3. for ever This I will imports both a fix'd Resolution Time without limit It is as if He had said Though other lords have had the Rule over you and you have still a Proneness to Revolt to them It shall not be I will not be Outed any more I 'l heal your backslidings and be your God still I 'l carry it towards you and for you as becomes a God to doe and I will make you such a People as becometh God to own I will not be ashamed to be called your God Heb. 11. 16. It would indeed be both a disparagement and dissatisfaction to God if His People should fail of that He made them for which certainly cannot be because God is theirs and if God be theirs all things are theirs both this World and that to come 1 Cor. 3. 22 23. Lastly Arg. VII For the final Perseverance of Believers a Principal Argument is fetch'd from the Sovereign Decree of Election I call it Sovereign partly Because it is the highest Manifestation of God's absolute Dominion over His Creatures in Choosing whom He would and passing-by the Rest Partly also because all sorts of things what soever are subjected to it and made subservient to its final accompliâ—hment And this I take for a principal Reason why Election is so frequently placed in Eternity or before the Foundation of the World viz To shew That the very Fabrick of the World and all Occurrences therein were so contrived and framed in God's Decree as having Election for their primary scope and End That this first Cause is the Supream Moderator of all intermediate Causes and is it self subject to None It was not any loveliness in Elect persons which moved God to love them at first so neither shall their unlovely backslidings deprive them of it though it may be eclips'd by their own default to the breaking of their bones The Lord Chose them for that blessed Image of His Own which He would afterwards imprint upon them and this He still prosecutes through all dispensations That Elect Nation the Jews They apostatized from God and did worse than any Other yet the Lord would not utterly cast them off In Samuel's time their wickedness was very great yet saith he to stay them from total apostacy The Lord will not forsake you But what is the ground of that his great confidence and grand Warranty The very same that now we are upon The Lord will not forsake you because It hath pleased the Lord to make you His People Not because they remembred their duty and returned to God but because He remembred for them His Covenant In pursuance whereof He long maintained their title Notwithstanding their often-repeated forfeitures and when in Captivity brought them home again And indeed Ezek. 16. 62 63. Nothing so melts the hearts of Those in Covenant with God as the the Lord should be pacified towards them after all their abominations The manner of God's dealings with this people is especially Instructive to help the faith of the spiritual Election upon all occasions as holding-forth the special Regard the Lord hath for them because of His Covenant That tho' He may and will punish their iniquities yet His loving kindnefs He will not take from them Ezek. 36. 11. And He puts it still upon His having once Chosen them as you have it in Jeremy ch 41. 9 I have chosen thee and not cast thee away This later Clause And not cast thee away seems added to shew That His Choosing them was an Act unrepealable q. d. I knew aforehand What thou wouldst Doe and how thou wouldst prove and if I had meant Ever to Cast thee off yea if I had not Resolved against it I would not have Chosen thee at all But since I have Be sure I 'l stand by thee I will strengthen thee I will help thee I will uphold thee with the Right hand of my righteousness It is true The body of that Nation for their unbelief are now broken off There is a suspenfion of the outward part of the Covenant Not that God inteds an Utter Rejection of them Rom. 11. 7. For such as have part in the special Election are alwaies saved And the time will come when All Israel shall be saved Rom. 11. 24. For as touching the Election They are beloved still tho' yet unborn For their sakes it was That the dayes of tribulation were shortened Matth. 24. 22. Which answers to Isa 65. 8. Destroy it not there is a blessing in it The Lord will not so much respect What they have deserved as what His own Covenant is concerning Abraham's Seed Which Minding of His Covenant is from the Vnchange ableness of His Purpose And therefore he saith Rom. 11. 24. They shall be grafted in agen Yea though they be driven into all lands Scattered into Corners Mingled with the Heathen and become so like them as Not to be known asunder yet being His Chosen Ones and within His Covenant He will bring them out of their holes Isa 27. 12. and Gather them One by One i. e. He will do it accurately exactly punctually So as none shall be Wanting Though Sifted among all Nations Amos 9. 9. Not One Grain shall fall to the Earth The Reservation mentioned in Rom. 11. is God's Omnipotent Safe-garding His Elect when the Generality of the Nation fell to Idolatry They would have gon All as well as Some 2 Thes 2. 11 12 13. had not Election held them back as appears by comparing the 4 and 5 verses It is therefore said to be According to the Election of Grace Which intimates That Election was the Patern or Original and Reservation the Copy of it And That this was not a single Case or Restrained to the time that then was is evident from Math. 24 Where our Saviour foretells That the Subtilty of Deceivers and temptations of the time should be such and the Torrent rise to that height and strength That it will be a thing next to Impossible Not to be Carried away by it But for the Elect They are safeguarded from it How By the coming-in of the First and Sovereign Cause By the virtue of which the force and influence of all those second Causes shall either be prevented or Romoved Mitigated Inverted Ezek. 9. 6. shortened or Over-ruled and the faith of his Sealed Ones so Confirmed Rev. 7. 3. that they shall not be hurt by them Yea and which is more Those very things which are destructive to Others shall work life in Them Deut. 23. 5. This turn'd
henceforth the fear of wrath but the sense of Christ's love in delivering from wrath that both Curbs the unregenerate part and carries to higher acts of obedience than fear is capable of Altho' at times all sorts of Motives may be needful to keep them going 2 Cor. 5. 14. And the Lord for exercise of their Graces and other holy ends may let the dearest of His Children long conflict with their Fears Under which He yet supports them and brings them forth like Gold at last See Ethan's complaint and the Close he makes in the 89 Psam See also that excellent Treatise A Child of light c. But as touching this Fear in the sense objected which supposeth it the best Curb to Sin and promoter of Perseverance it ought to be rejected How far it may influence a Man that is wholly Unregenerate as a Curb to His lusts is not the Question here But if Saul and Judas ran headlong to hell with this bit in their mouths then is not this sharpest bit the most Effectual Curb That which weakens and tends indeed to destroy the Root of Sin must needs be more effectual as to the main end than That which onely Restrains some puttings-of-it-forth Acts 15. 9. But God purifies the heart by Faith 1 Joh. 3. 3. And Every one that hath this hope purifieth himself as He is pure There is no such virtue given to Fear but on the Contrary The spirit of Fear is put in opposition to the Spirit of Power of Faith and of a sound mind 2 Tim. 1. 7. But what ever influence this fear may have upon persons unregenerate they are not deprived of it by the Doctrine of Perseverance for This concerns onely Believers The Objection lyes further open to divers Exceptions As 1. Because it puts an indignity on the Wisdom and Grace of God as if He had taken from Believers some expedient help to Perseverance by his giving them Absolute Promises whereas we should rather suspect our own understandings and Renounce those opinions which Necessitate such unnatural Inferences to support them For do but separate the Promises from their Absoluteness and their strength is gon Rom. 8. 2. They would prove as the law Weak through the weakness of the flesh The Lord knowes that Beleivers have both the difficultest work and deepest sense of their own insufficiency and that nothing more weakens their hands than doubtings and fears And for this cause hath made His Promises absolute Thus we find He Armed Joshua to the battel There shall not any Man be able to stand before thee Josh 1. 5. all the dayes of thy life I will not leave thee nor forsake thee And hence he draws him an Argument to be strong and of a Good Courage ver 6. In like manner Samuel when the People were greatly preplexed because of God's displeasure against them To confirm them in their duty he Comforts them against their Fears Fear not sayes he ye have done all this wickedness yet Turn not aside from following the Lord And what 's the strong Reason by which he fixes them For the Lord will not forsake His People The Objectors and Samuel were not both of a Mind Paul likewise Exhorting Believers to that great duty of keeping-down Sin Rom. 6. 12. that it might not Reign Because the sharpness and heat of the Conflict might otherwise make them Recoyl He gives them as an high Cordial Assurance of Victory tells them in plain and express terms That Sin shall not have Dominion over them ver 14. Here they are at variance with Paul Nor do they better Accord with Peter and John The One directs us To give all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure 2 Pet. 1. 10. And this as a principal means to keep us from falling And the Other makes it the Scope and End of his whole Epistle That Believers may know they have Eternal life 1 Joh. 5. 13. and that they might goon in Believing Which kind of Arguments had been very unduly applyed if Giving them assurance touching the Event had not been a strengthening of them in their Duty and much more if it would have proved an Iudulgence to the Unregenerate part 2. Let Fear be considered in its Ordinary and natural effects and 't will easily appear That Nothing is less pleasing to God or more unapt for the Service of Perseverance As a Man's principle is such will be his obedience Slavish observance is the best that slavish fear can produce which is no way acceptable to an Ingenuous Spirit God loves a Cheerfull Giver not Samaritan-Worship for fear of Lyons Such service wil also be weak and wavering for Nothing so unsettles the Mind as Fear It enervates the Soul and takes away its Strength 1 Sam. 25. 37 Nobal's heart dyed within him for fear of David Matt. 28. 25. and the Soldiers who kept the Sepulchre were as dead Men for fear The obedience therefore which comes from thence can be but a dead obedience The Effect cannot rise higher then the Cause Pharaoh let Israel go because of the plagues Exod. 14. 5. which being a litle removed Isa 33. 14. he Repents his obedience and chides himself for it And those hypocrites though Fearfulness surprized them Remained hypocrites still This Fear also will consist with the greatest impieties Those very Samaritans who thus feared the Lord 2 King 17. 41. did also worship their graven Images 3. Fear puts upon using unlawful Means Gen. 26. 7. 1 Sam. 21. 13. Gal. 2. 12 13. Hos 7. 11. 1 Sam. 28. 7. Isaac to deny his wife David to feign himself mad Peter and other holy Men to dissemble It sends men to Egypt for help as it did the Jews yea to hell as it did Saul Therefore both Satan and wicked Men are still endeavouring to put God's people in fear Neh. 6. 14 19. Zach. 2. 2. as they would Nehemiah whereby his work had ceased And Satan stood at Joshua's right hand to resist him that is to accuse him and so to put him in fear because of his filthy garments Thereby to discourage him in the work of his office 4. Let Fear be compar'd with its Contrary viz. Faith This removes the Mountain whiles fear fixes it yea makes it to be where indeed is no such thing Fear made the unbelieving spies to bring up an evil Report of the good land and to fancy impossibilities of obtaining it Faith made Caleb and Joshua Magnanimous Num. 13. 30. Let us go up at once say they and possess it ch 14. 9. For we are well able to overcome it yea they shall be bread for us These two who feared no Miscarriage under an absolute Promise were Carried-in All that doubted Mat. 14. 29 3â— were shut out Peter whiles confident walked on the Waves when he began to doubt he began to sink Josh 23. 10. It was Faith made those Worthies valiant in
and Prun'd-off Joh. 15. 2. the true Branches are preserved and Cherished They shall bring-forth fruit in their old age Pâ— 92. 14. 1 Joh. 3. 2 9. chap. 2. 27. 2 ep Joh. v. 2. They that are Now i. e. Once They that are Once the Children of God shall never be Otherwise save only in a greater likeness to their Father And tho' their living on Him and their likeness to Him be very weakly especially at times as the Natural life of Infants is yet being born they must be kept And the Will and Care of their Father is Eph. 4. 13. To Nurse them up to a Perfect Man You ' I say perhaps That never had any such cause of Complaint as you and possibly it may be so To be sure you know not that They had And those you compare your self with have said as much of themselves and they had the like Cause for our hearts are fashion'd alike Onely each one best knows the plague of his own Agur a Man of great Wisdom and Holiness says of himself That he was more brutish than any Man Prov. 30. 2. But suppose it be true That Others corruptions have not broke-out as yours have done yet May not this put your faith to a â—tand Much less Make you weary Recoil or to faint in your Minds For the same Grace that prevented them can pardon you and will if you cast your self upon it Ye may indeed be allow'd to complain of your sins for Nothing els have ye to complain of Therfore Complain and Cry-out as loud as you will Rom. 7. 24. Oh wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death But withall Betake you to the same Refuge that he did ver 25. abide by it I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord Here you may triumph over all both Complaints and the Causes of them It must always be granted That to Overcome Sin Combin'd Intrench'd and fortifi'd as it is is a great Undertaking and must be gon-through with There is no Retreit to be sounded Nor Armour provided for your back Every Mother's son must either kill or be kill'd in this Combate There 's no Compounding the Difference Nor discharge in this Warfare till the day be perfectly Won But What a Recruit is there levied and always stands ready as a sure Reserve viz. That though the Conflict be sharp the success is sure In order whereto amongâ—t other Rules and Articles of War bear in mind these few following 1. Intangle not your self but shun and avoid whatever may prove a clog or unfit you for duty 2. Exercise yourself in things that will teach you to handle your Arms and tending to Nourish your faith 3. Stand on your Guard watchfully that ye be not surprised by sudden excursions or under pretence of friendship 4. Arm your self with the same Mind that was in Christ set your face as a flint and conclude That ye shall not be confounded 5. Submit to the place your General hath set you in It must have been some bodie 's lot and why not yours and the hotter it is the more honourable 6. Look that ye fight with proper weapons which are onely to be had at the Covenant of Grace and the Cross of Christ And There they are never wanting And be sure ye go not down to the Philistines either to forge or sharpen 7. Fight not as one that beats the ayr but as having indeed a sturdy adversary to deal-with whom yet you are sure to Overcome 8. Look still on your Captain to observe what He says and Does and do likewise To take-up your Cross and endure hardship are necessary accoutrements to a Soldier of Christ 9. Wait on the Lord to Renew your Strength who then bestirrs Himself most when your strength is gon Then He lays hold upon Shield and Buckler Ps 35. 2. and stands-up for your help 10. Lastly and to Influence all Mind the Lord of his Covenant even Then when it may be your self think on it with trouble as doubting your interest in it Pray Him to remember it for you and with the same Good-will wherewith He made it Beseech Him to look-on His Bow in the Cloud which Himself hath set there as a sure sign between God and you That tho' the skies be Red and lowring The Clouds return after the Rain and the Billows go-over your head you shall not be deluged by them By this it is that ye are hedged-about and walled-up to Heaven Therefore Stand not like Men in suspense as unresolved to fall-on or doubtful how to come-off But On On the day 's your Own The Lord of Hosts pursues them And let all the Sons of God shout for joy Sixthly Infer VI. since Believers onely are interessed in the Covenant and that Faith is a Necessary Instrument which the Covenant wil not work without without which you cannot work with it Nor see your Interest in it Look-well to your Faith first That it be of the right kind viz. such as Renounces Self lives upon Grace And then having found it such Be sure ye keep it well and improve it to the utmost Two uses especially are to be made of it 1 As your Shield to supply the place of all other peeces of your Armour when broken or loose as well as to safeguard them when they are whole and Tite about you If your helmet be out of the way and fiery darts come pouring down Hold up your Faith between your head and them Faith is the truest quench-coal to the fire of hell If your Sword be forgot or laid-aside or wants an edge c. your Shield if well applyed will Retort your enemies weapons on his own Pate 2 Faith is your spiritual Optick which shews you things of Greatest Moment and Not Otherwise Visible Even Chariots and horsmen of Fire are not discernible without it If temptations from the World do indanger you Turn your Faith that way and through it view and consider how Shallow and short-liv'd the pleasures of it are and how Momentany your sufferings Then look-at the World to come The Glory of it and your interest in it And how much your Crown will be Brightened by the scowrings you have pass'd-under here and dwell on the contemplation of it Bend not your eye so much on the peril or length of your passage as on the long'd-for shore that lies beyond it And reckon the Surges of that dreadfull gulph which is yet betwixt you and It but as so many strokes to waft you Thither Heb. 11. 26. This was the course that Moses took and Christ Himself Nothing so blunts the edge of Satan's temptations Chap. 12. 2. or the World's as this Faith of God's Elect. Therefore see that you hold-fast your Faith Keep it as your life keep That and it will keep you and let it not go until ye die Then indeed it will leave you because then it will have done