4-4-4 Of EMJion. W hardly and nanowly, but !lill it carries it, T here is an [ elfe] put upon BooK V. it, as here upon their Childrens holinefs. The Children of but one Pa– ~ rem, who is a Believer, are furely holy; indeed they fcap~ narrowly a bfmg unclean, yet Grace helps them out: and the R.eafon IS, bccaufo ' tis Grace , and will fhew it felf to be fo. And therefore when God , out of <;Jrace, haih begua to fhew favour to a Man, and to accept him , he is drawn on by Grace to pardon thus far, and then, further, aad in the end fo far, that it is to wooder01ent. No Man can fay where Grace will end· as they fay of fame rich Man, Jhere is no end of his Wealth known: fo I may fay of Grace, You know no end of it, The Grants of Orae~ run without Ifs, and Antls, and B11ts; there are no Exceptions in them: See Nehem, g. how many Tets of JYierCJes, and Buts of Si>miugs there are, and yet Grace carries it through AO, from vrrfe 17. to nit, And as Solomo11 fays, That Noue can jftmd brfore Envy, Prov, 27. 4· Wrath rhough it be cruel, yet may be mitigated; Soft words pacifie wrath~ Though it be an ]ijtmdario1l (as the word is) yet the [welling of it may be fiopped; But who can jfattd before E11vy ? feeing no Confideration can flake, or alfwnge it: For even that go.od which is in the Party envied , (that doth ailwage wratlt) doth but provoke Envy the more; What then can there be to allay it? So now may I fay of Grace ; No Prejudice, no Conlidcration to the contrary can ftand b~fore it: But it takes advantages the qore to fhew it felf to be Grace, even from Sin, which lhould pro– voke It to turn and avert it felf from us: When therefore what fbould provoke, is turne,d ~oto a Motive to dra\Y it forth in the more pity to us, to fave us, in tbat Cafe 'the rather, even to fhcw, that Grace con– quers; then, wh9, or what can !landb~fore it? I I. Gmerat Head ofVjn: The Second fort of Ufes, concerns th~ Children of Parents who are God– ly~. This Dodrin~ lqys a great and bindin~ obligation and weighty pro– vocation upon thep1 to he godly indeed : For otllerwife ( like Rmbm ) what a Dignity do they fall from l Even from the eflimation once had of them that they were holy ( which is the highefi excellency in the world) to be accounted finful and unclean : which is more than for one who bath been e!leemed and honoured as a Prince, and in hopes was fuch , to be now cafl out as vile, and abjell, and as the Son of the Bondwoman,who fhall not inherit with the Free. They run alfo into the greatefi unnaturalnefs and unworthinefs of carriage towards God that may be; I call it fo, for it is the expreJiicn ufed AC1s 'l· 46. They caft off God the God of their Fathers, which no People ever did. It is the Argument of an whole Chap· ter, wherein God pleads it with the Jews , Jerem. 2. 9. [ I will yet plead with you,] he enters into a Law-fuit with them, and complains that they (the Children) lhould forfake the God of their Fathers, whom he had tlltrtd wto Covmant with; verfe 2 . He firft expo!lulates it with them; what iniqttiiJ have yot~ alld your Fathers fotmd ;, me, ( verft) . ) that you fhould forfake me thus 1 For which of all my l<indnefs to you , and to your Fore-fathers, do you leave me? And he empannels a Jury a– gain!! them, out of all Nations 1 [ Pa(J over aO the I(le of Cbitttm ] that is, Greece , Cyprus , and the other Jland3 in the e'fifedittrrrmia" Sea, which were then the mofi fuper!litious Nations and the moft firmly addi– Cted to the worfltip of their Gods , of any other , [ and (md to Kcdar] which was of all Natiom the moll barbarous ; and yet [ they ht~ve 110& changed the Godr of their Fathers] b11t my People have changed me their glory ; /;e af1ot11jh1 0 ye Heavens at this ~c. It is fo unnatural n thwg , thot he calls upon the Frame of N•ture to exprefs its fenfe of it; he bid> the Sun look pale at it, as a Man in a!lonifhment doth; and the Sphcars to let fall their Star.• , and become defo!ate at fuch an horrid fight as tiHS. And that their PraCtice was degenerating from their Fore-fathers, appears 1 verfe
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