Of the l(nowledg of (jod the Father, ~ Lord- ( that is laid i;; EleB:ion ) mndins Jim ; The Lord lznows who are HI .S: ~-They were His by his fore·knowledg of them, Rom. 11. 2. HIS People whoYt l-e FOREKNEW. Thine fir!'c, wirhom Me when confidered as God-Man; though as Second Perfon he concurred in the choice of them, as allo the Holy Spirit : O nly the Father, being the firft Perfon propofed them to the other two, as Perfons with him limply confidered ; and therefore, the Father here, in Chrift's AddreCs, bears the Honour of it; [Thine], and thou gaveft them me. 2. They were] ; which is fpoken in diflinB:ion from what is again repeated in verf. 9· Them whom thou haft given me; for they [are J thine: He urgetl1 there, That at prefent they .are thine; Here, in the time pa!'c, they were thine. This time paft, notes out from Everla!'cing; for then fir!'c it was, that he chofe them for his: And in this Prayer, verf. 23. Thmt lovedft them, a< tho1t lovedft ""· And among other, [ As J or likenefies,the Point of Time w.;en God thus loved them, As he did him, is one, (though him in order fir!'c) ; which he fpecifies, verf. 24. Tho11lovedjl me from the F oundation of the World; and fo, as me, from everlafling, fo them. 3· .And thou g'tvejl: them me]. This, fame would limit unto their having been called ; and fo, this Act to have been that in Time, when the Father gives thofe to Chri!'c to apprehend and own; and whom he draws to Chrifl by Calling. But the great and fir!'c giving of them to Chri!'c, is an everlatling Act, as well as chufing of them; and indeed, a di(\intl: Act from Election it felf, (confidered as barely EleCl:ion) though at Election and Concurrent with it: Thus in ]ohn 6. 36. .All that the Father giveth me, foaU come to me. Coming to Chri!'c there, is Vocation ; and that Speech fhews, that there is a foregoing Act of giving to Chrif1: by God the Father, which is the caufe of their coming ; and their coming, po!'cerior to it,-fball come to me. And if afore calling, I ask, When that ACt of giving them fhould firfl commence ? Sure, God that loved both them, to make them his own, and him fo from Everla!'cing, would not defer giving of them to him, until after fo long a fpace, as from Eternity un– to their Vocation is: But, having his Son then extant and prefent with him,and privy to all his Intentions ; and the commending and bef1:owing them upon him, being fo great a Gift, next to that of his own perianal Glory ; he furely did it from the firfl, and as foon as the Thing was capable to be done, and this was from Everlafting, in thofe TranfaCl:ions between the Father and the Son; there being nothing to hinderit then, no more than afterwards. And indeed, this their being given to him being twice repeated in this verf. 6. Fir!'c, I have manifefled thy Name unto the M en which tbou gaveft me out of the World. Then, fecondly, again, Thine they were, and thou gaveft them me. If we allow the firfl to import vocation in Time, we may welf put the fecond unto Election afore all Time: And this latter, to be the account given by Chri!'c, and an afcenfion untothe Or-iginal Caufe, why they were given him at and by voca– tion; verC 12. 1hine they were, (long afore, in thy everlafting Love and Ele– ction of them) and tho1t gaveft thent me, and from everlaf1:ing alfo ; which he after exprelleth, verf. 2 3· Tho1t haft loved then1, as thou haft loved me: and me thou lovedft afore the foundation of the World, verf.14- Where alfo their being given toChri!'c, is joined with Chri!'c's EleCl:ion. Gavefl them me J; For what end and purpofe? To be his,in his Relation to them,as they were the Father's in his : They are thine; and mine are thine, and thineore mine : And his Relation to them, and theirs to him, we find in Scripture to be as Members to an Head, Fellow-Members, of Spoufe unto an Hulhand, and Brethren to an Elder-Bra· ther, of the fame Nature with them; of Father, and they his Children; in and by all thole Relations they are his. Gavefl them ME] If this giving them to be his, was from E verlafting: The Q!eflion then will come under what confideration the [Me J comes un· der, Given them Me: Whether when they were given to him, and as Second Perfon, fimply confidcrcd, or as confiituted God-Man alfo. I laid, at firl1, a Father leeks and givesaSpoufe to his Son whenMarriageable;The SecondPerfon fimply confidered, is not in potentia maxima, of Marriage wiih us, but in a re– mote capacity; unkCs you !l1ppofe him [et up God-Man, he bears no Relauon tO
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