Of ElefJion. And 10 hl<e ttnour of lpeech to dHS, Go:J fpeaks 1n general of all !mworks, ~ K11own u• to God rsrt all h" works from the 6egmnmz; yea Etermty, Afls Chap. !. ')· 18 (WHich fpeech yet IS fpoken by the i\poltle,1,mus, With a particular~ aom and relauon unro Ius Decrees, about the Sllvat:on of the Oenulcs, and Caiilngoft' the Jews, as the Vrrjes before and after fhew:) As likewife th2t Speech, ohat he d1jpojrth the 'U!hole World, Jo6. 34• '3· sa word neer of km to this of ordermg all things, ufed by 'D.1vsd ln his cafe but in a more fpccial manner, He ufeth this word, or what is equivalent to it, in other 'Scriptures ; viz. That he bath {rt i11 order andappomttd his own People, and what belongs to them, or concerns them. You have this in 1'ermilzu, lja. 44· 7.A11d who,tU I jb.1ll calt,anddeclart it·, 1 md Jrt st w order for me, (and that he fpeaks of all !Jis works;). !;>ut it fol• lows, jince, or fumgthat'tw,q] thatappointtdthemrtitntpeoplt, andtht 1bings th.st are coming, and jba/1 cowe? God here takes on him, to him.felf aloue, the declaring things to come, upon this invincible reafon that he had the fetting in order of all things in his eternal purpofes , and the calling of things that are not or were not into being ; and therefore he alone can foretell them, none having been his Couofcllor: For when he fays, who lball fet in order lor me? it implies that himfelf d,d, and none for him, or befides him, And that word, Jetting in order, imports his having all afore him, even as now our Compofitors or Primers have their Letters which they place, and caufo to ltand fixed every titt!e in order tO impreilion; and fo things in his Counfds ltand fixed, and ready to be brought into Exiltence, and are all fo fedy placed, as nothing can be added tllereunto; and therefore, no wonder'· / fays God, I c1n declaro things to come. But then Secondly, for a viftble Evidence of this, he producetl1 this one fin– gular eminent in!l:ance for all the reO:, what he had declared and ordered con– cerning his own people, Since I app•imedthe Antitnf people, and (ht tbingt that''" coming, rmdjballcome, The Antient People in the Hebrew, is, The People of Antiquity, or of Eternity; that is , in the time pa!i, as the word is uted in !fa. "14· 1 )· •7· and imports, h?w from everlafiing, afo~e the World, He had fingled them forth, and appotnted them, and accordingly had fet in order all things about them, as it there follows; and iv refpect unto this ;~lfo it is, that in theVfr{t he had faid, I am th( firf/, And herein lies Gods Argument, or the Evidence I fpeak of; lo! I have ordered by appointment, and decree from everla!l:ing, all things about thi~ JllY fo antient People, and accordingly have in my Scriptures, which you all may read, things about them, which have come ~o pafs many of them al– ready, and many other I have appointed too, which lball alfuredly come to pafs; and therefore all the World may be convinced that I have fet in order all ilther th ings, and only can declare them aforehand. I undcrltand ·the word tt3n1latcd.fince, not for a note of time, as if he had meant ji11ct the Time &c, but as a trote of Evidence, or Infrrena alleqged, or of appeal unto; that is, /i11ct that, or {uing that I have done thus and thus about my Amient People; you may be alfured , fays God, that I have order• ed all other things elfe, and only can declare them, And for the Confirmation of this, concerning my own People , I referr you, fays God, to all that I have written in all my Scriptures hitherto, (and for wbofe fake it was I wrote them) fromMofes to lfaiab's times, whereof a word hath not fain to the ground; yea, and I began to deelare fundry thio~J about them when there was not oneMan of them born,but A6rabam himfclf, to whom I firltdeclarcd it, Gm. 13. 16. and 1 )· 5'· fo as all the World may rhereby fee, that I alone have difpofed and ordered all things clfc, having exerc1fcd my GrJce and Wofdom fo exactly herein towards thefe 111Y Chofen Ones, and the Firlt fruits of my Creation. {lball call: in another Palfage of 'D.mid1 in Pf•l. 61. He having declared in his Own behalf, the purpofe of God towards him lor Everlalting Salvation ; h~ ( fpe•king of himfelf)jha// a– /;idt t"ljore Gadfor Ever, Vrr[ 7· he witlul confidering what he was to ruq throug:1in this Life, and what it might require to keep him unto the End, and fo for Ever, doth prefently thereupoq, i~jW!IY of r.raycr, fubjoyn, Oh! i ; · fre,
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