·Of Eleelion. r-.../\./' that of his Will, and Purpotes, which is in hts Divine nature, and maifi drm• BooK IV. into thy Soul to fill it: Enlarge (and a little of God foon fills us) All and the ~ whole thereot; for thy comfort and fupporr,. h~u<rirt 'D1rta1rm(as he faid). Cotlmg wrll bnng thee to Elechou: And therem 1fby thy Ctltli11g,wah the fpirit of God lheddiogabroad his Love into thy Heart, thoufinde!l God knows zhee 6y Name,( as he fatd to Mofes; AndChn!l knows hujheep 6y Name, and 1s know" of Hi<; ) thou wilt further find this little word, or !enrence of God, I wilt 6e gracious, t• whom 1wzlt 6e graczous, will be as a Sluce fet open, and all the Grace and Mercy inGods Nature will through it flow in upon thee as thine, for thy Heart to Swtm m the abundant Conlolation of. May I take t~e boldnefs for an improvement of this Head, to make a Sup– poftticn; .Cwluch yet ts not truly to be made on Gods part, but which in cafe thy unbehef lhould make; and h~w wrc~ed tuppofals that Forge will make, and bring out, we find too much by expenence;) we wtll therefore m•ke it and give thee a fupport beyond it, drawn from this Top ck Head; The Engage: ment of the Grace ofGod in the Divine Nature, where Calling and Election have once for ever fixt themfelves: The fuppofttion which tby unbeliefmight make, is this ; That toou fesre!l, le!\ God in his purpofes ofGrace, had been too narrow, as to thy particular Allotment: And thou !houlde!l imagine they may have been too fcant,and fain lhort through thy too prodtgal expenfivenefs in fin– nings,or remifs neglects of{ogreatSalvation fince thyCalling;So as they lhould not have been large enough to fervr thy turn as to the difcharge of what thofe infinite arrears arife unto, beyond that particular portion of Mercy, his Will made at firft,and allotted thee;(I alluding to that oftho Prodzgalhis portion:) but that thou hadft fin'd beyond the extent ofpurpoftng Grace. As ifGod had f!Ot fet apart Grace and Mercy enough in thofe his Legacies and bequeath– ments, in his Decreeing, or Purpoftng Will; and that it had not Claufes fo full and large enough, nor provifo's for num)Jer, or variety fufficient, that may reach all thy Cafes, and Aggrav;mons of finmngs : And fo out ofthe dreadful view of thefe, or fuch like vain Imaginations, thy Faith and Spirits fitik, atld de: (pond. Though this would be in,thee,or any, a mofi wicked fuppofition, and dero. gatory to the foreknowledge ofGod, who knew all thy thoughts aforehand, and what thy fins would be; Yet ifthou woulde!t but ftmher fuppofe, and be– lieve, that He hath bound over All, and the whole of thofe va!t, and boundlefs, unfearcheable mitus ofGrace, that are in Hi6 Nature, to afford wherewith to difcharge his called and chofen ones offitmings, thou!?h neverfogrievous; and that his purpoftng had kept them from fo falling, as ts utterly incompati· ble with Grace: Certainly this engagement of the Grace in his Nature, may beyond the former, enfure thee againft all fuch fears and fuppolitions: for to be fure this Grace can afford Affets, and fufficient enough to relieve again!\ all ; againft whatfoever hath fain out, or fllall fall out, to forgive what is pail, and to ·prevent for the future what threatneth to defiroy thee, as thou Judge!l. Vfe r, You call Ufes Applications; I will give you one properly fo ea!· led, which preffeth you to feek to apply all this to your felves. That God is a God of alJGrace, is •• I have handled it but agenera/to, and among all Saints. But the Q!Jery may be, what may I,or Tou,or any particular Saint apply to our felves of all this ?You find an Example of the Application Iintend,made to your hands by 'David,it is inP(a/.57 .1 o.The God my ofmercyjha!Jprevent me. God thr God ofalJGrace, that is the 'DoEiritze; but The God of mercy fays 'David; And again, Verf.lafi,He i4 the Godofmy Mercy, That's the Application. And this ufage ofSpeech is no where elfe in Scripture. The God of'a!J Grace, fays Pete•·, to the Brotherhood, But The God ofmy mercy fays 'Davidfor himfelf. The greate!t Application you can make ofany thing, is to be able to fay, This u mine. All the !lirs in the World, are about t.7t!eum and Tttum, Mine and Thine: As Luther faid, There is more force in Pronouns, Meum and tuum, than in any words. Ifa man be abfolute to fay, The Grace of God ionitJe, it is no matter what elfe thou can!t fay is thine, if thou canfi fay, the God ofmy mercy.
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