Of ELeElion. ----------- ~----- ons of years in Heaven, and God bath hitherto kept thee, and thou maifl: BoOK. IVfa). os 'D:JVJddid herl', L ord thou ha{/ bruugbt me haherro: How many ttmp– ~ tattons hall thou had eo fm? How manv reducemcnts and d eliveranct's ? .~ud ihe more thy 'lemptations have been, "rile more ol his Power ha~bet n expen– oed w kecpmg thee, Thou haft been likea Sl11p at Anchor, held by a flraw, as to thme own fenfe, •nd yet held. Thou hall reafon to thank God thou lull been brought hitherto, · that thou haft ctcaped fo well, awl haft had :o good Qo10rrer in the World: Thou haft efcuped many fins and fcandal s, thou mightdt hu ve fain into, butGod kept thee: This the firft, Then Secondly, Davtdbcwg overpowred with Free-grace in his Soul, fa id WR 0 A M I, 0 L 0 R 'D ? Do thou alfo put thefe rwo together , Wbo am I, 0 tbo ttgreat God! Setthat duft of the Balance (I ) a Creature, and (I) a Sinner, with the great God, the btgb aud lofty Onr tbat i11babJtefi Eter– r~il)' , and humble thy !ell to the du(\ in the fenfe of thy notlungnefs and bafe– nefs. Then thirdlr, take the next words of 'Z),,vid, mrd tbis wM Jfl a Jmall ibwg 111 tl!)• fgbt, 0 Lord God, but tho11 b,•fl (poken al{o of thy Jrrvcmls bou{efur t•grerll wbrle to come; and is thu the mmmer o(Mmr, 0 LordGod! ( the word is, is tbrs tbe Law of Mm/!) His purpofe in that phrafe is (as tile oppoftt.on /hews) to fet in comparifon the wo1rt, th-e Law, the ufage of Gods Free-grace, with the 11lcllmer or Law of Mens kindndfes, fo to aggran– clire it. God comes with fome one, and that f<> great a kindncfs, that fhall inake a Man think, and juflly, what can be more? And yet before he bath done"' ith him, he will make that but a fmall thing in comparifon with others. Free-grace , after calling, loves to exceed it felf, outdo it felf in what it hath done. God will flill do as Chrifl faid to Natbaniel, 'Doflthott wonder at this l Thoujh"lt fee gretller tbi11gs tban theft, tbou }ball Jee tbe Het~ven opentd, Job. t. ult. I fhall give you fome inflances. t. Look tot hy f~rfl calling; wer't thou called with feeing thy fin l And was thy Heart changed then, and fandified withal, and did(\ thou find th.e Image of God fpick and fpan new in thee? Thou thought(\ this wondrous great-– But then, z. Thou foundd\ that all this would not ju(\ifie thee, and thereupon all thy Sanctification became but a fmall thing to thee; and 0! Then did thy Soul cry, · BltjJed is tbe M cmwbnfr jiJJ is covered; and Othat I had Chrz{ls rightecu(nrfi to cover my fin ! And then thou efl:eemcfl: all thy fanc:tification but M drofl rmd dn"g in comparifon of bflng found in Cbrzfi, not bav111g thrne ow" rrgbre– unf"'-fJ, but tl;e ri,gbuoujnffl of F.rith, &c. And what ado hadft thou after thnt firfl work of S"ndification, to work thy ftlf out of that thy new-created righteou!nefs, and to obtain that of ChriH's? >· When thou had!\ purfued thus after Ju(\ification through the Blood of Chrifl: , and hadft obtained fome quiet and eafment, and perhaps thereby a!furance, then .Adoptio11 appeared, and thereupon Juflification alone and Pardon became but a final I thing to thee, when you were allured of bemg a Sott, an Hnr, a Co-heir wtthChnfl; and then your Soul began to rcjoyce with a t'tew jov, as R.m. 5'· 2, l- wr rtjo;u i11 bopr of thr glo>y of God. . 4• Then VmV1l"' ith Chrifl and being one with h1m came in to vtew : And then how did thy Soul value rf,is above all, and purfued after it accordingly, <vcn to know , tbat M the Fell ber ltves i>t tbe Son , fo I htJ/ the Soil lives ;,. me: As _7ohn 14• 20: 1\nd upon this, all thofe fountr privi_ledges fimply con– fide red, bcc.1mc but frnall things, )ohn 17· 22, 23. you wlil hnd umon With Chrift preferred to glory; .A11d w tbe glory wbrch thott gavtf/me , I b,zve givoJ them, tbtlt tbf) m.1y /;e one~ tvnz M we aYt 01lt; l111 them, and thou m me, thr~t tbey may [e m.rde perfeff i1r one, t!lc. ) . And not only fo, but we joy ill God, Ram. 5'· 11, through Chrifl, God i r ro bfcome all i11 all. And thusflillo.s thou goefl: on farther and farther, fo 'free groce prefents thee with new things, greate~ ~nd greater; and although rhou rnaift !Jave known and heard of all thcfc prtvJiedgcs at firft , yet they were not fet on with an irnpreffion worthy of them, but that was done by fllcb a grGdual (\Jcceffior, as bath bcenihewed. Yea! add, 6. su'ppofe
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