Of E!etlion. :.!39 Wfl!t uur f,·omtbtm, Joh. 1)· ;o. To go to tbtfe other never to rclurn again, or ~~, be of th • t campony ony more. Chap. 1· And how near unto 'Peter's Heart this eternol fcparation and difcornmoning ~.....:J of JudtiS mutt ~ecds come, at the fame t1mc, ~ven :\'htht he was uttering or· it we mw eufJ iy apprehend, when we recall tnat hts own fote had been ro de'ny his Lord thriCe, with Oarhs and imprecations, wirhiCJ two or thre·~ hours fpacc, afrer that JudM hail betrayd the fame his Lord and IV!af'ter alfo". Hs fin came as near (m the kmd of H, though not mdegree) ur.to that of J 11 • dru, a, near in that refpeCl:, as it did i" Jpace of time !ram Judaf his committing his: W nereupon we may well conce1vc, \hH any. or all of tbt~n t hat heard bim tlut day, might prefently fay within themfclves, dof't thou talk of Judas his having bent o11ce 11umbred ii1II011Jf/ VS? and in th • faying fo dof't tak~ t~pon thee flill to number thy fdfwith VS? ( for in faying [V SJ l1e included l~ imfelf amongfl that number llill. ) Yea, but who and \\hat waa it put this d.fference, and kept thee among the number of [ V J] whihl .7udtU was etern•lly cur Cilf? I fhall anfwer for him out ol his own words here in the Text (and hiso<vn Heart for certain, if he were here alive, would beat and fp e-ak the fame) it was tht Godof ,,llgraet who had c•lled me; and for that he had called me with a·n holy calting, and had given me faving f:i ith, as he harh done to the re(\ of you, the [VS:] 'Twas he who did reflore,firengthen, fiablifl1 me, the very lame mght; and it was Jefu• Chrlf/ that lookt back upon me, (by whom Gcd calls and firengthens, as in the Text) wlio had prayed for me, that my Faith, which had been in my firll calling wrought in me, lhould nor fuil. And his fpeech being thus underllood; the mind thereof hath this rcflcxion and rebound back again upon all the ref't then prcfenr' and upon the whole Church of Chrill, to the end of the World; arid it is as if Peu r tJad faid, that i who am the firf't and highell example of difcrichioatingand unchangable grace under the New Tcllament; that is, of one fet thus in comparilim wah ano– ther of fo eminent a llation, that I fhould be thus kepr, and flill able(throug!i grace ) to number my ldf amongllyott; tllis may you all interpret to be a bleffed hanfel, and an everlalltng good omen, earnell and g' ge unto vou, the whole of [VS] and the whole Chtlrch of the New Tefiam• ne eo come , t hat God will in like manner keep all you, that are of our [VS] unto eternal life, as he hath done me , maugre all Temptations that may end•nger the contra– ry , and neverthelefs, that you have feen witl1 your eyes (and the Churches in all Ages willfee t?c like ) another that was called thus.'? Ap0flar.ze , , God havtrig exempiJfied m h•m, and me, the Fate and Cnndltlon of two forts of called Prorellors, as leading C~fcs undet the New T eflnment, This for the firfl o~calion of ulirtg the word [V J'] in thi; difcriiiiinating fcnfe and how near ir came home ro Peter; · But if we fllll!add to this the t f,ird thing, the.ne~r corre{po?tdmcy andaffi– ?Jitythm the matter of my Text doth hold with th·lt fir(/ oci:a/io11, \~e may perhaps be yet further induced to think that Peter intended this lenfe of difcri· mination in the word, [V S. ] It isevident, that his full and fervent aim is, in this clofe of his ,Epillle, to leave behind him a flrengthning Confortatory unto c,Je wliole Church of t he New T efiament then in the World, ~nd in t i1em unto the whole Catholick Church to fucceed to the end of the World, again£1 the fears of falling •way; which thofe called ones are obrtoxious unto'· frorri the experience of their own Hearts, temptations, falls, arid of the falling away of many, t hat arc cal– led as well as themfelves. And it is as evident that thi"s matter of comfort given the whole Churc:1againf't fuch fears, is but one and the famt wi(h wh•t himfclf had been comforted wiroall, frorri the experience of that d1fference put by God be tween him, and ]ttdtU; and indeed was the neceffary inferwce, t onfequent, and !elfon learned !herefrom; .which as he did ever carry a bout with him, and could not but have the (>.rofpeCl: of oli:en in his thoughts ; fo in a fpccial manner it may (if not that it mu(\) be fuppofed (if at any rime ) to rife up in his Heart upon this occafion , and fo that in the fenfe thereof he penped this ; and not lefS rational it is to think , tliat upon thefe cdincideni a pyre.;
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