Of EleCiion. ~ L The faith it felf he there fpeal<sof, is a true and perfeCI: work of faith BooK ! V • for lond ; for lo, the Operations and•iffues of it are fuch. ~ 1.. The very word ( wo>·ks] Patunce, in the greek fignifies a through and ;;;:;;:,~;;;:;· a perteCI: working, and not by Jialves; if you will englilh ir, fay [perfeaeth] fidu,.r ~" P atzmce, that IS, begers fuch· a Patience as IS true, perfeCI:, genuine this h.:nc,_1ua>nft true Faith doth. Then agnin ' ~:t~~~~r~:e3· .Let that patience have'but its perfefl work, as when Patience is of verb,. " the nght breed it will have, either in a leffer or greater degree. And ~~6~t:;~~el_~~ then, pte"' & [P"fr· 4· The effeCI: of all thefe will be to make yott, (the perfons in whom thefe ae] 'I""!"·· things are, ) perfer! , that is , w,11 bring · you to that perfed:ion of. thirty ~r~~;•dem iixty, or an hundred fold, which God hath a•ppointed to bring you to Heave~ w1;h alL Here ~s 'Perjerf uponPerjerf, and Perfert and Perfrrt again; and fa1th 1t 1s rhat_Js the great Grand-mother of all rhefe, and therefore it is aPer– jrrfor found f aith only he aims to fpeak of, which begers in its kind frill what are perteCt even "' it felf is. And what doth this other then point us to, and indeed withal interpret that very point of difference, which he centers in Verf. 17• Even as this rhus b'gins it, eve>y good andpn'fdl gift; viz. in true Believers, as in diflind:ion from what are counterfeit and imperfeCt, as which will never make him, th,Jt haththmt,perjerf, as the Laws weaknefs and im– perfeCI:ion the llpo!Ue fpeaks; which true faith , you fee, (he fays) doth.– And is not this the very point of difference alfo, which Chrifi in the Parable gives between the Thomy andgoodground; the one brings not forth frrut to perfrrfiofl, Lttke 8. 14 but the good with Patimce, Verf. 15. of which af– terwards, Ill. The th ird Head or Rivulet is, That in a fpecial manner thofc words of this fir!l Gh.tp, Verj: 1r, For thr Stm is 110 {oo11er rifm with a lnmZJng hMt, 6ttt it wzthernh thegrtJjJ; and the flower thereof falltth, and shegrace of the f<ljbw" of 1t prrr(lmh: So al{o jha/1 the rzch Man fade awqy i11 hzs ways; T hefe words , I fay, are in this Coherence intended as an Admonition unto a rich Profeffor, who being unfound, would certainly wither and fall awav, if he repented not: And although the former general Scheme might fuf!iCIC ..ntly evinceJamrs his Scope , to have been to fer out thefe two forts of Profeffors; yet I do further lingle out this Verfe, more largely to infifl upon ; becaufe the opemng of ir will both give further light to thi• EpiHle, ond alfo bec•ufe that the words taken with the words afore in Ver[. 9• 10. contain in them a Founda– tion of·difference, in this fort of Profeflors, of the imperfed: work wrought on them, !mm that good and perfeCt work of Regeneration , Verj. I 7, I8. and Gods different rcfpeCt had thereto, which is the main point in hand; and fo Ifet this Vrrf.ll· and Ver].17, t8. in a comparative oppolition one to the o– ther. I !hall expedite the opening of rhisVer(.r1. by three Heads. r. Why , under the inflanceof rich Profcffors, he !hould exprefs the fiare of T emporary Believers, rather than under that of the poor, of whom he had fpokenVerj: •o. as well as ofthe rich? Or why not _under the Perfons ofboth l Why lhuuld he take the advantage to bring in this Admonition concernmg Temporaries upon the fcore rather of the Rich ? I /hall give an Anfwer to this , to prevent an Objection that had b.een ob– vious to be made upon the fequel of my D1fcourfe. The account I give of the 1\.eafon hereof is, . The Cafe fiood rhus : He writes to the Jews, ro the twelve 1n6es [catter– ed abroad, Verj. 1. The Jews were then fcattered over all Countries, and a– mong all the Nations. And obferve, I. That the Apo!\les in rhofe few Epiflles which they write t<> theJews,give more fr<guent and llrarp admomuons and charal.lers about : em· porary Btlievers, than all elfe that were wrm,en to the Gennles. Tl1ere a;e 3· Epifiles written to the Jews,'Peter's, Paul s to the Hebrews, ond.'Jamrs .r: 'Petrr · yotl fee how he deals with them in his fecond, EpiUle,Chap. 2 · tod.. ) war :;
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=