Of EieCiion. ~ highel.t fort of thofe Profeffors) and intended in Heb. 6. verf. 4, 5'• as ap– BooK IV. pears by _comparmg verf. 7,8. (as I have elfewhere lhewn; ) J<or it is im– ~ pojfible for thofe who were once mlight11ed, and have tafled of the heaveuty Gift, mid were made pq_rt,•kers of the Holy Ghojf, and have ta/fed the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come; If they /ball fall ,,way, to rmew them agam unto repmtance;--- For the Earth which drinketh ill the rai11 that cometh oft upon it; mJd f;ri11geth forth herbs meet for them by whom tt ts dreffed, receivnh blejfing from God. But that which beareth .thorns and briars, u rejefled, aud is nigh unto wrji11g, whoJe. er~d ts to 6e bttrned. Of the tbor11y g•·ozmd, I fay, it is exprelly faid m the Parable , not only that they bring not forth fruzt to perfeE1ion, Luke 8. r4• the Root and Principles. not being perfect, nor are the ~rmts fuch: They have neuh:r perfect Gtfts, aor bring forth per– fect FruitS. But more exprelly both m Mark and Matthew , 'tis laid That they became unfruitjtd; but yet more exprelly in the ..,.,,,.,,. 0 ; fore-part of that of thethor~~ygrotmd, as by Mark it isrecorded; Mark~·7• 'tis fa id, lt yielded no frrut. Now then , if all the gifts and profeffion in fuch Profeffors be not Frtiits, though never fo goodly, and deferve not fo much as the name, what muft they be accounted then? Why truly, no other than Gra(s; as thofe deaf ears, as you call them, th at grow upon Houfe tops, although they have the fame lhape that fia iks and ears of Corn have, as growing out of Chaff left in the Straw, yet they have the name of Grajs, Pfal. 1 tg. 7, 8. Wberewith the Mower {illeth not his hand, nor ht that bi11deth fhtave.r his bofome. Neithtr do they wh1ch go 6y, fay, The blejfi11g of the Lord /;e upon yott: We blefi you i11 the Name of the Lord. So rhefe here; on– ly they are the flower of the Grars indeed; the higheft arnd greateft Ex– cellencies and Endowments that this Earth affords, yet but Grafs : And the reafon is, God loved, esic. and his Glory aimed ar the heart , as the pith and fubf\ance of all godlinefs: Take thefe out of all Duties performed by us, or our of Oifrs wrought in us, and they are but flelh as well as any o– ther Excellencies of Honours, Learning, Wifdom, Vertues, (!ic. For why? If rhe Kernel, the Grain, the Corn be wanting, the Stalk and the Ear are no other than Grafs and Chaff. The moft goodly Flowers that the Earth affords, as Lillies, ( which indeed are our Tulips, and brought from thofe Countries ) fo glorious, as Chrift fays, Solomo11 in all his glory was 11ot cloathtd 114 one of them, Matth. 6. 29, yet, verfe JO. he ftiles them but Grafs, which to day is llourilhing, but c;;jl it1fo the Ovm the next day. And thus all fuch Profeffion, it is but Grafs, and will wither hero, and be burned hereafter, as JohiJ 1). 6. If a matJ abide 110t in me , he is cafl forth M a branch, and is withered, and mm gather them, and calf them imo the fire, and they are burned. ThisforthefirftpartoftheComparifon, Gifts in unfound Profeffors are not Fruits, bur Grafs. But oppofire hereunto, he fets true Regeneration, Verf 18. and thofe Graces flowing from it, fpecified by him, of Faith,,Vtrj. 3· Patience, Ver{: 4· Prayer, Vtrj. ) , 6. Humiliation, and the blafting of all outward Glories, a valuation of things at their own rate, Ver(. 12. and then Love, Verf. 12, Thefe, and fuch like, he compares to the firft fruits of the whole Creation; by the extent of which fimilirude, he prefers them, not only unto the beft Fruirs, as of Grain and Corn, arrived unto full perfellion, unro which Chrift in his Parable had only compared them: And fb that, look what difference ofworth o'r valuation Corn or Grain, do bear amongft the Sons of Men, in comparifon of what is bur Grafs, and the llower of the Grafs; fuch a difference do rhefe fuflain in God's efteem: And what an high rate fuch Fruits of the Earth have, or ought to have, and would have in rimes of want amongft Men, Our Jamcs alfo bath prompted us to confider,honouring thefe with theEpirhite of thePre– tioeu Fruits of the Earth, Chap. ) . 7· as the Pfalmifl had afore him compared the Tears and Prayers of the Saints untoprttiot# Seed, Pfal. n6. 6. Fit that grelh forth a11d wupeth, bearingpretious Seed, ~c and compare wirh tt the other, P{a! 129. 6. Let them be as thegraflttpotJ the hou(e tops, wluch wt· thrrethafort itgroweth up. But
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