:268 Of EleClion. ~ fttl, 6y whom ye were called tmto Jhe fetlowjhip of his So11 Jt[iu Chrifi 011~ BooK IV, Lord, Then again, I Theff. 5• 23, 24. And the verJ God of Peace Ja 11 BJjis ~Y"" wqolty, and I prr'Y Godyour a•hole Jpmt, an,d fo~l, mzd body, be prrfervtd blamelejs tmto the comzng of our Lord JejUI Umfl, Faithfulzs h~ wbo bath called you, who alfo will do it. ~· By faitbfuhuf's in thefe places, is under!lood fir!!, That God is con!\ant to himfelf, and to his own purpofes of Grace, in that wbom he predefiinate1b he caltetb; and wbom hecalletb be glor:fteth: And he having in Calling g~ vena moll full demon!\rauon of the con!\ancy of hts everlailing good-will to– wards us, this may fully aliure us of the continuance of it : For the Cafe flood thus, That he had clofe kept thofepurpofes in his own breafl'from ever• Ia!\ing; and the perfons now called , could never have known of them nor enquired after them, had he not, in meer con!lancy to tbofe purpofes, ~alled them at fir!\, and thereby difcovered himfelf in his intention to them, which therelore afterwards he will bide by; for the foundation of the Lord is {ure ~ r Or fecondly, You may refer this faithfulnefs unto thofe Promifes which had gone before in the Old Te!\ament, whereof you , read Jer. 3 1, U• and 32· 40. I wzO wrzu my Law zn thnr hfarts, ( there s Calling ·) Artll then follows, I wiO put myfear in their hearts, and thry /hall no/ depart from me. And fo in refped to thofe Promifes gone out of his mouth, where– in the Promifes of Calling have annexed Promifes of Prefervation; in that re– fped alfo he is {aid to be faithful who bath caOed, (!ic. But this is yet further improveable for our Comfort, and !ledfa!lnefs of our Faith.---Faithfulnefs, you know, is the performance of a Trufl commit– ted to one by fome other tl).at relies upon him, or the difcharge of fome Obli. gat ion that arifeth thence, Now upon Calling there is a twofold Truft committed unto God; one by J•Jeu Chrifi, and another by the p•rfons themfeJvrs that are Called; and fo an Obligation arifeth upon God thereupon, I. Between Godand Jef.u Chriji, whofe interefl in the Promife I have gnnd reafoo to draw in; for the Text bath it, Caltfd by Jtjiu Chrifl. Chrift is-our Covenant between God and us, and unto whom the CoYenant was indeed firll made, and given by God as for us, and on our behalf; and fo the performance of it by God is ju!\ly termed Faithfulnefl on his part. God tru!\ed Chri!\ to dye for us, promifing him that he fhould fee his Sted, the travel of hi< SoHI, and be Jatisfted, Ifa, 5~· 10, I r. which comes to pafs by God's calling them, and making them his Children, as the phrafe is, J er. ~· you have the fame likewife in Ifai. 49· Chapt, throughout; Chri!\ died upon this bare Prornife of God's having millions of Souls, that he bare in his Womb upon the Crofs, that were yet unborn, much more that were uncalled and unfaved. Now hence therefore, whenfoever God calls any of thefe to himfelf, and begins to work favingly upon them ; this being the firfi and fundamental performance of his Promife to Chri!\; hence therefore in a fingularrefped,God is faid to befaith– ful, and {hews by this his good beginning, he intends as faithfully to carry end bring them throughout unto Salvation. You may find, t Cor. I. 9· when thisfaithfuhufl of God is fpoken of, the Expre!lions run thus, Whofbalt co1zjirm ~ou to the tnd; God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the feltowfbip of hit Soil Je(.u Chrifi our Lord. I under!\and part of its meaning to be this, That Jefus €hrifi was, by Covenant made to him by his Father , to have Fellows or Companions, Partakers·ofthe fame Grace and Glory with himfelf: The Man, God's Fellow, was not to be in Heaven alone, Johll 12. buttohavefellowCopartners, Pfa/,45· I4· andtc> mediate and procure this was the end of his Dying, a• in _'lohfl 12, 23, 24. The hour is come that the Son of Man fhould 6e glorified: Verily, vmlf, 1 fo~tmtoyou, exapta Corn ofWhfatfalt into thef,romzd, and dye, it a6idtth alone; /;111 if it dye, it bringeth forth much ruit : and unto that end it was he died, Now Calling is the firfi Foundation ad of performance of th1s by God, and then fir!\ we are actually admitted unto Communion with Jefus, and into the right of Copartnedhip with him of all his Priviledges ; We. are thea
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