Of Eleaion. I will only leave thisgre•t word W1th you, as to this point, 'fh>t if this~ mixed f\aro, intermingled f\ate of finnings and repentings, which are the con- Chap. ) , llictings of jle/b and jptrit, fhould have been ordained by God to continue to~ Eternity, .;,71r , he, thJSGod of all Grace, could and would have continued to pardon thee to Eternity, and that in thiS way forcmenttoned ,much moreeafily than bebath given a pr:e-univerfal pardon, as he vouchfafed fir(! to thee, when thou hadf\ continued fo long unregenerate, .lr any other one that hath long continued in an unregenerate flatc, with a perpetration of great fins, as fome or other have done. If this, that fins after Calling fhall not hinder, bur flill be pardoned, let it be inferred from hence, That God, as a God of all Gracr, did call and par– don, fo as at the fir{\ we have feen he did. Object. But perhaps fome of you that have yet been effcllually called, may be ready, yea and have caufc to fay, alas! My iinsfince my CalliAg have been greater and groiTer t11an any I commirred afore, A11Jw, r. lt may have fain out that they have been more and more heinous, as to t he outward act of fome fins; beGdes, thou hail perhaps lived years dou– ble, fince thy Calling, unto what thou didf1 afore; and alfo the greatefl port of that former time was paf\ in Cnildhood and younger years , but fince t.~ou &rt grown up, and-according to the courfe ot N nure, Luf\s with them; and though thofc LuHsdid receivea deaths wound at firil, they may yet exercife more f!rength than thou perceive{\ fuch Luf\s hld when thou wert young· er. A •Ifw. 2, The Circumflancos thou hof\ been fet in,may have occafioned, for the acts of them, lame worfe fins, than tby unregeneracyever knew. _7o6 and _7rremiabwere certlinl) more imp:Hienr, even almof\ to Blaphemy 1 than ever in their younger times; for rhe Temptations grew higher. finfw. l· As thou confidere{\ thy finn1ngs all along, thou mull: confider thy Reducomenrs, thy Repentance, thy humbl'ngs ofr hy felf, that have run all aloo~ with tilem, and 11ave come between thy finnings , and Hill have broken the force ond extream vioknce of t1.em: And thefe to be fore God remembers, and thou rhus crying d'a il y to him agsinf\ them, and· con felling of them, t he Blood of Chrilt bath fecretly all along cleanfed thee ll:ill from all thofe fins• .An(w, 4· As thou confideref\ thy greater fort of finnings, fo thou fhouldell: withal confider the different manner of finning, which hatb accomp•oied thy committings of them, from what there did afore, which do really make that great difference between thy finnings now and afore, that though the outward acts may have been greater and more grievous fince, tban any were afore, yet the difference in fin might teflifie to the fincerity ofthyGrace;yea,nuy and cloth fervt ns an Evidence nf the Spirit of God his continuing to.dwell in thee, and fo of Gods having !\ill continued to _pardon thee all along througl1 the Tenour of the Covenant and ll:ate of Grace firfi made by him, aod entrcd intoby tbee. Yea, and rake thy leffer fins, and compare them with thy fionings then, in them then thou finnef\ with thy whole heart, whereas now in thy grcifefl fins, but as with half thy heart, Sin hath not had dominion over thee, that is,noc the ft1ll rule of thee, as afore it had, thou haf\ flill finned with a lame heart, thou hail gone halting about it, as one which bath a broken !egg; though thou maifl have had many foul mifcarriages againfr light, yet in thy perpetration of them thou haf\ been as a man that wields a weapon with a broken Arm, nor do(! thou ever come to lay the weapon of Refif\ance down, or to g_ive thy felf up as a Servant ( whofe ear is boar•d thorow) unto any ofthofe Luf\s thou fl ill runnell: whi11i11g, Gemnu after t hem t hat prevailed with thee _; as a Prince that is led captive;neither have thine ovcr-comings been as theirs,,.,hom Peter fpcaks of 2 'Pet. 2, 21, 22, 23. They are, asrhe Dog returns to his vo– mit again, with the-•vhole of his appetite, as greadily as ever, when the fick– nefs of his flomack once is over, his defire to what is vomited is the fame. And fa rhoSow lies down in the mire with her whole delight, A Sheep may fall into the mire but the Sow lies down in it, and wallows in it, with her whole ' N n <. delighr.
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