Of EleElion. 339 here the Apo!lle: which, if there were no peculiar di!lintl meaning to each~ word, had been a great fccurity unto us: A lourfold.fecurity and obltgatioo, Chap. 1 ; . b-y four words:And the rather,becaufe whereas Jefus Cbrift our Lord had,in his~ Command to Peter, mentioned but one of theJCwords, ~ereo, T;, CJ'~hpW, a;, jlab!Jjb, or confirm thy Brethrm; and no other, And the Apofik enlarges to four, when he comes to perform the Command. l:ly one word of God \vas Heaven and Earth on the firft day made, and founded upon nothing: And fure , fo many words os thefe·may well ferve to found, ftabhlh, and fettle pur unbelieving, unftable hearts, in this fo great a · matter of concernmcnc to us. Yet over and befides this general Ufe to be made hereof, I defire it may be tbroughly fearched into, what peculiar Contorratives and Cordials, in refe. , rence unto particular Cafes in our Lives, from Sins and fpecial forts of Temp. rations, the lingulae and proper import of each, in their ufe, in the New Te· ftament will afford us, · I dare not undertake to dcmon!lrate the Particulars of this ; How the pro· per and dilhnct fignifications of them, of one from another, do refpectively promtfe, and fpeak an anfwerable proper relief to any and every Temptation in their particular variety; although.! am apt to think with Gerard, That . not only whatevtr 6etongs toortr $at'vatio11, (namely, after Calling) U JUm- ::z;:J~"':dfaD marity comprebmded i1l tbefefot~rwords: But further, That all forts of Temp-"'" ~·fl'tations whatever, are reducible, and might be referred under fome one of P"~"P'"';;;. fi thefe Heads of Succours and Remedies: For, it is apparent that each of thefe ~,'m'~,~;;,.,,· words do not fimply cxprefs a pofiti_ve ~romife, as ?f jlre?Jgth11i11g,. makmg ~~~; ~~~::o~e.. ptr[efl, \!)c. but do connotate the pn~atLVe, or want m·us, of the thmg pro- hila ~"hiz rnifed, for the Yfe ofwh1ch the Prom1fe 1s Intended; as that he Wllljlrengthm comfrehmdit. us againft weaknefs; he will perfetl us out of Imperfection , and againfl former Imperfection: (As in the Prophet lj'aiah, Chap. 61. l· He wz/J appoint hmlly for ajbes: .And verje 7· For jhame youjba/J have dot~ble, \!5c,) The Remedies here do Intimate the Malad1es they are the Cures of, and out of whieh he promifeth deliverance. And for the genuine meaning of each, I take this Rule which Gerardpitcht on, That Omnium optima exp!icatio Jumitur ex emphaji Grtecorum verbo– rttm: The befi Explicatio~ of them all, (or of all others, given by others) is to be taken from the Emphafls which .the Greek words have, as in the Sa· cred Language of the New Teftament they are ufed, Wilt make you Prrfea, Sta6tifh, Strmgthm, Smle yott, This word ~,.,;,I, is fometimes ufed for the perfecting and compleating .i work, fimply, abfolutely, and at once, and without having any refpect to a former imperfection, it being once had. And thus it is fpoken of the Human Nature of Chrift; Hevr. 10, 5· .A body haft thot< perfetled nit: (It is the word that's here:) And that body was formed, or articulated, (as the werd alfo fignifies) by the Holy Ghoft, with the Human Soul, in all the,parts of it, in one lnftance of its Union with the Son of God, for it fubfifted not alone a moment. And Hrbr, ri. l· when 'tisfaid, God framed, or prrfeEfedthc. worlds; 'tis the fame word: And the fupre,am World, the highefl Heavens ; were in one infiant created abfolutely perfect the firfi day: But when in the NewTeftament it is applyed to the works of Grace, as it is in the Text, it takes into it a connotation of, and a relation to, an imperfect degree of being ; · whicl1 is further to be perfected, and eut of which God makes perfect, And unro fuch a fenfc, the word in general expreifeth a J'upplemm t, or . making up of W.Jots; as r Thejfat. ~.IO. Might ptr[rfl tbJt wh•ch i4 lacking, or drficimt, i11 your frJith. And the word ;.;,,~. ( there u!ed) i> in its pro· per fignification, want; and elfewhere is uf~d to fig!lifie 11uds ilz outw.zrd things, 2 Cor. 8. '4· and Chapt. 9· a. which we ufually term w,mt : But is there in the firft to the Theffa!onians, applyed to fpirjmal wants, and (ailing; ihort therein. NoiV fpiritual Sufferings being included in the J'u f/ermgs here in the Text, us well as outward; and fpiritual Imperfections occafioried by X x 2. outward
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