346 Of ElefJion. -------------~~-------------------~--------------------------- ~that feverc Correction: His firfl cour!e of !inning, which occafioncd thoc BooK IV. Chaflifemcnr, and was commilted a[orc it, the Lord rearms All ,Imq11ity: ~ That is, a fin ol an high kind in it felf alone confidered. And further, r!Jis his finniog was nor a rranfienr Act, that palfed from him , our of which he prefenrly was recovered; bur a way of /m Heart, fays that Text; which notes that it had been continued in, yea, a·nd flill continued after that great rebuke; and therelore for fame long time : Yet, in this cafe God cloth upon a moll: de– liberate full notice , view , and cognifance taken thereof, utter himfclfrhus, Ver[: J 8. of Effli. 57.1 hr~ve [ee11 hu wc:;·s, a11d will heallllm; I wzll rejlore Comforts to him: And th>s, God, the God of all Grace, promifetl1, and peremptorily declares he wzll do: He is rcfolved to do: I fay he perrmptonly rcfolves it: For it is fer in oppofi1ion againfl the obflinacy of rhis linner: As if Pra!. s•· God had fa id , I am as refolure in Grace, and Mercy for him, as he is in Gn– nir.g againfl me: And God will overcome, when he will be merciful, as well as when he .'fudgeth. And do we find God thus refolute in the Old Teflament l Certainly he is not become Lefs gracious in t he New, unto thofe he bath oGr of Grace Called,110W,whm his Chrifl,our SaviourJefus is come,and God bath cal– led them through him.Therefore even in fuch cafes,( and thefc are the worfl ,) when through his permiiiion Mans wilfulnefs throws him intofuch direful mtf– carriages as thefe;he proclaims it, I will be merciful, tmto tbofe I will be mer– cifttli;Unro thofe whom fir!l: Grace by calling hath took hold of~and maintained a principle of life not extinguifhr, though ready to dye: We may warrantably conclude with applying this as a promife here, that God will make perjdl, reflorc, ( itiflaurare, as the Text) fuch a Soul unto that perfeCl'o" again, as lhall fit him, or make himmeet for the Actual polfeffion of his Inheritance in light, into which he had called him. And the Reafon which the Text gives, is powerfully convincing of this: For having faid that his Calli11g U< at firflwa. from out of the whole Gracioufnefs of God, it was of fuch who before calling were wholly dtad ;,. ji!Js; and trefpa[[es; Ephef. 2. r,). compared. And)'Oithatbheqttickned,whow.reaead i11 trejpof[es mzdfins. Evm whm we were dedd ;,.}ills, bath q11icke11edtu to– gether wzth Chrifl, (by graceye are fiJVed.) ,~nd then that J,.a,, this fame God, (.which word I put a mighty weight upon, though not taken notice of by our Tranfiators, as bringing down the full of that foregone defcription of God, The God of aY Grace, ~c. upon thefe following words of Promife) Thu f.•me God will ref/ore andperfeCl from under thefe dangerous falls, that would prove mortal indeed, ifGrace undertook not t his re!l:aurarion of them ; and yet they bring not the Perfon into a dead condition, utterly dead as before'; but as that Rev. 3· 2. reprefenrs it, ready to dye; a fpirit of fome life yet remai11ing in them (as there): And the force of the Reafon lies in thefe two Things; I. That he being not fain into fo defperate a !l:ate by finning,as he was in afore Calling, the Principle of Life yet remains unexculfed by his Fall. 2 . And that yet all the Grace , out of which God at firfl call'd him, is avowedly declared en– gaged to reflore andperfeCl him again: Infomuch, as if it could be fuppofed (as our Apoflle fpeal<s in any other cafe) fa, that if need were of as much Grace to renew him again,os he had laid our upon him in calling and convening him at firfl , God doth engage himfelf to fpend it upon him again. Yea , fur– ther, If all the Grace that is in the Heart ot God, were requifite ro b€ drawn out, he would fer the whole ftocl< thereof upon it to effect, no lefs than the whole work of Calling entirely anew , and rear it from the very foundations afrefh, rather than fad (as we fay;) and the whole of that Grace which fir!t called us , would move him to make perfect again fuch an one. And in fuch Cafes of foul Lapfes, God often is wont to make fuch perfect a– g•in, by a 11ew collvtr/ioll; for by that11.1me they ore in that cafe termed, and really are; as to the fubflance of the work, they arc fuch; although indeed they be but the revivals of frrfb aCls d Faith and Repmta11ce, Juch as at th< firf/. . And fo in our Apoflle's Cafe of denying his Mafler, (which I alone a– fore have ,nflanced in ) his rrjlmeratio11 is termed by Chri1l, his conve~(iou, whnz tbou art co11V<rt<d, (!!c. And that the fame things are acted over again in tls, that were at firfl, 'David's repentance for his fo heinous Tranfgreilions, 10
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