354 Of Eleflion. "-A.JJ" >· But further, in the third place, confider, That if there be a Promife at BooK 1V, t~e bottom of either, (as none may deny but there mufr be) this Promife mufr ~be a Promife of tbt Cotmwm of Grace; a Branch growing out of the main Body of that Covenant: And the Reafon general to both thofe Scriptures is, becaufe the.matter promifed or fpokeri of in either, is wholly a matter of eterTJJt Salv ation : And !or the carrying us on thereunto, thereforeit mufr ne– cd farily be referred to that Head of Free-grace, and the Covenant thereof, as well as Catli11g at firfr is; which fprings from the fame. But particularly, 1. In my Text in P tter, the matter of it is clearly refolved into Grace ,. ~c. for it flows from God, asa Godof Grace, yea, and as aGod of a!J Grace. If therefore there be a Promife included in it, it rnuft be a Promife of Groce ·and apromife of the fame kind and tenour with any of the reil of thofe Pro~ifes weufe tocallPromifesof Grace, and of the Covenant of it': Yea ; I fay fur– ther, That take we the Covenant of Grace in the whole thereof, or any other fingle part or branch of it whatever; as that, to write the Law inour hearts to reach m to k11ow him, ~c. And this one here may not only take upon it th~ high born Title of a Promife of Grace, as any of them do; but may lay as full a claim of Interefr in the heart of God for a performance of it felf by him, as net only any other part or branch may, but as the; whole Covenant it felf may any way put in a Plea for the fame : And the Reafon is as clear; for the whole Covenant it felf, or any part of it, can have but all and the whole of God' J Gr,Jce by promife bound over to make it good: And this, this one Pro– mife bath to plead, even all ; The God of a/J Grace who bath called tN, Which God havmg once done, the Promife is, that ,;.,1,, the fame God of all Grace will perfell us: For that whole Covenant of Grace can but have all the Grace that is in the heart of God to put it in execution; and furely, that is a fufficient cngogement; and look what there is for the whole, this here bath for its part alone ; and though the performance of it hath our Calling to precede it, yet God havmg called us out of thatGrace, it is as fure for the future that he will perfeEI:u, as that he bath call.edm. And,2.As for that Text in the He6rews ,though formally it be only a Prayer, yet materially it contains and refers to a Promife of the Covenant : T here is mention made of the everlafling Covmant which Chrifr Jhed his blood to rati– fie the Promife of; it is a fuperaddition unto that other Claufe even now infift– ed on; which was, That God, who 6rougbt again from the dead, utoutd ptr· feEl tbtm ; and then there is this added, through the 6/ood of the everlaffilzg Covmallt : The great Covenant, which we call of Grace, you fee is mention– ed. But you may demand, Unto what purpofe it is it comes in here in a Pray– er l There are two parts of this Prayer, ( as generally •lmofr in other of the Apofrles) t. The P refatory part, which contains the Arguments o·r Mot ives to move God to grant whn is p'etitioned. 2 . T hen follows the petitionary part,the thing petitioned ;and thefe two are always fuitable to one another.The firft expreffing the proper grounds of graoting the thing fupplicated for ; and fo it muft be found, and applyed here; every Sentence in the Argumentative rart, v tr(e 20. N ow the God vf peace that brot<f(ht again from the dMd our Lord Je{ru, that g"eat Shepherdof the Shup, tbYough the blood of the ever– laj/illg Cove11a11t; is in a fpecial manner influential unto the followmg .Petitio– nary part, in vtr(e 21 . Makey ou perfeEI in every good work to do hu w ilt ;. working znyou that w hich is w ett-pleajing in his pgbl, through Jrftu CbriP; to whom 6e f!.lory f or ever a11d ever, Amm. Tlie main Perition is, Tbat God w ould perfell them i11 evrr1•goodw ork: Now upon what proper and pertinent account thisClaufc in the fir{\, The bloodof tbt tverlafling Covenant, lhouH be an Argument to move God to perfet1 them that are catltd, ~c. That is our Enquiry. . How proper unto this very thing, all the foregone Sentences are, is or may 'be obvious unto any : As, ,, How God's being the Godof peace, lhould move h im to do this for us, (who are the perfons for whom this Petition is framed;) That God being at peace with us, through Chrift our Peace, lhould move l11m t o go on to perfeCt his work begun in us ; we may readily conceive and find 1t {'articularly fo applyed unto the like Petition, in I TheffaJ. 5· 2). bemg com· pared
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