Of Eletlion. ~pawn and pledge to him; affuring him, t hat God wouid prefervc him for e– BooK IV. ver. Read from rhe 23th verfe ( where the Stream'begin; to turn into another V'"'ll"'' Chanel) unto the end of the .Pfalm, Verf. :q. Neverthrlefs, tho" art co11timtally wtth me, thot< haft holdm me 6' m, right hm1d. That 11tverthe!e{s comes in upon the Narration of, and in Relation unto all that Mifcarriage of his mentioned; fo foolifh was I, &c. neverthtlefs (which is the wonder ot it, fays he ) or notwithftandt~~g this, yet I am contimta!!y with 1hu, What! As to his ownfenfeand apprehenfion '· as if that he bad held and kept up en– me C0mmumon wttli God all that whtle? No: For what he had laid afore of tbe Evil frame of his heart is a contradiction thereunto. It is fpoken then in refpect of the eye and prefence on Gods parr,that God had towards him,which is evident by what follows, Thot< haft holden mt 6y my rtght hand: And !o thereby had puld him forth of that horrible Temptation. And the experi– ence be had learned ofGods care and prefervation out of thefe paffages towards him, aUured him that God would preferve him for ever. Verf. :z.4 Thott jhalt guide me with thy Cotmfet all my life long; and afterwards receive me to Glory. This is an inference as to the future , from that Experi– ment. Yea, fartherthisplace Jhewsthatatfuch times and Seafons wherein our hearts feem mofi loofe, and left to themfelves, God bath then the more fied– fafi eye; as the Mother of the Child, when fick, or as a Mariner hath mofi care and follicitude of his Ship in a Storm; a rather the moft wary regard to a lit– tle Child, he bath let go, to fee what way of it felf it will take. And there– fore this acknowledgment is brought in by way of thankfulnefs and bleiiing God; as Catvin obferves, for his prefence with him and fupport of him then: That he was not wholly overt'urned or fain headlong, as off from aPrecipice, as thofe words, Verf. 2. My fteps well nigh were poured 0111 , im– port, The fecond Branch Jmake of handling this his cart in the general, is, What is the principal Subjed: of his care ? What it is taken up about ? Firfi, His principal care is over our Souls, P{al, 121.7, The Lord jhall prr– f.rve thee from afl evil; The Lord jhall prrferve thy Soul. T he l~tter is by way of Emphafis and Notoriety added. So that he that keeps thy Bones , thy Body the !heath, will be fure to look to thy Soul. And therefore God regards not fo much to what he gives thy Name, thy Body, thy Eflate up unto; what detriments and diminutions io thy outward Man befall thee t\.ere– in, if they fubferve to renew rhy inward Man. Our Peter here, I Pet. :z..25. telleth us for our comfort, that when we are converted to God, we are retur11ed to the Shepherd and BJjhQp, (or Overfeeer) ofour Sottls. His eye is fpecially upon them , they are his Charge and Flock. 2. His care is principally exercifed about preferving you , that no fin have Dominion over you. When Grace firfi takes hold ofus, and calls us, it fets up a Dominion over us, Gr,lct reigns to eternal life, Rom. 5· tt!t, even till then: And then we begin firfi to give up our felves to the Government of it, Which Peter here e~horts them o renew and continue to do; Humbling our Jtlves under his Soveraig,; Hand or Power, Which we no fooner begin to ao, but from thence forward the Soveraignty of Grace takes us into its Pro– tellion and Conduct. And the Fundamental Principle by which that Dominion of Grace flands and is continued over us; is, that fin never come again ro htJve that Domi11ion which o11ce it had. So Rom, 6. I 4· Sm (ball not have 'Domi– tJioll over ·''o*, for ''f are under Grace. And the Rcafon of ir is clear and plain;for Sin and Grace have and feek two oppofite Dominions,and the Domi– nions of each are deflrudive of the Dominion of theother (and what an tn– tercfi Dominion is·, we all have feen and know ) fo as ifever fin fhould come to have its ancient Dominion and rule, as once the Grace of God,that now bath taken the Dominion,were Dethroned; or to ufe Paul's word, Gat. 2. 21. frr~flrattd. ·But this the Interefi of Grace it felf, zs it is contrary to fin, but fpecially in that it is an interefi of Dominion, will never fuffer or endure. And in this fenfe are the Promifesof Keeping m from a.ll evil, and Prejfr"':ilig 114 6/amrlrfs, and the hke, to be undcrfiood, ( that' IS, blamelefs accordmg to 100
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