390 Of Elellion. ~~~----------------~ ~ I will begin firft to f~arch out this Rigtn by that Ulfag11a Charta, that great BooK V. and grand Charter whtch was made to Abraham the Father of the Faithful V"'V"'.' in the Name of all his Seed; for that is made the primary and fundamentui ground of this great Priviledge by our Divines; That we being Abrah<~rns feed; (as Gaim: l• 29. ) as wella s the Jews~ and having the fame Covenant, arc therefore Hetrs of thePromije , and foot that Promtje which was m ade to A brahamand the Jews: [ 1wt fJ be the God of thee mtd of thy Seed J But ogainfi this ground, as thus barely alledged, this Exception hath often come thwart my Mind; that this was Abrahams peculiar Priviledge and an honour tohim vouchfafed; ashke"!tfewas that, to be {\iled the Fathtr of a!J tht F.•ithfut, which ( as we alll<oow ) is to us incommunicable; And that there– fore , although we may for our own Perlons indeed come into his Promife , as his Seed, and fo intothat part of the Promife, [ lwilt be the God of thy Seed] and fo have the Promtfe of Gods betng our God , and of the Blelling by Chri!t for our feiv es, as we are Abrahams feed; yet take the whole Promife as col– leCtively madetohimand Us,[lwiltbetheGodof thee and of thrSeed] and it fhould feem to be peculiar to him alone, as to be the Father of the Faithful alfo is; by which Title we are no way called, but only the Sous of Abraham , and A6rahams Seed. It might have well fufficed us for our own perfons to have come into his Promife fingly, and to be Heirs accordi11g to the Promije , as the phrafe is, Gatat. l• 26. although we were not Fathers alfo to convey the promife , as Abrahamwas; nor although the Promife as collectively taken had belonged to us, as to A6rahamit did ,nor that part of the Promife [I wiU6e the Godof thy Seed ]had been extended to us. And although the Jews (who were A6rahams Seed ~fter rhe Flefh , as well as after thi Spirit ) had that Priviledge alfo, that God in their Generations promifed to be the God of them and their Seed; yet that alfo may feem to be a fpecial Priviledge pro– per to them, which we Gentiles cannot plead; for as in Rom. 3· I . What adva11· tage or prerogative h,;d the Jews 6nt this, Rom. 9· 4· That to them pertai11t th the Adoption, tmd the CovmaTJt, and the Promifes ? as being rhofe who(e are the Fathers after the flefh, v erf. ~·and fo they had this Priviledgc , that the Covenant was propagated by the flefh. Now in fatisfadion to thefe two Exceptions, although there muft neceffa– rily be granted a tranfcendent fpecial honour and Priviledge vouchfafed to A6raham, and to the Jewifh Nation his Seed , which we have not : Yet withal a further enquiry would be made, whether notwithftanding we Gentiles have not fome correfpondem fprinkling of this Priviledge of his and theirs, though of a leffer el'tent, and how far ours extendeth, in difference to that of theirs; and what further warrants there are , for any fuch Priviledgc to us Gentiles , who muft hava a Charter and Grant to fhew for it, if we would prove our Seeds to be born Heirs within the Covenant; even as Nobles and Gentlemen have in a Civil way for theirs : Otherwife it will be the higheft prefumption in us to claim it, or to exped it at the hands of God. Firft, then toAbrahamwe grant this tranfcendent Priviledge, that l]e had the peculiar honour to be the Father of a!t the F.1ith{ut, as Eve had the ho– nour to be the Mother of aU livi11g, Gm. l· 20. which being fpoken by Adam after the Promife to her Seed made, ver(. I~· may be interpreted in the fame fenfe that A6rahams was; fhe was theMother of aU liv ittg, that is, that live fpiritually, and by faith as Abrahamwas Father ofaUthe Faith[nt: The Co– venant running in her Name at the firtl, as in A 6rahams afterward; and fo A· dam in that his fpeech to Eve uttered his Faith in the Promife made to her of her Seed,and fo in that refpeCt Adamhimfdf came in under her covenant. Secondly, it was both A 6rahams and the Jews Priviledge alfo, that they f110uld have this Promife to all Generations, as Gene f. 1 7· For tw otho11ja11d )·ears, the Covenant to belong.thus unto them, and to be entailed on them, aod alfo that after the fle/IJ Chrifl /houtd come of them, as Rom. 9· ~· and that they fhould be the Root of our Covenant, and we but engraffed on tbem as the natural
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