V E R.4. Gods Elecbon. any bath a faith unfained," and trueendeavour of holineffe ; we may in judgement of charity, fay that fuch are elected. Thus Saint Peter and 1ehn,may give the nameofEjea,tothe members oftheviable Church- es, to whom they write : If we know by experimental certainty, or by faith, that any have truebcleefeand holineffe, we doe in the fame roan- ner,certainly know,thar we,or they are eleeted. Thus we may by Faith, knowthat in every truevifible Church, thereare fome eleet of God; becaufe the word teacheth, that where God givethhis word, thereare Tome Saints,whom he will gather and cdifie;fome ground good where he fendeth his feeder-men: Thus we may know certainely our felves eleet, becaufe we may by certaine experience know our (*elves to have Faith. 1f I fee one put into the office ofthe court of Wards or into the Treafurers Place,or fo; I know that fuch a man was theman, whom the king had chofen with himfelfe to have the place : So when Godnow bath by faith and fanetification, taken one out ofthis world; we may know thathe waschofen forthofthe world,unto life:thingsmay be faid to be, when now their being is made manifeff; While a babe is in the womb, we know not what is there conceived, but whenwe fee aman- child born,then we knowthat fuch an one was conceived : So when the babe is bornywhen the beingoffaith and holineffe are apparent;we may fay that fuch a perfon, beforeall worlds, was conceived in the womb ofGods fecretEleetion.We may know a will fecret threewaits. i.lfaman will himfelfe tell us. 2. Ifhe will write to us. 3. Ifhe doe this or that,weknow then byevent, he hada will to fuch matters,which nowwe fee him execute: So here God mayfpeakeby extraordinary re- velation, which hath been the priviledge of fome few. 2. God may make his will knowneby the ordinary enlightningof hisfpirit, which is that unto the minde, as a word untothe tare : Wehave received the fpirit, to teach us to know there deepes of Godsgracious purpofe to- wards us,r Cor, z. rz.by the letterofhis word,thatgolden cham e, Rom. 8.29.IfI be fanetified with the divine nature,inwhich glory is begunne, I ani juftified; ifjutlified, I have beene called according to purpofe; if called,l was predeftinate;ifpredeftinate to meanes,l wasforeknowne, as one whom God would choofe to the end,even to glory. 3 When I fee my felfe fet apart by God, from the world; the event dothtell me, God chofe me from amongft others: When! love God, come out ofthe world, choofing himas myportion; then I may know he bath loved me firft,and chofen me,even as I knowafealehath beene fet there, where I behold the printof it-Onemay objed,that God onely knoweth who are his. vinf..God onely knoweth byhimfelfewhothey arewhom heapproveth for his own,but with this,may (land the know- ledge offuch to whom God revealeth it;as none but the Some knoweth the Father, and fuch to whom the Sonne revealeth it.z. God onely knoweth hiscollectively taken, that is, the wholeuniverfityofhischo- fen;no meere man norcreature,doth in thisfenfe knowwho areGods. obje. Could we know that w8 havetrue faith and hólineffe, wemight know our Elcition, but we cannot;for many who have them not; thinke they 3s
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=