36 8phefranr,Chap.I, VE R,4. they havethem; many who have them in force fort, fall from them; manywho have them, fo as they !hall not faite, yet may miffeinjudg. ing oftheir ellates,asPeter;JfallJhóildfarJàke thee,¿rc. To this 1 anfwer; Fiat, though a mandreame heeate, or be in this or that condition, and be deceived ; yet a manwho is that or that waking, doth know it, and is notdeluded : So here, though the dreaming man, who is afleepe in finne, maymocke himfelfe ; the manwho is awake and walked) with God,is notmiftaken.To the fecond,I anfwer. Many who have tempo- rary graces,fall from them;but this lettethnot,but a manwho hath that grace which makeththe heart honeft, may know thathis grace (hall a. bide, and is fuch as (hall beaccompanied with perfeverance: Becanfe force thinke counterfeit money good flyer, it followeth not, but that wemayknow that which isgood,from'that which is otherwife.Finally, though a true fanctified man maybe deceivedin judging ofhis meafure oflove orftrength, it followeth not, that thereforehe cannot judge at all truelyof his eftate. I may be deceived in judging howwife I am, how ftrong, but not in judging that I live, have fenfe, move, fo it was with Peter. But this isby the way. The Vfeof this Dolrine is to letusfee, that wemay cometoknow our Election. If we find that our hearts have that faith on Chrift, by which they are purified, hewho may know he bath that faith, which is the faith of theeleâ,hc may knowhe is electedal fo;Wherfore let tot ;rive to makearrr eleliionfare. We will dive into the affeáionsofmen,we can- not beat reft,till we know how they are minded towards us. What be- feetneth a child more then to labour, that he may know his fathers goodneffe tohim e We fhould feeke to God towitneffe to us by his fpi- rit this grace,to make usunderftand it,through the word; we fhould trie ourfaith and fanétification ; this is the counterpanewritten our by the originali copie, that will ofGod Within himfelfe, choofing us to holi- nefle. Thewant of this paines maketh fome that theycome to callin queftion Gods love, eleûion, yea, whether ever they had grace, yea or no. Shouldany corporation choofeus to any placeofdignityand profit, we would quickly learn it, andifwe had but an inkling, we would not reft till we had found thewhole matter.I would faithfull foules wereas wife in this matter. They arehencerebuked, who thinke that thole thatare ele.t, cannot be knowne, that it is prefumption to goe fo farre : But !hall we give thankes,as P,rul doth, for that we doe not know e befides, arewe bid to bcleeve the Gofpell, apart where this is a we muff notbe proudlyarro- gant,to thinkewecan fearch thefe things to the full;for to feethings un- vifible,and fearch things unfearcbable,arealike unpoffible:Wemuff not thereforebe arrogant above that is written, nor yet unthankfullynegli- gent,fo farreas to neglc l that whichis written for our inftruetion. Inhins.]Obferve,in what order we are chofen :Thisgrace ofelection beginneth firft with Chrift our head, anddefcendeth to us in him ; itno- teth the order,inWhich weareeleFited,not thecaufe ofelecìion ;wemull not thinke that we are firft elected, and that Chrift thenby occafionof our
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