An Expo(ttion of the Epifile ~ ly {hews hl> faying [I hove referved to my {elf] to be all one and equivalent Srrm. Vl. unto[! hllvemulelfio1l of Gracr of ftvm thoujand, whom 6y virtue of that v--r-....; Elef!ro11 aud Separation to 111J fe!J, I have kept from Baal's Idolatry;] and thereby plainly infers, His ultimate ead in choofing was an EleCtion to himfelt: But this f have elfewhere more largely opened. Again, When Chrirt himfelf from heaven was pleafed to give .dnaniMan accouru of his fo dearly beloved Paul, the trGth of h1s Converfion, to the end to affure him of it, he brings forth his own and God's having eleCted him; from "he.nce as the original of all, he had now effeCtually called him, and meant, and had'defigned to employ him in his greateft Services. And how cloth Chrift exprefs his EleCtion there? He u a chofm Veffil [to me] faith Chrifi,ACJ's 9·' )· So then, whether it be, God the Father Predertinating us to himfe!f, Or ·his Predefiinating by Jefus Chrifi to him, that is, to Chrirt, we have warrant to apply 'it unto either; and by applying it unto both, we make up the full comprehenlive intent of the A– poftle in that fpeech. f Jhall therefore in the handling fpeak to it, I. As in relation to God himfelf. z. As to Jefus Chrifi. I, For Himfe!f; that is, Godthe Father. What it carries with it as it relates to Godthe Father. I. ft notes out a fpecial propriety; Thrfe I have cho[m or rejerved far my fe!J, is as to ray, Theft 1 l.wve laid my hmrds 11po11 to 6e Mitu, In that of Ifai.41.2I. forecited, he had faid jurt at the verfe before, The 6eaf/s of the jieldjha/J houour me; that is, they in their kind. And in another place, Pfal.so. he fets his mark upon them (as men do on their Cattle) they are his v,JO. For every beaflof the Forrejl is mitu,mrd the Ca.ttle upo11 a thou(mrd hi/is: I kuow all thrfD".vls of the Mormtaius, audthr wild !.eafls of the {idd are miue: and fo {ball honour him in their kind. I, but thefe are f1y Peop!t, f1y Chofen; I have formed them for my felf, &c. and are therefore d1gnified by being fiyled Thefirj/-fruits of his Creatttres,Jam.r.J 8. Confecrated to him out of the whole, .'1er.2.5. Ifrael is holimfs to the Lord, the firjl fmits of his iiicrtaje. Ob– ferve, Firrt, That He, the Great God, though mort bleffed of himfelf without any of his Creatures, and needed not have made them; yet he fays ·of the whole lump, Te are mine: as if a rich man lbould fay of his goods of his own getting, Thejeare my itrcreafe. But, Secondly, Of his Cbofen people he fays, The(r 11re tht firfl fr11its of my i11creafe, rmd holirlf{s to the Lord: Not only denoting their duty of devoting themfelves, and all they are, unto his glory ; ·but furthermore it denotes his con– fecrating them to himfelf, as Num6.J8, in the Type explains it. Our Saviour Chrift, in Joh11.1 7·9· makes a great matter of this, of God's taking them to be his; I pray for them: I pray 110tfor the world, b11t for them whrch thou haft givm me, for they are thine. He had fpoken before of a world of other men, whom he profeffeth nor to pray for; but limits himfelf to that peculiar Com– llany who were his by EleCtion, the firrt fruits of the whole; Who, fays he, were thi11e, and therefore alfo Mi11r. By fo vart a difference made between them and the world, as that he lhould proftfs to lay out the flrength of his Mediation for them, and not for the other; and that upon this ground and Motive, For they were Thmt, Oh F<rthrr! He gtves 1t as the Reafon th•t moves him fo to do· and that which Chrirt confiders in our behalf, as that which had wrought fo greaf and fpecial an affeCtion to us, how weatly ought it to affeCt us ! Now how is it that they are made his, but by choice and eleCl:ioc? For otherwife all the World is his. And you have this in Panllikewife, Thr Lord kuows thtm that are his. Which fpccial propriety fet upon them, and owning of them as his, is equiva– lent as to foy, They are God's EleCJ', Rom.8.Jl· :2. It is a Chooftng us to be holy 6efore·him; a confecrating us unto his fer– VIce and worfhiJ'· 1\nd this is efpecially infianced in, and aimed at in Rorn,1 r.4. which
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