An Exp~fition of the EpiJUe S ~ + It_ is a foundation that remaineth, it fl:and:eth, it is fleady. ~ 5· It is fealed : Ha-ui11g this Seal, faith he ; fo that it is never to be broken and altered. If the Decrees of the Medes and Perja11s, when they had fet their Seals to them, were fuch as were not to be altered; much more God's. His Seal is in this r~fpefr more than his Oath: Him hatb the Father foaled, faith he, fpeak– ing of Chrifl:. Now you have both his Oath and his Seal to this, that is, to the invinciblenefs and unchangeablenefs of'his Love. You have his Seal in this ,place Tle Lord kpoweth them that are his : And his Oath you have in Heb. 6. I 7. And what cloth this Oath fcrve for ? To fhew unto the Heirs of Promlfe the immuta– bility of his Counfel, and of the immutability ofhis Counfel, refpefring Perfons and not things only; for it is an Oath that God made to Abraham, when he fwor~ concerning l.foac: And therefore the Text bath it in Timothy, It hatb this Seal, The Lord f<.noweth them that are bi<. If you will know whence the words are ta– ken, (that I may open them a little) you mufl: obferve this, that the Apofilc bandleth the Dofrrine of EleC\ion and Reprobation in the New Tefiament, out of the Speeches and Types of the Old ; as, Efou have I hated, ]acob have I loved in Rom. 9· And fo, I will be mercifizl to whoflt I will be mercifid; it was fpoken of ~fts, in Exod. 33· 19. And fo likewife thofe words inTimothy, The Lord fi,!zow– eth them t!Hzt arc hi<, they are fpoken of Aaron and M.ofts, in Numb. 16. 5· when !.(grab and his Company gathered tbemfelves together againfi Mofts and Aaron, f.1ying, You tab,g too m11:b upon you, feeing all the Congregation are holy, and they may be all Pnefis : No, fatth he, God bath cbofen Aaron and Mofes.to go before his People, and to morrow the Lord will fhew who are his : So we tranflate it, and the Septuagint reads it, (and it comes all to one ) The Lord /znoweth who are his. Now this that was faid in this refpefr of Mofts and Aaron in a typical way, and indeed in a Decree of Elefrion too, for that God fingled out Mofes and .Aaron, it was his everlafring Love; I fay, thefe very words doth the Apofile here apply, and pertinent\y too, to the fame occafion ; for fpeaking of divers that feemed to be holy, and yet fell away, however, faith he, The foundation of the LDrdfland– cth jin·e, havi"g this Seal, The Lord k..noweth who are his. And the word, kpowetb who are his, it is, whom he bath pitcb'd upon to love, it is a knowledg of appro– bation. Exod. 33· 12. Thre have 1 fl.nown by name, faith God unto the CameMifes, which is all one and to fay, Tbee have l choftn; for ver. 19. fpeaking of Mofts alfo, he faith, I will fbew mercy on whont I will fhew merry, which the Apofile quo– teth in Rom. 9· as fpoken of E!eCl:ion. Now in refpefr of his Love, that is thus firm, and firm in refpefr that it is his Love, who is God, and not Man, and there– fore changeth not. It is therefore faid of the Elefr, that it is impoffiblethat they fhould be deceived'. As I told you there are two foundations, fo there are two Impoffibles made in Scripture, (I know there are more, as it is impoffible that God fhould lie, &c. but I fpeak of Impollibles that relate to God's Decrees): The one is, Mat. 26. 39· If it be poffibie, let this C11p paf from me. It was not pof– fible; why? becaufe God's eternal Love to his Saints had decreed it otherwife, and God fiuck firm to it. The other impoffible is in Mat. 24. 24. Infomueh that if it were poffib!e, they fhould deceive the very Ele[J ; that is impoffible tao. And the truth is, the reafon of this firmnefs, it is becaufe it is the Love of God, and becaufe it i5 fo great a Love, that is the foundation of it. And, my Brethren, it is well that Love made God's Decrees for us ; no Attribute elfe would have fix'd them fo unalterably upon the fame Perfons, in themfelves fo changeable: Would Wifdom alone have gone and obliged God to fo fickle a Creature as we are? No : But Love knew what it did, for it meant to manifefi it felf to the uttermofi; therefore it pitch'd upon no conditions, why God loved us; and if he requires conditions before he faveth us, Love !hall work thofe conditions in us : Therefore out of his infinite Love and Wifdom, he was able to make abfo– lute promifes to love, and to love firmly. It is Love that commandeth all in God, and if Love will do it, it fhall be done ; for if all that is in God can keep us, and preferve us, and work in us what God requires to make him love us, and continue to love us, it fitall be done. It is firm Love. And let me add this to it, which may illufl:rate it more, It is Invincible Love. You will f.1y, This is the fame thing with being unchangeable. I confefs tt, bur only with this difference, that to fhew his Love is unchangeable, he would have ~ a
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