Of EleClion. ~who are under a work of Bondage , and weary of your Natural Condition, BooK V, come to Chr1fi: I may fa y to you, as the Dilc,ple faid to that blind Man , ~Mark to. 49• Be of good comfort, He caUnh ) 'Otl: you are doubly invited, both as you are wrr~ry and be.tv)•J,zdm, and as theChildren of Br!uvers alfo: and therefore you may promife your felves a double welcome. 2. A fecond Encouragement that this affords i•, That where there is fuch a fpecial Dclignation of EleCtion, there is a greater certainty that many (yea haply the mofi) ol fuch fhall obtain. Whereby fuch a fpecial De– flgnation hath alfo thus much more in it, than a bare Invitation : That an Invitation does not imply a cerraimy of obtaining [many are caUed (or mvmd ) when few are chofm J but a Deugnauon doth. Now this muft needs be a great cncouragemem; even as it would be to all the Children of a Noble Family~ that a l'ecple , or Common-wealth .fhould fo oblige themftlves to Jt In particular , as certatnly to choofe thetr Kmg• and Prin– ces out. of it (as in Sweden they have do~e out, of tlie _Guflavz.anFamily,) not bemg tyed to the Eldefi, to choofe htm, but unto the Famtly,to choofe fame one out of it: So as, there were a certainty of fome of them their being Kings, and Princes. The Hopes that every one would have in fuch a Cafe, how would they raife their fpirits, and make them obfervant of their carriage towards all, and to enable their Education , by !hiving to excel each other in glorious Atchievements, inlinuating themfelves into the hearrs of the People, and in all plaufible refped:s complying ' with them, as A6(aJon did? Now juft fo it is here; God bath entailed Heaven on your Families, though in an indefinite, yet certain way; fo as, not one, but many of you fhall certainly be Kings ; you are now Heirs of Life: How therefore thould this quicken you, above all other ranks of Mankind, and raife your fpirits, and fet an edge on your Endeavours? The more certain that your hopes are, the more ltrong let your endeavours be; like Mer– chants, who, where there is oertain hopes of Gain, will make the greater Adventures: We find the like in Colledges, where there ufeth ( by the Statutes of the Houfe ) to be fuch a fpecial Delignation as this is, fingling out fome Counties and Shires, out of which their Fellows and Scholars fhall be chofcn, and that moft certainly: And when there are Places va– cant, how doth this whet the induftry and endeavours of all thofe Stu· denu who are of fuch Shires, making them to Study harder than othen, and (as PauJ fays of himfelf) to profit more than ma11y of their Equals of tl;eir own Nation; and outfiripping others to be fo approved for their Learning, as to obtain the Place? So fhould this Encouragement provoke, and ftimulate you above all other Men, and alfoto exceed one an other, in !\riving who fhould firft get into Chrift : For know, that the endeavours of fame of you !hall certainly not be in vain: For God affuredly bath an EleCt among you : Some of you will mofi infallibly get to Hea– ven. The Third way whereby it may help your Faith, is; that when you come to plead for your Lives and Souls before God ( as when you are humbled you will , as much as condemned Men ever did for their Lives) then this puts into your Mouths a Plea to ufe to God before the Throne oF his GraceI fay not, that thou mayfi plead it as a qualification for which God fhould refpeet thee, or fhew the favour ; For his EleCtion is not fwayed by it, or founded on it: Thou muft leave the cafiing thy con· dition to the arbitrary, foveraign Freedom of his Grace , as much as any Sinner elfe upon Earth: But yet, ( ftate it rightly) thou mayfi plead it , and make a ftrong Plea of it too: as Firft, Thou mayfi make it a good and full occa!ion emboldning thee the more, to come into Gods prefence, and the rather to do it , becaufe of this.
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