OfEleCTion. ~ his calling an idoiater, from the mtdft of whom God chd ftngle him out . ~Which J ojhlla lays afore that people to l ook at, and confider, Chap. 24. t ,' AndJoihua faidUttto a/J the ptople, thm faith the Lord God of llrael, y;u; Rzthers dwelt 011 tl" other fide of the Flood 111 Old .ttme, tve~ Terob the Father of Abraham, and the Father of Natbor : A11d they {erved orb.; Gods.And I look j'ottr l',,ther Abrahamfrom the other fide of the Flood, and led him throughout a/J the L"'zd of Canaan, andmuttiJiied hu Sad, rmdgave h 1111 Ifaac•. Was .itthenhis well ufingof Natural Helps, or Additiona!Ltght hy Educatton ? Surely no. But as degenerate Cbtldren ofHebrr, he and his fa· ther both were fervers ofother Gods. Therefore look. •.• That it mufi be Eledion, or Eleding Love that moved God fo to Call Him, and could be no other. Mo(es in the General, Jayeth afore their conftderation, Gods Love and Choice of their Father, Vmt. 4·H• He loved thy Fathers, of whom Abraham i4 cou11trdfrfl rmdchufAndChap. 10. 1 4.0n!y he had a dtllght tolovr them and foJtt hu heart upo11 them. And that word only ftogly points out t .>at his lo~c to have been thefoleCauf ;'Twas only that he lovedth,m,~c. And fo 10 like man– ner chafe you after them. As it follows mVtut,ro.But more particularly,and ex– prefly,Nehemt,zh in bi• S<•lemn Prayer fays it of A6raham,the 9th.7th,Thot~art the Lordthe God, who dui(/ cboofr Abram, a11dbrotif,ht htm/orth out of Ur, oftheCaldees, and gave:t h1m the Nt~me of Abraham. For an Eledion of Grace was mofl conlpicuous in his Example. Therefore Verf. l · I caUtd hi,. atone, ( fays God by the Propi>et there) confider that too. I know that that word·,,/otu, Interpreters wholly carry to import that he was called a Single, or an Alone man \\'hen God Called. As in reference, and in a way of.oppofttion to what follow <, And I increafed htm in fo numerous a Poflerity, out ol that on" Mans Lo, m. But why not a!fo, and perhaps rather, that God tingled him out alone, in refpeCl: that he was the Firft that was Called--And hi• Father, and Lot, and S,Jrah, were by and upon his Calling, moved to turn with him to the true Wodhip of the True God. But be alone Ftrl1, and fo was the Rel'lorer of Religion in that Famtly, and therefore in him Eledion did firft Eminently break forth in Gods foextraordinarily taking him forth Alone as he did. ·Paul without being inflruded by Man, but by Revelation.--– And this Stephtn Obferves as with difference, from thofe others that left their Country with him, (as P rml difl'erenceth his Converfion from other Jtws) Thus Afls 7• 2. The God of Glory appearedunto our Father Abraham, wheN he was in Mefopotamia, 6rfore he dwelt in Charran ; The Title of the God ofGlory, is t hus given him, becaufe God appeared in a Glorious manner to him, and he alfo is Alone there mentioned; Becaufe he was the Het Goat, a•d firflleadtr ofhil Father and the"' intoCharran, and After his Fathers death, of Lot into Canaatt. And this Am/worth bath alfo Obferved upon the )It h. VerfeofGen, 1 •. Efpecially from thofe words in that Verfe, That Lot, mu! Sarah wmt forth [ wtth thtm] fromUr of the Chaldees, that is (faith he) withAbraham, and hi< Father; Whom A6rahamacquainting with the Ora– cle of God tohimfelf; His Fatherrepenting ofhisfalfe Wodhip, went out with him (as Ainjworth's words there are) and fo Lot with them, that is, with A6rabam, and his Father. And that God revealed to A6rahamhis Eleding of him, and fo that his firl1 Call proceeded therefrom ; As alfo ofall the Spiritual Seed, That one Paf– fage cited and Interpreted by Paul, Heb. 6. Hath abundantly fatisfied me(A– brahambeing therein made the Pattern of us in EleCl:ion (the Original o~Sal· vatioR) as well as he is in pPiot ofBelieving, and Ju11ifying, (1he way to Sal– vatton), H, b, 6. 'l· God fware by htm(rlf, (ayi11g, fure/y, 6/tJ/illg, lwt/J blefs thu, andmultzpl)•ing, I wilfmultiply tber. That is, firfl, I will blefs thee in thine own Perfon, and then in multipi) ing thee into a Spiritual Seed, the Heirs ofPrnmife with thee ; Of whom thou lhalt have the honour to be fryled the Father, bec;ufe therein thou beareft the T ype of my Chril1, who is the Everhfiing Father, and my firft CIJofen, and others in him. Now the Apofllein Applying this to the comfort of all Eled Believers, ( who were m· tended in that part of the Promife, i11 mult•plymg,. I wiO mtzltip!y thrr. As is plain in the Place he cites. Gtn, 17· 22. l11 muttJp/yittg, l w iUmulttp/yt~ fad.~
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