Of Eleflion, B'"f"' Beloved i11 God tht rather. Let Beza quarrel. the Phrafe, as improper , to ~my Soul, and that as it hath been opened , .it IS moll exprefiive, importing that ycu lye next hts very heart, you lay tn lm very bowels , Matrix in the Womb, or Mother cf his Will; as that word in the Ctmttcles fignifies Cmtt, 4· 9· Mofes fays, his people are i11 hi& hrmds, as 'Deut. ll• 3.1ea h; loved thepeople; all hi& Sai11ts are ill thy hartds: A11d they fat dow1t at' thy f eet,everyonejba/lreceiveof thy words. And afterwards he fays they are. ill hi& Everla{fi11g Arms. And being in his Hand, Chrill fays, No11e jbaUpull them out. Well, but you are nearer yet, you are in his Heart, in the very womb of God, bu bowels; and a ptece of that mull be pulled out, if you be pulled out,The phrafe imports, as I have fhewed out of I Theff. I.I. and 2 The{[. 1 , 1 .TheChurcbiiJGodtbe Fatlur, tmditJJefur Cbrifl. You would be fate enough in either of them, but for furenefs, you are in both. z. Confider his Commending you , and giving you to Chrill, as thofe that were his ow11, and whom he had loved; and had loved them with the fame Love he had Loved himfelf, as Joh11 17. tells you. And that therefore by all the love there was between them two God the Father and himfelf, he fuppli– cates , that God w ould be fure to Love, and take care of them, Chrill re– membred it well, and it !luck with him when he was to dye. Thi11e thry w tre and thott gave[I them me; and 1 have kept them i11 thy Name. Things dear and pretious to us, we lay up in fafell places. If a King bath a dearefi Spoufe, an only one of his Love, and !here be Armies and Dangers round about in the Dominions where fhe is , he will be fure to flow her lo, as to be prefnved , in fome Caf\lc that is impregnable, if he have any fuch; and with aGarrifon 10 defend her. Now God oath done fo with you in Chrill; he hath commit– ted you to Chrifi, you are the prtjcrved i11 Cbrifl, and he is your Rock, De· fence, firong Tower. Even a!! that the 'P(rzlmt/1 fo much and fo often cele– brates and inculcates ,---tha' way is fulfilled in him: Nor are you kept in €brill only, as in your Caf\le, but as with a Garrifon which is all the Power in God, 1 'Peter !.)• Kept M with a Garrifon,as the word fignifieth. Ifany have any Jewels, where will he bellow them? In a Cabinet, a llrong Iron Chell. Remember who is your Cabinet: It is Chrill, who yet is more wonh than all your Jewls: In him are hid all Gods Treafures; as of Knowledge, and Wifdom, and Riches, of Merit unfearchable to fave you; fo alfo your felves, your perfons, your Salvation are laid up in him, as Gods choicell Jewels; and as indeed for whom all thofe other Treafures are defigned: Never fear l'lun– dring, you are as fafe as all: Yea, your life u htdwith Chriff ill God, Col. J. Hid as Treafures are, and therefore you are as fure and fafely lodg'd, as Cluitt himfelfis. 3· You have the Mercy of Jefus Chrifi , both in Vfl'f, 2. and Verf 21, Tb~ .{ure Mtrcies of that 'David, Chriir.• as they are c•lled, Ifa. )8. H· And adds, 1;. 14· compared. Thefe are the Summity, the hight, the fum of Mer– cies, God hath to befiow; the Mercies of Eternity, Take all other Mercies, bef\owed on the World, which yet are infinite Riches of Good11ejJ, 'Patimu a11d Lo~tg-Sttfferillg, Rom. 2, that are fpent upon wicked men, to whom a!fo he vouchfafeth fuch pretious Gifts, Enlightnings, Tollings, which you read of flJOrt of Grace; yet if you could fuppofe all fuch Mercies that have been, fromCai11 the eldefi fome of wickednefs, fhewn and bellowed upon all of that fort, to the end of the World; ifGod fhou!d heap them all , and eve– ry one of them, in never fo great meafure , of fuch kind of Mercies toge– ther, with all thofe Gifts of Enlightn ings, and that man alfo were to live as many Ages, as the years of each mans life, that have lived in a fucceliion amount to,which would make a Great hole in Eternity to come, yet one call of his Grace and Loving·kindnefs unto thofe, whom in Chrill he rearms the meanefi, poorefi, defpicablefi, miferablell of his Called Ones, is infinitely more worth than them all: For all that would not amount to the Pardon of (o much as the leall fin. 0 therefore, look to the Mercy of Chrill, as Vafzz. in 'Pfal.J6. 'Davidhaving firfi difcourfed at large ofGods common Mercies to– wards che wickedll of Men, whofe wickednefs he had fer out from the tll J!er[. to the )th he then !lands admiring at the infinite vall heaps of Mercies wh1ch he
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