3J 2 Of Eleflion. ~------~----------~ ,•..__,,../ ( Minil1ers and Apoflles) as well as Chril1ians, lofe 11ot 1hoje thi11gs which we BooK IV. (and you) havr wror•gbt, btJt that we rtceive a full reward. You find al!o ~how vehemently Sollicitous to a jealouf1e, the Apofllc P aut was over thofe he had converted, lel1 they fhould many degree have fain: Do but read the firl1 Epifile to the ThejJ. Chap. 2. (!le. The Lke you have in his Epiflle to the Co– rmthwns and Gal.•thiaTJs: Yet his concernment was, but his having been a poor In11rument in the hand of Chril1, to work on them. Without doubt then, Jcfus Chril1 will be fure to look to this; he will look to this himfelf, for it is his own interefr and concernment, which is infinitely greater then what was the Apo!lles; he being both the Owner and Mafrer·Workman, he will look narrowly to liS, and to the thing he hnth wrought in us, to furco!lr, flab!tfh jlrmgthw, C!lc. That he have his full bargain out, efpecially feeing h~ harh obtained one great part belonging to it, ha/h calttdzu already , and fo bath received thefirf\' Payment, andfo is in poJTeilion in part, both of what he bath bought, and what he bath wrought in m: Above all, when rhe Con– dirion or R.are is fuch, as he muft forefeit that too, and fo both his whole work and his whole purchafe become fruftrate, os if he had never laid out a penny upon either. Tis certain, Chril1 will not lofe one farthing, not an 1.:;,. of what he paid; Hwvm a11d Earth jhaO pafs away rather. God held him hard to it, and would not abate a farthing; and he will h1ld God as hard to it, and will look to it, not only to have every individual Soul he purchafed, but to have alfo every degree of Grace which he purchafed for every Soul. 2. As he bought thy firft calling and continuance in Grace thy whole time, fo he bath paid for , and bought off from thee, all thy Temptations that fhould any way befall thee, or that fuould any way endanger thy continu– ance in grace: And bath procured Succour,Strength, Settlement, and Eflab!ifh– ment for thee, This is certainly the fllll fcope and direct meaning of that paJTage,Heb,2.1 8. l1t that he bim(elf hath fuffered, being tempted, beu able to ft~ccottr them th.1t are tempted. He had faid he was a mn·Cijitl Htgh I'>·iejl, to pity us, in the verfe afore, and fo bath an heart and willingnefs to pity us; but in this Verfe he adds,that he was able; now mark it,he doth not term him flble,in refpect of his perfonal Abili ties, as he is God;but he intends a farther acquired Ability,and acquired by this,That he being made a frail ma11,fubjeeted to temptatiDIJS, as' in Chupt. 4· He was {t~bjdltd to all temptatio11s; yea, and in the 17th Verfe of this 4th Chapter, ho gives this R.eafon why he was mode a frail man, even to make him the more tenderly merciful to us, It btboved him, C!lc. So thot bdides his mercies, os he was God (as if that they fitted him note– nough) hcalfobecamea Man, a tempted Man, to engage his heart to faith– fulnefs, and to foften his heart to pity us with fuch a kind of pity·, with which one man ufeth to pity another, of his Nature, in di!hefs: This was an additi– onal acquired mercy in his heart unto that which he had, as he was God. Now in a like fenfe this Speech here is to be underfrood , that he was made able thtrrby to fuccour us. You may ask of me concerning this (as of the others alfo) Was not our Sa– viour able to fuccour us, being God-man, though he had never been temp– ted? I Anfwer; 'Tis true, he had that radical or fundamental Power, both of thH, and of 2ll things elfe, as God: But it was this of his having been him– fclf tempted , which gave him the immediate next Power, thepotmtia proxi· ~u~~ . . . And then you will next enquire , How came 1t that hiS havmg been temp· ted, fhould give him rower and ability to help us; fuch as he elfe had not had? That Scripture refolves you clearly, !11 that himj"elj bath .Jt~ffered,. hi11g tempted, be u ab!e,~c. So then it lay in that all.bts Temptations were.mht~ ~ all p11re andmar {ujJeri11g<,_ to him; (In conformity unto whtch here m this Text of Peters, even our Temptations are termed S11feri11gs, Afttr yo11 have Jttjjtrtd awhile, (!ic.) All Cbrifr's Temptations were grievous Afflictions and Vex-
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