S E R M 0 N s' upon Ser In. C L SER1VION. XL R O M. VIII. 3 a. Moreover, whom he did predeßinate, them he alfo called : and whom he called, them he alto juftified : and whom he juftified, them he alfo gla rifled, E R. E is a farther declaration of the Iaft argument, repreCentedby a grra- dation or chain of caufes, beginning at elettion, and ending in glory ; thofe whom God hath appointed unto falvation, he doth not prefently put ía poffeffron of it, but by degrees, with refpet to his eternal purpofe; heof- fereth grace to them in Chriti, which they accepting, are juflified. Then God dealeth with them as juflified, beginning a life in them, which Shall be perfeacd in heaven. All which proveth, that God by an infallible decree, doth guide all things to the good of the elect. Moreover whom be did predellinate, 6,c. In the words obferve this general point. . That thole whom God elefíeth before time, He effectually caleth, juflifeth, and fanJifteth in time, and will finallyglorifie, when time JLsall be no more. In handling this point, I (ball not fpeak of the nature of thefe ads of grace, but only of their tonne &ion and relation to one another, which I thall reprefent to you in thefe propofitions. , t. That Gods eternal purpofe, will, or decree, is the firfi rire of ail things ; £òr the Apoflle beginneth with predeftination, or his fore- appointing, and foreordaining cer- tain perlons to come to falvation ; fomething there is betides God, or without God, as fence teacheth us ; now how came it to be tranflated from the [late of pure poffibility, into the flare óf futurition and being, but only by the will of God ? elfe fomething would exift whether God would or not ; furely all things are of God; and being of God, they are firft conceived in the womb of his everlafting purpofe and decree, before they have any natural exiftence in the world; I fay his everlafhing purpofe.For there can be no new thought,intent,and purpofe in God ;and if all things,furely the moft.neceflary things, the difpofal of man to his eternal eflate ; he doth nothing therein but what he purpofed and decreed to do from all eternity; therefore all things muft be reduced hither asto their proper fpring, and fountain. That all things are of God, no Chriltian will deny; that they are not betides, or againft his will, is as evident as the former. That this will of God is eternal, and dependeth not upon emergencies of occation from the Creature, is as evident as that I Ihall prove out of the Scriptures, that nothing is made, or done, without the will of God; not the world, Rev.¢. rt. Thou haft created all things, for at thy pleafure they are, and were created; if the world were not created at his will, why was it ,not created Sooner? or why this world and no more ? fo men, that thefe and no others. -There is not one man more that livetli upon the earth, than God pleafeth, from Adam to the end of the world; he hath determined their number, fixing the times and places in great order, Adis 17. 26. He bath made cf one blood all Nations of men, to dwell on the face of the earth; and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation: If there were any Creature in the world whom God willed not, he- would be independent ofGod, and exempted from his' providence ; the difperfion of all" m.mkind into all quarters of the earth, is from his will and purpofe; he did decree and fore-
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