132 / 504
CeP.Ilt.g;36,
Iersm.3i.
;.
z
Tim.2.19,Explained.
y
fpe&
of
the immediate
fountaine from whence it flowes,and nature
of
its
im
mediate
caufe
;but
alto
as
to
its
Event,
in refpe&
of
any
A&
of
the
will
of
God,
that
it
may
otherwife
be,
and
fo
the
accomplifhment
ofthat
'Decree
left
thereupon
uncertain,
and God
himfelfe dubioufly
conjecturing
at
the
Event,
(for
inftance
whether Chrift fhould
Dye
or
no, or
any
one
be faved
by
him:)
and
(3.)
Clearely evince
this
notion
of
the
Decrees
and Purpofes
of
God,
that
he intends
to
Create Man, and then
to
give him
fuch
advantages,which
if
hewill,
it
!hall
be
fo
with him:
if
otherwife, it
!hall
be
fó:
To
fend Chrift, if
men doe fo,or fo:or
not
to
fend
him,if
they doe otherwife
fo
of
the
refìdue'
of
the
Decrees mentioned
by
him; and
(4.)
That
all events
of
things what
-
foever, Spirituali and Temporal!, have
a
Conditional/
futurition
antecedent
to
any
a&
of
the Will
of
God.When
I
fay
he
(hall
have proved thefe
and
fome like things
to
thefe, we
!hall
further
confider
what
is
offered by
Mini
yea
we will confeffe
that
Hollis
habet
muros
&c.
4.36.
Of
the many'otherTeftimoniesto the
purpofe
in
hand, bearing
witneffe
to
the
fame
Truth,
fome few
may yet be
fingled
out ; and
in
the next place
that
of
Jeremiah 35. 3.
prefents
it
felfe
unto tryall,
and Examination.
Tea
I
have loved
thee
with an
everlafifing love, therefore
with loving
kindneffe have
l'
drawn thee;
It
is
the
whole
Elell
Church
:
of
the
feed
of
Jacob,
of
whom
he
(peaks:
the
foundation
of
whofe
bleffednefhe,
is
laid
in
the Eternall
Love
of
God; Who
the
perfons
are thus
'beloved, and
of
whom' we are
to interpret
thefe
expreffions
of
Gods good will,
the
Apoftle manifefts
Rom:
I
i
as
thall
afterwards be
more
fully difcourfed, and cleared. He tells
you,
it
is
the
Ele-
élion,
whom
God intends, ofwhom
he
faies
that
they
obtained
the Kighte-
oufneffe
that
is
by
faith, according
to
the purport
of
Gods good will
towards
them,
though the
reft were
hardned
5
God
(
who adds daily
to
his
Church
filch
as
(hall
be
faved,
Alls
53.48.)
drawing
them
thereunto,
upon
the
account
of
their being
fo
Ele&ed.
He
calls
them allo the
Remnant according
to
the
Ele
Ilion
of
Grace,
and
the
People
whom
God did>
foreknow v:
r,
2.
or from Eternity
defigned
to the
participation
of
the
Grace there fpoken
of,
as
the ule
of
the
word bath
been evinced
to
be.
Thefe
are
the
(Thee)
here defigned ;
the por-
tion
of
ifraelafter the
fleth, which
the
Lord
in
his
Free Grace bath eternally
appointed to be
his
peculiar
inheritance,
which
in
their
feverall Generations
he drawes
to
himfelfe with Loving
Kindneffe. And
this
everlafling
Love
is
not
only
the
fountaine, whence
a&uall Loving
Kindneffe
in
drawing
to
God,
or
beftowing
Faith
doth
flow,
(as
they Believe,
who
are
ordained
to
eternal!
life) but alto the
foie Caufe
and Reafon, upon the account whereof,
in
con
-
tra-
diftin
&ion
to the
Confideration
of
any
thing
in themfelves, God
will
exercife
LovingKindneffe
towards them for
ever.
That
which
is
everlafling
or
eternal!,
is
allo unchangeable; Gods
everlafling
Love is
no more liable
to
mutability then himfelfe; And it
is
an alwaies equal!
Ground and
Motive for
Kindneffe.On what account fhould
God alter
in
his
a
&wall
Kindneffe,
or
fa-
vour
towards any,
if
that,
on the account
whereof
he
exercifes it will
not
admit
ofthe
leaft
Alteration?
He
that
(hall
give
a
Condition,
on which this
e-
verlafling
Love
of
God fhould be
fufpended
,
and according
to
the
influence
whereof, upon
it,
it fhould
goe
forth
in
Kindneffe,
or
be interrupted;
may
be
allowed to boaft
of
his
difcovery.
4.37
That
of
the
Apoftle.
2
Tim.
2.
19.
is
important
to
the
bufineffe
in hand.
Nevertheleffe
the
foundation
of
God
glands
fure,
having
thisfeale, the Lord
knpw-
eth them
that
are his. Some
perlons
of
eminency and note
in
the Church
,
yea
Starres
(it
feemes)
of
a
confiderable magnitude
in
the
vilble
Firmament
thereof, having fallen away from
the
Truth
and faith
of
the
Golpell, and
drawne many after
them into
wales
of
deftru&ion,
a
great Offenceand
Scan-
dall