340 / 504
C.X11.Confiftency
Of
Prom.
of
PerC
& Exhortations to the
ufe
ofineanes.
284
what
bath
been
already tendered,
and
given
into
confederation over,
and
over
If
God
caufe
the
Saints
effe
&ually
to' perfevere
(his
teatimes
ofirrefifli-
.bly
and
Neceffztating,.have
been long
fince
difcharged
from
any farther atten-
danceor
fervice
in
this warfare)
by
Exhortations,then
are
all
his
Promifes
of
Perfeverance
in
vaine;
But
why.
fo
? May
not God
injoynethe
ufe
of
means,
and
promife by them the attainement
of
the
End? May
he
not
Promife that
taus,
which
he will worke
himfelfe effeetually in
us
If
God
effe&ually
worke
in
us,
to
give
us
by
what
meanes fo
ever
a
new
heart, may he
not pro-
mife
to
givens
a
new
heart?
Tea
but amongfl men
this
would
be
incongruous,
yeà
ridiculous
that
a Fatherfhould
Promife his
fonne
an
inheritance
&
then
perfwade
him
to
take heed
that
he may
obtaine
it.
But
Firft,
If
this
be
Incongruous,
yea ridiculous
amongft men in
their
dea-
lings
withone
another, doth it
therefore
follow,
that
it
mutt:
be
fo
as
to
Gods
dealings with men
?
Are
histhoughts as our thoughts,
&
his
wayes
as
our wayes?
Is
not the
wifdome
of
God
foolifhneffe
with men, and
theirs much more
fo
with him
?
Are men
bound
in
their
dealings
with
others
to
confider them
not
only
in
their
Naturall and Civili relations,
but
as
impotent
and
corrupted men,
as
God
in his
dealings
with them doth
Secondly,
Neither
is
this courfe
fo
Rid
iculous
ainongft
men,
as
Mr
Good-
win
imagineth;
that
a
Father
having promifed
his
fonne an inheritance, and
infrared
it
on him,
or
allured it
to
him, fho
uld exhort & perfwade him
to
be
have himfelfe worthy
of
his
kìndneffe,&
to take
heed
that
he
come
to
the
in-
joyment
of
the
Inheritance
which he
bath provided for
him,by
the
meanes
that
he
bath appointed,
(for
the
prefcription
ofmeans
for
the injoyment
of
the
Inheritance
muff be fuppofed
to
go along with
the
promife
& affurance)
is
farre from beingacourle
fo
ridiculous
as
is
pretended.
Neither Thirdly,
is
this fimilitude
Analogous
with
that
which
it
is
produ-
ced
to
illuftrate.
For
a.
A
man
may
know
how, and
when, and on
what
account
an
Inheri-
tanceis
fetled
on
him by
his
Father;
Of
what God promifeth
we
have
Faith
only
not
Knowledge,
properly
fo
called; nor
alwaies
the
Affiarance
of
Faith
as
to
the injoyment
of
the thing promifed,
but
the
Adherence
of
Faith,
as
to
the
Truth
and Faithfulneffe
of
the
Promïfer.
Nor
2.
Can
a
Father worke
in his
Sonne
that
Obedience
which
he requireth
of
him,
as
Hi can do who
Creates
a
new
heart
in
us
and
writes
his Law
end
Feme therein.
3.
This
Abfolute ingagement
to
bellow
an
Inheritance,
whether the
manes
ofobtaining it
beufed, and Wilted
on
or no,
is a
thing
mot}
remote
from what
we afcribe
to the Lord
in
his
Promifes ofPerfeverance,
which
are
Only
thatBelieversfhallPerfevere
by
the
ufe
of
meanes,wdh
meanes he exhorts
them
to
ufe,& yet dealing
with
thetas
in
aCovenant
of
Grace
&Mercy,entered
into
upon account
of
their
utter
infufficiency in
theinfelves
to do
the
things
that
are
wellpleafing
to
him, whereunto they are
fo
exhorted, He
himfelfe
effe&ually
and Gracioufly,according
to
the.tenour
of
that Covenant
workes
in them
what
he requires
of
them, bearing them
forth,
in
the power of
his
Grace,
to the
ufe
of
the
meanes
appointed.
42-
His
Sellions 8,
&9,containe
an
endeavour
for
the taking
off,an
Inttance ufu-
ally given
of
preffing to
the
ufe
of
meanes,
where
the
end
is
infallibly promifed
.
to
be
accomplithed and
brought
aboùr,
in
and
by the ufe
ofthofe
meancs.
And this
is
in
the
pall'age
of
Paul Alls 27.
whereof
fomething formerly hath
ben fpoken;Paul receives
a
Promife from GodThat
none
of
the
liver
of
the
per
-
fòns
with him in the
ffiip
fhouldperifh;
this
hedeclares to
his
company
and how
deeply
he was
concerned in
the
accomplifhment
of
the
Promife, and
his
pre-
diction