346 / 504
C.Xli. Confißency
of
Prom.of
PeiCwith exhortations to
the
ufe of
means.
zgo they
may
beare them.
So
that not
only
fuffzciency
of
meanes
to
perfevere,
but
Perfeverance it
felfe
by thofe
meanes
and
Gods
ordering
all
things
fo
in
his
Faithfulneffe,
that
no affault
{hall
befall
them above
the
power
of
the
ftrength given them
to
bear;
is
here alferted.Now the
Promife here
given
is
either
Abfolute
orCanditionall.
If
Abfolute,
that
is,fo
farre
as
that
it
(hall
in-
fallibly be accomplifhed,
not
fo
depending
on
any
thing
that
in refpe&
of
the
Event
may,
or
may
not be
as
to be
left
at
uncertainty
for
its fulfilling, It
is
all
that
is
ofus
cleared.
Íf
it
(hall
be
faid
that
it
is
Conditional!,
I
delire
that
the
Conditon
from whence
it
is
fo faid
to
be, may be alligned
;
Ifit
(hall
be
laid (as
tis)
that it
is,
in
cafe they
willingly
er not themfelves
to
to
he
over-
come
of
Temptations; I afkgr
whether the
ftrength and Ability
that
God
af-
fords
to
his Saints
to
refift
Temptation,
be not
in
the ftrengthning and
con-
firming their
Wills
againft
them
?
And
if
fo,
whether this Pmmife
fo
inter-
preted doth not
refolve it
felfe
into
this
propofition,
i
will
not
Alter
my
Saints
to
be
overborne
by
Temptations,
above the
flrength
i
will
give them to beare,
pro
-
vided
they be
not
preffed
with
Temptations
above
the
firength
I
give unto the.
The
Promife then
is .Abfolute,
either
that
no
Temptations
that!
befall
Believers
a-
bove
that
they have received,
or that
ftrength not
to
be overcome,
fhall
be
afreth
communicated
to
them upon the granites
of
any
new'
Tempts
Lions.
3.
This
being eftablifhed
that
here
is
a firm
Promife ofPerfeverance,againft
whichM. G.oppofeth fcarceany thing at
a1,&
nothing at
all
to
the purpofe,his
whole
infuing Difcourfe
falls
of
it
felfe5for
fret
the
caveat ufed
at the entrance
of
this
Promife,and the Exhortation
at the
clofe,both tending
to (tine upthe
Saints,to whom
the
Promife is,made (many
of
whom have no
diftin&
Atlìr
ranee
oftheir
intereft
in
this,or
any
other
Promife) to be
heedfully
careful!
in
ufing
the
meanes
of
Perfeverance,and avoiding the
finnes
that
in
their
owne
Nature
tend to the interruption
of
it
no
other
poffibility
of
falling
away
can
be concluded,
but
fuch
as
may
have
a
Confiftency with
the Faithfuinelé
of
God
in
the
Promife
he bath given:
that
is, a
poffibility
as
they
fayinfenfia
divifo,
without
refpe&
had to the
infallibly
preventing
Caufes ofit5
not
in
fenfu
conipofato.
A
pof
ibil'sty in
reference
to the nature
of
the
things them
-
(elves, which
is
a
fufficient
bottome
for
caveats
to
be given, and
Exhortations
to
be
made
to
them concerned
in
them, not at
all in refpe&
of
the
purpofes
and
Promifes
of
God, infallibly preventing the
reducing
into
A
&,
of
that
poffibility;
Thefe
exceptions then
notwithltanding
it
apppeares
in
the
I
Cor.
io,i1,12,13,&
¡4.
verfes,
there
is
a
Conjun
&ion
of
a
gracious
Promife
of
Perfeverance, with
effe&uall
Exhortations
to
the
ufe
of
meanes whereby
we
may perfevere; and confequently they who deny
a
due tonfifteney be-
tween
them, do
impute
folly
or
,weakeneffe
to
the
Holy Ghoft;
tar
çdc<
4
5i.
Heproceedes
to the
next
placepointed
to
by him
l'elfe,
to
prove
a
conlii-
Prency
between Promifes and Exhortations
under
Confideration:
to
wit
Phil.
2.12,13.
Wherefore
my
beloved
asye have
always
obeyed,
not
as
in
my pretence
only,
but
now
much more
in my.
abfence,worke
outyour
own
Salvation
with
Feare
andTremblingFor
it is
God
that
worlteth
in
you
both to
willand
to
do
ofhis
good
pleafure:
Evident
it
is
that
you have here conjoyned
by
the
Holy Ghpft
as
weighty
and
pathetical! an Exhortation,as He almoft
any where ufeth
in
the
Scripture,
with
an Affértion
of
Grace,as eminently operative
and
effe&ttall,as
by any
meanes can be
expreft.
But faith
he'Tis
one
thing
to affirme
that
God worketh
in
man as
to
will,
f
to
do,
i.
e.
to enable
men
to
do or
put
in
execution
what
they
ftrfl
will,
or
to aft JI
in
the
doing
or
executing
it
felfe,
another
to Promil
a
or
worke
infallibly,
and
with-
out