89 / 504
Mal.
3.
6. lames
t.
1.6
,v,v
S.
opened.
C
A
P.11:
4:
4s5
and
fwift
deftru
&ión,
when
others
fhall be invefted
with all
the
eminent
33
Mercies, which
the Lord Chrift brings along
With
him, leaft
the
true
Sonnes
'of
Jacob
fhould
be terrifyed with the dread
of
the approaching Day,and
fay,
as
David did,
when theLord
made a breach upon
7Jzzah,who
canJtand
before
14.
54.4,54:
fo
holy
a
God
?
Shall
not
we
alto
in
the
iffue
be
confumed
?
He difcovereth
to
them the
Foundation of their
prefervation.
to
the end,
even
the
Vnee
ban
-
geableneffe
of
his
owne
nature
and
being,whereunto
his
Love
to
them
is
con-
formed: Plainely intimating,
that
unleflè himfelfe
and
his
everlafting
Deity
be
fubjeí't
and lyable
to
Alteràtioh and Change
(which once
to imagine,
were
,
what lyeth
in us;
to
cat}
him downe from
his Excellency,)
it could
not
be,that
they fhould be
caft
of
forever, and
confirmed.
Thefe
are the
Tribes
of
Jacob
and the
Preferved
of
Ifrael
,
which Jefus
Chrif}
was lent
to
raile
up,
Ifaiah
go.
6.
The
Houle
of
Jacob, which
he
tithes
from
the
womb,
and
carries unto old
Age,
unto hoary
and
forfàketh
not
Ifaiah
46.3,4.
This
is
confirmed, fames
1.16,17,18,
Doe
not
erre
my
beloved
brethren
,eve
-
$.
4
ry
Good
Guift
and
every
perfe
f
guift
cometh downe
from
the
Father
of
Lights;
with
whom
is
no
variableneffe, norfhadow
of
turning:O
f
his
owne
will
begat
he us
with
the word
of
truth; He begets
us
of
his
owne will by
the word
of
truth:
For whatfoever
men doe
pretend,
we
are
borne
againe,
not
of
blood
nor
of
the will
of
theflefli,nor the
will
of
man,
but the
will ofGod,
john
143.
Now
her-
in faith
the
Apo
file,
we doe receive from him
good
and
perfoll Guifts:
Guifts
diftinguifhed
from
the
common endowments
of
others:
Yea
but
they are fail-
ing
ones
perhaps? Such
as
may
Ilourith for
a
feafon,
and be
but
Children
of
a night like
Jonas
Gourde.
Though God bath
begotten
us
of
his
owne
will,
and
beftowed
good
&
perfect Guifts
upon
us,yet
he may
caft us
off
for ever.Doestot
erre
my
beloved
Brethren,
faith
the
Apottle,
thefe thingscomefrom
the
Father
of
Lights:
God
himfelfe
is
the Fountaine
of
all Lights
of
Grace,which
we
have
received; and with him,
there
is
no
variableneffénor fhadow
of
Turning,
not
the
leaf}
appearance
of
any
change or Alteration. And
if
the
Apofile
did
not
in
this place Argue from
the
Immutability
of
theDivine
Nature,
to
the Un-
changeableneffe
of
his
Love,
towards thofe,whom
he
hath begotten,and'be-
flowed
fuch
Light
and
Grace
upon,there
were no
jut}
Reafon
of
mentioning
that
Attribute
and
Property
there:
Hence Rom.11.29.
The
guilts
and
calling
of
God
are laid
to be
without
.5^
Repentance:
the
guilts
of
his effe&uall
calling
(
tie
has
,miry)
fhall never be
re-
'
pented of:They are from him,withwhom
there
is
no change.
The
words are
added
by
the
Apof}le,to
give
Affurance
of the
certain
Ac-
complifhment
ofthe
Purpofe
of
God towards the
Remnant
of
the Jewes, ac-
cording
to the
Elellion
ofGrace.What
the
principle mercies
were,that
were in
Gods intendment
to them,
and whereof by
their
effe&uall
calling they
{hall
be
made
partakers,
he
tells
us
v.2647.
The
Deliverer
or Redeemer,which
comes
out
of
Sinn,
fhall, according
to the
Covenant
of
Grace,
turne
them from
um-
godlineffe,
the Lord taking
away
their
finne. San&ification
and Juftification
by
Chrift,the
two
maineBranches
of
the
New
Covenant:(
rerem.
31.
42.Ierera.
32,
Ezek,
36. Heb:8.
r
3,14.chap:
Iö.
í7,18. )doe
make up
the
Mercy purpofed
for them.
The
certainty
ofthe
Collation
of
this Mercy
upon them,
notwith=
ftanding the interpofition
of
any
prefent oMtru
&ion (among{{
which
their
Enmity
to
the Gofpell
was
moil eminent,and lay ready
to
be
obje&ed) the
Apofile
argueth
fr6 the
Unchangeableneffe
of
the
Love
of
Elea
ion
,wherewith
the
Lord embraced
them
from
Eternity;
as
touching the
Életlion
they are belo-
ved:
and
farther
to
manifef}
on
that account, the
fulfilling,
of
what he
is
in
the
proofe and
Demonftration
of,
viz,
that
'though
the major part
of
Ilrael
according
to
the
fleffi,
were
reje&ed,
yet the
Election fhould
obtaine,
and all
F
Ifraell