CeP.Ilt.g;36, Iersm.3i. ;. z Tim.2.19,Explained. y fpe&ofthe immediatefountaine from whence it flowes,and natureofits im mediatecaufe;but alto asto itsEvent, in refpe& ofany A&ofthe will ofGod, that it may otherwife be, and fo the accomplifhment ofthat 'Decree left thereupon uncertain, and God himfelfe dubioufly conjecturing at the Event, (for inftancewhether Chrift fhould Dye or no, or anyonebe favedby him:) and (3.) Clearely evince thisnotion ofthe Decrees and Purpofes ofGod, that he intends toCreate Man, and then togive him fuch advantages,which ifhewill, 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,ifthey doe otherwife foofthe refìdue' ofthe Decrees mentioned byhim; and (4.) That all events of things what - foever, Spirituali and Temporal!, have a Conditional/ futurition antecedent toany a& ofthe 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 yeawe will confeffe that Hollis habet muros &c. 4.36. Ofthe many'otherTeftimoniesto the purpofe inhand, bearing witneffe to the fame Truth, fome fewmay yet be fingled out ; and in the next place that ofJeremiah 35. 3. prefents it felfeunto tryall, and Examination. Tea I have lovedthee 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 EternallLove of God; Who theperfons 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 morefully difcourfed, and cleared. He tells you, it is the Ele- élion, whomGod intends, ofwhom he faies that they obtained the Kighte- oufneffe that is byfaith, according to the purport ofGods good will towards them, though the reft were hardned 5 God (who adds daily to his Church filch as(hall befaved, Alls 53.48.) drawing them thereunto, upon the account oftheir being fo Ele&ed. He calls them allo the Remnant according to the Ele IlionofGrace, and the PeoplewhomGod did>foreknow v: r, 2. or from Eternity defigned to the participationofthe Grace there fpoken of, asthe uleof the word bathbeen evincedto be. Thefeare the (Thee) here defigned ; the por- tionofifraelafter thefleth, which the Lord inhis 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 onlythe fountaine, whencea&uall LovingKindneffe indrawing to God, or beftowingFaith doth flow, (as they Believe, who are ordained to eternal! life) but alto the foie Caufeand 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, ifthat, on the account whereof he exercifes it will not admit oftheleaft Alteration? He that (hall givea Condition, on which this e- verlaflingLoveof God fhould be fufpended , and according to the influence whereof, upon it, it fhouldgoeforth inKindneffe, orbe interrupted; may be allowed to boaft ofhisdifcovery. 4.37 That ofthe Apoftle. 2 Tim. 2. 19. is important to the bufineffe in hand. Nevertheleffe thefoundationofGodglandsfure, having thisfeale, the Lord knpw- eth them that are his. Some perlons of eminency and note in the Church , yea Starres (it feemes) ofa confiderable magnitude in the vilble Firmament thereof, having fallen away from the Truth and faithofthe Golpell, and drawne many after them into wales ofdeftru&ion, a great Offenceand Scan- dall
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