them to the preconsolation of the Gentiles For I would not Brethren that ye should be ignorant of this mystery lest you should be wise in your own conceiâ—â— that blindeness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in and so all Israel shall be saved as it is written There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my coâ—enant with them when I shall take away their sins Which words in the original are somewhat different but it seems the Apostle followed the translation of the Septuagint in which translation the words are not so much considered as the sense These things also Mosâ—s Jeremiah and Ezechiel do promise to the Israelites that he will gather them out of all Nations and from the ends of the earth that he will cleanse them with pure water and purge them from all their iniquities and give them a new heart and a new spirit C. To the other things I readily assent but I do not sufficiently understand what is meant by the Deliverer M. I will shew you my Caelius This place is diversly expounded but the words of the Apostle are plain enough for when he saith he shall come it is liquid he speaketh of somewhat yet to come and when he saith the Deliverer shall come whom can you suppose to be meant but Jesus Christ the onely Saviour and Redeemer of mankind especially when he addeth out of Sion that is out of the very Nation of the Jews to whom this Prophecie doth belong But because some Holy and great man was to be sent from God for the instauration of a collapsed Church and the replantation of an extinguished Religion this doth not at all seem different from the custom of God For when things are even despaired of and grown desperate he then useth as the Prophet Malachie speaks to raise up some Elias before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord and he shall turn the heart of the Fathers to the Children and the heart of the Children to their Fathers that is he will congregate and convert the hearts of those Children to the Messiah whose Fathers have worshipped him in Spirit And that this should be performed by Elias was the opinion of Orig n Theodoret Chrysostom and Austin also which they confirm by that saying of our Saviour When Elias comes he shall restore all things Howsoever in my judgement Paul in that place means none other but Christ Jesus C. But was not Christ already come when Paul wrote wherefore then doth he say he shall come What coming doth he describe his first appearing to suffer death for us or his last coming to judgement M. Paul in his second Epistle to the Thessalonians when he purposeth to describe unto us by whom Antichrist should be revealed and by what weapons he should be overcome after that for a time he had proudly advanced himself against Christ under the name of Christ he thus writeth Then shall that wicked one be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming In which words four things are declared unto us That Antichrist shall be detected by whom he shall be brought to destruction by what weapons and lastly that the Lord himself shall come in Person against this enemy shall subdue him and scatter all his forces this shall be the means of that accomplishment Whatsoever is made manifest was first hidden and whatsoever is brought to light is made manifest Antichrist for a long time hath lyen hid like a wolf in sheeps cloathing and still had been unmanifested had not the appearance of Christ begun to reveal him by whose coming again also he shall be utterly overthrown But in the mean time it behoves us to fight manfully under Christ our King and leader against this adversary and all his adherents and least we should faint or be discouraged St. John assureth us he shall be delivered into our hands And the Lamb shall overcome them for he is Lord of Lords and King of kings and they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful But with what weapons with those wherewith men go out to battel No but with the Spirit of his mouth and the brightness of his coming C. I apprehend you with the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God that is with arguments taken out of the Doctrine of the Scriptures which he shall never be able to answer M. I deny not but the adversaries of Christ may be fought withall and brought to destruction by other weapons but Paul telleth us that Antichrist shall be put to flight by the Spirit of his mouth to exaggerate the power of Christ who is able to vanquish his enemies by the breath of his nostrels For his Spirit as the Prophet Isaiah saith is an over flowing stream he is also a consuming fire and Christ Jesus is the brightness of this fire at whose appearance the enemies vanish as the night and darkness is dispersed by the approch of the sun Now if the tyranny of Antichrist must be abolished by the Spirit of the mouth of our Saviour before his last coming to judgement which St. John foretelleth saying And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast these shall hate the whore and shall make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and shall burn her with fire That the Gospel may be preached in all the Kingdoms of the earth another coming of Christ must yet be enquired after and this is that coming by which he hath begun to restore the preaching of the Gospel to enlighten the understandings of them that sate in darkness to confirm them by his Spirit We know well under how much blindness and ignorance the whole world in former ages hath been kept contiguous almost to the very times of the Apostles For as soon as their embassage was ended the ravenous wolves begun to enter into the fold of Christ as Paul saith not sparing the flock Thus by degrees the true Christ was taken out of the world and a supposititious Christ laid in his room in the holy place the Temple of God established in faith not founded upon any material basis In which temple he sitteth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all deâ—eaveableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved For they who shut their ears that they may not hear the truth it is no wonder that they delight in lies And when salvation is promised to them that believe the truth they that delight in lies may justly fear damnatioÌ„ C. If I understand you rightly you intimate that as the absence of the Gospel doth signifie the absence
of Christ for where his word is preached where his voice is heard there is Christ so by the return and restoring of the Gospel is to be understood another coming of Christ M. Rightly taken but I proceed to declare this middle coming In the 18. of Luke Christ having propounded the similitude of the unjust Judge and the importunate Widdow saith of himself When the Son of mâ—n cometh shall he find saith upon the earth which cannot be understood of his last appearance when the Gospel being preached over all the earth there will be an infinite multitude of believers But that I may no longer detain your expectation he then foretold this coming if you heed the mysterie when by his denouncing of judgement and destruction upon the Jews he comforted and confirmed the minds of those amongst them who did or should believe saying so reckon that ye shall see me no more hencâ—forth until you shall say blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Seeing therefore so much blindness is brought into the world so many shadows of falss Religion and vails of false Doctrine first into the Church by the decretals of the Popes then by the fabulous stories of the Talmud lastly into other Nations by the lies of Mahomet in the Alchoran it is altogether necessary that Christ our King by his most glorious coming should re-establish all things in unity that the learned may be directed to true wisdom and the ignorant instructed in true Religion C. One thing remaineth which seemeth to me yet improved you said our Lord Christ had respect to his second coming when he told the Jews they should see him no more until with joyful acclamations they should receive him as their Lord and King which I conceive was then accomplished when riding upon an Ass towards Jerusalem they entertained him with that great applause M. Two things are diligently to be considered First whether our Saviour spake these words before those acclamations or afterwards but let any man confer the circumstances and he shall find they were afterwards spoken Secondly to whom these words were spoken St. Luke attesteth that these words were spoken to the Pharisees but let any man consult the other Evangelists and he shall find that he was afterward seen by the Pharisees but he shall not find that ever they said blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Nay they were so far from approoving these jubilations that it filled them with murmuring and objurgations for in that day when the multitude followed him St. John sheweth in the 12. Chap. of his Gospel that the Pharisees said within themselves do you not see that we prevail nothing behold the whole world is gone after him We must therefore seek after another Advent and it will be that which we mentioned from the prophetical saying in St. Paul which shall be then accomplished when the stragling and vagabond Jews shall infold themselves into the Church of Christ and when those words of the people shall be fulfilled in their signification Hosanna to the son of David blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest for then according to the words of St. Paul all Israel shall be saved C. I now plainly perceive that that place of St. Paul is to be understood in a Spiritual sense and that upon the second comming of Christ the Jews shall be restored and that I may briefly declare my mind I suppose that all those destructions that have happened to that people and that wonderful blindness in which they have been captivated did portend the universal calamity which the world was to suffer under Antichrist and that this coming of our Saviour shall be as a resurrection from sin a dereliction of our errours and a conversion to the true Faith of Jesus Christ and having received delightful satisfaction in these doubts I shall now propound some places in the New Testament which make against this Opinion and first these do occur the words of Christ himself Strive to enter in at the strait gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there are which enter in but strait is the door that leadeth to eternal life and narrow is the way and few there are that find it Here Christ not obscurely doth seem to signifie that few shall be saved but many shall be damned M. It is very excellently and modestly spoken my Caelius for indeed all things are not as they seem neither are all things proved which appear to be so some things are indeed such as they seem to be as gold and silver but other things though they appear true to the judgement of the sence yet are improperly so called as tin and lytarge of gold mingled with gall and quick-silver have a semblance of true gold Hypocrites which we call dissemblerâ— doe not they appear true devout and Holy yet they are so far seperated and distinguished from piety and true sanctity by our Saviour Himself that he called them painted sepulchers which are of beautiful outsides but full of filth and stink and rottennes within He saith also by their habit and behaviour they seem to be sheep but within they are ravening wolves So on the other side most men are accounted irreligious and prophane wicked and reprobated are pointed at hissed at scoffed at plundered sequestered murthered as enemies to God and goodness and unworthy to injoy any share in Gods creatures yet these persecuted men hold fast the true Religion and Faith in Christ Our Saviour therefore in the 7. of John exhorteth us not to judge by appearance but to judge righteous judgement And in the 8. Chap. he reprehendeth the Pharisees that they judged after the manner of men all is not gold that glisters the same thing may I say of this place by you alleadged and perhaps they that extenuate the number of the blessed and lessen the Church Triumphant doe more oppose God than they which amplifie and augment it For if we search into some things with a holy curiosity the first appearances of them will vanish from this very place this truth will be sufficiently proved For when a certain man asked our Saviour whether few or many should be saved Christ makes this answer Strive to entâ—r in at the strait gate for many I say unto you will strive to enter in and shall not be able When once the Master of the house is risen up and hath shut the door and ye begin to stand without and to knock at the door saying Lord Lord open unto us and he shall answer and say unto you I know you not whence you are then shall ye begin to say We have eaten and drunk in thy presence and thou hast taught in our streets but he shall say I tell you I know you not whence you are depart from me all ye workers of iniquitie there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when ye shall
or Leprosie repair to the Priests I know some men from hence would authorise private Confession or rather confusion for with such foolish and impious Allegories they indeavour to obscure the Doctrine of Christ it was an argument of Divine power and an evident testimonie of the obedience of Christ who came not to destroy but to fulfil the Law for it was expresly said in the Law that the Priest should judge of the leper The Lord also commanded the rich Man to sell all his goods and give them to the poor and to follow him that saying very much troubled him and made him sad yet perhaps he afterwarwards put it in execution And if he did not he ought to have done it in obedience to the command of so good and gratious a Master it will be sufficient for us to have such a preparation of mind that if the welfare of our brethren and the glorie of the Lord require it to part with all things yea life it self but this being a singular injunction and commanded onely to one man doth not bind the generality of men so that they should neglect their estates or impend all their wealth upon the poor any more than they are bound to sacrifice their sons because God commanded Abraham to such an obedience and therefore because our Lord said unto the Jews that many are called but few are chosen we must not generally extend and stretch these words to all times and persons C. You mean if I understand you right that those sayings were meant of the Jews of those times and solely to be appropriated unto them of whom many by the Prophets and afterwards many were called by the Lord himself but few were chosen namely Apostles Disciples and some Women as the Holy Scriptures do witness these were the little flock to whom Christ did Minister that consolation in Luke saying Fear not little flock for it is the will of your Father to give you a Kingdom this is that remnant of which Paul in the 11 to the Rom. saith Even so then there is at this time a Remnant according to the election of grace these are that seed of whom also Isaiah speaketh Except the Lord of Sabboth had left us a seed we had been as Sodom and been made like unto Gomorrha In all which places the paucity of the Jews of those times which should be saved is not obscurely signified M. You take my meaning right and you have very aptly connumerated those places of Scripture Those that do detort that saying of our Saviour should observe that all those parables in the 20 21 and 22. Chapters in Matthew do contain the rejection of the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles In confirmation of this truth weigh those words in the first similitude in the 20 Chapter they murmured against the good man of the house saying These last have wrought but one hour and thou hast made them equal unto us which have born the burthen and the heat of the day And it is manifest that after the resurrection of Christ these Jews did make complaints and when Paul and the rest of the Apostles preached the Gospel to them that were without they held it an unjust thing that the Gentiles should be made equal to them the ancient and Holy people of God this is plain to be seen both in the Acts of the Apostles and also in the Epistle to the Romanes In the same parable also these words Take what is thine and go thy way do clearly imply the rejection of the Jews and what is more manifest than that convertible Text Those that are last shall be first and those that are first shall be last Who I pray are those last made first but the Gentiles alienated from the Common-wealth of Israel and now preferred before the Jews and who are those first made last but the Jews for a time rejected till the fulness of the Gentiles be come in Then also those Israelites shall be saved as we have shewed before Moreover the Parable of the 21 Chapter cannot admit of doubt and that in the 22. Chapter is so perspicuous that if in the first there possibly were any doubt to be raised yet this would easily remove and dissolve it especially when the same sentence Many are called few are chosen is found also in the conclusion of that parable Now that this similitude was by our Lord appropriated to the Jews who can make a question when he observes these words The wedding is ready but they which were bidden are not worthy Go ye therefore into the high wayes and as many as ye shall find bid to the marriage This is the same which our Lord commanded to his Disciples Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creatures Mark the last Chapter This Paul and Barnabas testifie in the Acts It was necessarie that the word of God should first have been spoken to you but seeing ye put it from you and judge your selves unwoâ—thie of everlasting life See we turn to the Gentiles for so hath the Lord commanded us Now compare this of Paul with that of our Saviour and you will find that one egge is not more like another Christ saith They that were invited were not worthiâ— Paul saith You judge your selves unworthie Christ saith Go out into the high waies Paul saith We go out unto the Gentiles for thus hath the Lord Commanded But let us rise to dinner there is an importunate creditour must also have some satisfaction That which remaineth which indeed is the most important matter we will difer until the afternoon M. THe serenity of the air my Caelius and this pleasant face of heaven doe even invite us to forsake the house With your allowance therefore we will repair to yonder summer-house and spin out our discourse C. It is most agreeable Maynardus for I prefer the benefit of your conversation before all sublunary contentments It is now your part to proceed and as the gravitie of the matter doth require I shall lend you a very attentive ear M. I will proceed conditionally that you will interpose when you doubt of any thing spoken C. I shall most willingly M. Then First I will declare the first rise and beginning of that opinion concerning the paucitie of the Elect. Secondly I will prove by plain and solid arguments the amplitude and Largeness of the CHURCH TRIUMPHANT In the beginning as by the subtle malice of the Devil death got an enterance into the World so by his artifice and emulation this envious and narrow Opinion hath been advanced and disseminated for this father of lies this enemy of mankind saw and collected by indubitable signs that the Church of God was established in mercy as upon an unremoveable foundation and that by degrees God would settle his heavenly Kingdom which should consist of infinite multitudes of Citizens therefore hath he endeavoured and doth still contrive by a thousand deceits temptations and trecheries to coarctate
hath not been revealed to them C. I confess I thought thus within my self but I was willing to hear your opinion but when you said a little before speaking of the Church that it was wheresoever men did believe or should believe wherefore made you that addition should believe M. Because at all times and in all ages many are elected to this kingdom which are not yet called not compelled by faith to enter as were Saul Cornelius the Centurion and Sergius Paulus the Proconsul and innumerable others whose vocation and ingress was by the Lord for some time deserred who because they were from all eternity appointed to this kingdom are therefore all Citizens and Members of this heavenly Common-wealth this is manifest by these and others who the goodness of God being revealed are afterwards received into this kingdom C. They say that Cornelius oponed a passage into this kingdom by his prayers and Alms-deeds and this they confirm by those words of the Angel to him Thy prayers and thy Almes are come up for a memorial before God M. The abettors of such fancies are contumelious to God and ignorant of the Scriptures they reproch God for they rob him of his Honour and give the glory to man they are ignorant of the Scriptures not discerning an open truth Their errour ariseth partly from a non-consideration of the words preceding and subsequent which if they had perpended they had never dashed against this Rock What hath St. Luke written in the beginning of this Chapter That Cornelius was a devour man and one that feared God with all his house which gave much Almes to the people and prayed to God alway Afterwards those men that were sent by Cornelius give him this Character that he was a just man feared God and of good report among all the nation of the Jews Who now doth not plainly see that his piety to and his fear of God are first commended then his Almes and good deeds are spoken of he was a Religious and a good man and therefore gave many Almes to the poor and prayed to God alway which were the fruits and effects of his piety Therefore it is said he was of good report among the Jews But from whence came these good effects Not from his good deeds for the tree must be good before the fruit can be good as our Lord saith Matth. 7. For the cause cannot follow the effect any more than a daughter can bring forth her Mother But who made him Religious and just and fearing God Who but he that circumciseth the foreskins of our hearts That taketh away our stony hearts and giveth us hearts of flesh and new Spirits Ezech. 11. He I say made Cornelius both Religious and devout and were not these things declared unto Peter by the Divine oracle of God for when he supposed that all the rest of the Nations were alienated from the benefit of the Gospel the Angel telleth him Those things which God hath purified call not thou unclean Acts 10. Here God witnesseth that he had purged prepared and consecrated Cornelius to himself And although it was spoken because of Cornelius yet the words concern all those that God hath chosen and adorned with the beautiful knowledge of the Gospel And whereas it is said that his prayers and giving of Almes went up to God as a memorial nothing more is intended but that God heareth the prayers of the Godly that their good works are acceptable to him and that he hath them in remembrance as flowing from himself the Fountain of all good gifts And where it is said that he was frequent in prayer it is evident that this proceeded from a Divine inspiration For as Paul saith We know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us with unutterable groans Rom. 8. Now if he was endued with the Spirit of God as certainly he was and that his Almes-deeds and his prayers were accepted it is as certain that he had saith without which it is impossible to please God as St. Paul doth most plainly teach Rom. 10. And if he had the illustrations of Faith then his heart was purified and cleansed as Peter testifieth of Cornelius and other Gentiles in St. Luke saying That God had enlightened them by his Holy Spirit and purged their minds by Faith C. I perceive that by degrees you have come to the right explication of the truth but there is yet one thing to be enucleated for Peter saith Of a truth I now perceive that God is no respecter of persons but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted by him Act. 10. Here he sheweth that by good works a man is reconciled to God M. This speech of the Apostle meaneth nothing else but what diverse other holy sentences do teach that God in his election of and his Love to mankind hath regard onely to their goodness and glorie not to their original their pedigree their country their sex their age their merit or any other personal attributes This truth is exemplified in the person of Cornelius whom God called being an alien and dignified him with a place in his kingdom The signs of Election are an ingenuous and a reverential fear of God like to that of obedient children towards their parents from whence there ariseth in them a confidence and a stedfast perswasion of the love of God to them and from thence again groweth a delight in the Law of God a complacency in the works of righteousness he that is accepted by God he feareth he honoureth loveth and trusteth in God for it behoveth that the person of that man be gracious and acceptable whose duties or offices of Love are accepted for no performances are acceptable from him against whom we entertain a prejudice or aversation of this we have experience in the common civilities of life but with God there is no prejudice for he is the searcher of the heart And John saith Whosoever doth work righteousness is born of God Also Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ he is born of God that is therefore some men live justly some man believeth Jesus to be the Christ because he is justified by God and endued with holiness and righteousness by him for unless he thus be born of God he is unable to perform any thing justly and rightly or to believe that Jesus is the Christ This the Lord himself confirmeth upon Peters confession that he was the Son of the Immortal God Verily saith our Saviour flesh and bloud hath not revealed this unto thee but my Father which is in Heaven Now there is this difference between Divine and humane justice he that is not justified by God may execute humane justice for fear of punishment expectation of glorie or hope of other reward but no man is exercised in heavenly justice who is not first justified purged by Faith and assisted with grace Therefore it is no wonder that whosoever
feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of God because the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and a good understanding have all they that keep his Commandments With this fear as with salt the Lord doth season their hearts and preserve from corruption even whilest they are ignorant of him those that he purposeth to call into his kingdom This inchoation of their liberty is afterwards perfected in the time of their vocation by the preaching of the Gospel and by Faith C. I have received full satisfaction and I hope hereafter that both my self and others will give greater credit to the Oracles of God then to the perverse opinions and interpretations of men M. Now that we may conclude this digression I say that wheresoever or whensoever such are found in that moment of time they have attained to this Sanctuary this propitious year of Jubilee Onely as it is written Let us call upon the name of the Lord and we shall not be disappointed Also Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall escape Joel 2. Also The name of the Lord is a strong tower the righteous flyeth unto it and is safe Prov. 18. To this tower this sanctuary the Lord himself beckneth the poor the miserable the wretched the desperate sinners in this sweet invitation Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will ease you These are the wayes the secrets of holy state and the Divine Policies which our King useth for the Instanration of his kingdom And if the kingdoms of the earth are enlarged by such artifice how much more shall we think the kingdom of Heaven to be dilated which is far more capacious more firm and more easie of access C. Truly I suppose it will infinitely exceed the kingdom or rather the dungeon of the Devil even as much as there are more who wish and desire ease impunity Honour and Salvation then who are in love with labours punishments servitude ignominy and death eternal and certainly but few men will precipitate themselves into these calamities when they may with such facility redeem themselves from the fear of them And although a small industry onely seemeth necessarie to the prevention of these endles torments yet we see but few men that contend to get to this refuge this most pleasant Citie and what should be the cause of this slackness this dulness this indiligence is to me altogether unknown M. The cause is manifest First that which I named before to wit that the new reason of state which our King maketh use of in the administration of his affairs deceaveth those that with the judgement of men seek after this citie as gloriously visible and conspicuous Secondly the Church is congregated and constituted out of this holy Sanctuary by the preaching of the word and the administration of the Sacrament and these being concealed from the greater part of the World by this means this citie for a long time was kept hid and so little taken notice of that it was scarce discernable who were the true Citizens But as soon as the glad tidings of the Gospel have arrived then we see them flock to this citie as in the time of Christ and his Apostles For when Christ himself had said that the kingdom of God was at hand and after that he had exhorted men to bring forth fruit worthie of repentance he then called them all unto him with that joyful summons Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you ease Of this joyful invitation this liberal year the Prophet Isaiah foretold when speaking in the Person of Christ he saith I am endued with the Spirit of the Lord Jehovah hath Anointed me and sent me to declare joyful tidings to heal them of broken Spirits and to give liberty to them that are in bondage sight to the blind to deliver the oppressed out of their streights and to preach the joyful year of the Lord. The Apostles also those faithful Embassadours of Christ did invite all mortal men to this great benefit this most blessed kingdom Old things are past away behold all things are become new and all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself in Christ Jesus and hath given to us the ministerie of reconciliation to wit that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them and hath committed to us the word of reconciliation Now then we are embassadours for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christs stead be ye reconciled to God for he hath made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him But shortly after false Apostles and counterfeit Embassadours brought in humane traditions and began to lay upon mens shoulders the burthen and heavy yoak of the Law which things did deject not erect mens minds did terrifie them not allure them did wound them not heal them from whence 〈◊〉 came to pass that few made their approach to this kingdom or if they drew near they soon returned and departed For the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is not propagated and advanced by the sword but by preaching by the energie of the Spirit by good example patience charitie meekness justice temperance constancy goodness faith lenity long-suffering and all those blessed and peaceable fruits of the true Spirit of God So our Lord himself so his Disciples propagated the truth and sowed the Heavenly Doctrine of Christ in mens hearts For our Lord as Hilarie told Constantinus Augustus did rather teach than exact a knowledge and confession of himself and giving Authority to his precepts by the frequent attestation of miracles he despised a will that was any other way compelled to acknowledge him And full of truth are these words for nothing so free as the judgement in Religion For Religion flourisheth by sound reason and strong perswasion not by fear and threatnings It is defended preserved by dying not by killing by patience not by cruelty by justice not by butchery by faith not by fraud rotten policy For he that will establish Religion by imperious ordinances force doth not seek to defend it but to violate and pollute it But because we see the night approaching Caelius unless you have ought to interpose I shall descend to such places of Scripture as seem to favour this my opinion of the amplitude of the kingdome of God C. I have not the least doubt remaining and I earnestly intreat you before the night prevent us to hasten to those proofs as the chief end of our meeting M. In the first place therefore weigh diligently that magnificent promise of God made to Abraham so often repeated and inculcated God promiseth and confirmeth his promise with an oath that he will make his seed as the dust of the earth so that if a man can number the dust of the earth then