and supernaturall there 's a great pronenesse in creatures to Revolt from it like a Rolling stone on the steep of a hill The Remains of old nature would torrent-like bear down all if Sovereign Power did not barr up the One and sustain the Other For a spark of Divine nature to live in the brest of a lapsed Creature is as great a miracle and as high an effect of Sovereign Power as all the Instances before enumerated and More Lastly The Sovereignty of God is most glorious and adorable in Ordaining His own son who was holy harmless undefiled and seperate from sinners and was also United to the Second Person to be the Mediator and to make His soul an offering for sin And then in His Eternal disposing of Mens everlasting condition To shew or not to shew Mercy unto Men equally dignified or rather Indignified in themselves To make of the same lump one Vessel to honour and another to dishonour is the highest act and demonstration of Sovereign power concerning Men Which thing when ever we hear of or think upon we should put our mouths in the dust Before I come to the Inferences I would add a Caution or two to prevent those sinister deductious which our deceitfull hearts may be apt to draw from this Sovereign Truth First Caution 1. See that you make not God the Author of sin by charging His sacred Decrees with Men's Miscarriages as if they were the Cause or Occasion of them which we are sure they are not nor can be any more than the Sun is the cause of darkness Be it alwaies remembred That the Lord's Rejecting of Men puts nothing of evil into them Nor necessitates the will It only leaves them to their own wayes which they freely choose yet Banking them in and stopping them up as He did the Fountains of the Great Deep lest they Deluge the World with sin Secondly Go not about to palliate Nor think to extenuate your sin by Arguments fetcht from those Decrees That sin of the Iews in Crucifying Christ was in no wise lessened because the Councel of God had determin'd the thing to be done For they perpetrated it with wicked hands Nor is any Man's Unbelief e'r the less culpable from God's Eternal disposement of Mens conditions For it is not upon that consideration that they stumble at the Word or turn the deaf ear to it or resist it but from their own natural blindness and enmity against it And so I come to the Inferences And First Infer 1. From the Scriptures so copiously holding it forth I infer That the Doctrine of God's Sovereignty is a very teaching Doctrine and full of instruction and consequently that it is both a Duty and much for our Profit to be well acquainted with it And great confidence I have That the farther ye go in an humble fiducial disquisition and contemplation of it the clearer will be the Reason thereof and the more usefulness will still appear to be in it Let Reason but keep its own place that is let it work by the Rules of Right Reason and nothing will be more consonant thereto than that the Most High should bear rule over all and Do according to his Will and that Men who are Atoms of Clay animated by his breath should own Him for their Sovereign Lord and accordingly submit to Him yea though so it were that our own personal welfare were not concerned in it It will be of singular Use and Moment to us in the whole of our lives Nothing like this will allay those carnal Reasonings which are so unreasonably prone to put in their Verdict of spiritual things which yet Carnal Reason hath no cognisance of and will indeed be silenced by nothing else The Apostle therefore in Rom. 9. ver 19 20 21. thinks them not worthy a further Reply whose captious Enquiries the Sovereignty of God will not satisfy A second Inscrence Infer 2. which naturally flowes from this Doctrine is that of the Psalmist Oh come let us Worship and bow down Ps 95. 6. and kneel before the Lord our Maker Let us give Him the glory of this great Attribute by a Real and Practical Owning that indispensible bond of obedience which it layes upon every Creature We are highly obliged by it both in point of subjection and in point of faith 1. In point of subjection to His Laws Ordinances Providences First For the Lawes of God and His Appointments These we are to attend Job 22. 3. 35. 7. observe obey I cannot say For the Lord hath need of them For neither can our Righteousness profit Him nor our wickedness impair Him He that is Wise is wise for himself but do it because the Lord hath commanded Ps 9. 1â— He is the Lord thy God and worship thou Him Pro. 45 11. This is that strong Reason by which He hath backed both Commands and Prohibitions Exod. 20. 2. I am the Lord thy God Thou shalt doe thus And thus thou shalt not doe I am the Lord This he sets in the front of All and with this He closeth the Râ—re and Guards them on every side Moses brings it in as a convincing Reason why we should love God with our whole heart and keep his Commandments namely because he is the Lord and He onely Deut. 6. 4. No One therefore may pretend to a right of giving Laws to Men or to an interest in their love and obedience save with respect to God and the authority they have from Him And though He is sometimes pleased and it is a great condescention in the great God by arguments taken from our own Good to draw us to obedience Do it for it is your life Deut. 32. 47. yet in our spirits That of His Sovereignty and Glory ought to have the preference To cast out Ishmael was a thing grievous to Abraham but being Commanded of God he debates it Not Nor delayes to do it Therefore hold on your way though never so great Obscurity be upon it at present Minde your duty in the midst of discouragements Do as Peter who though he had labour'd all night and caught Nothing yet Master At thy command I will let down the Net again 2 Be subject to His Ordinances If He please to Command the using such Meanes Lâ—ke 5. 5. as have no Natural virtue towards such an effect as in Moses stretching his hand over the Sea and smiteing the Rock with his Rod so Water in baptism Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper Presume not to say What is there in these Godliness is a Mystery which onely faith can understand There is no Divine Institution but hath Meat in it that you know not of which if rightly used will speak for it self If He please to make Clay of Dust and spittle Contemn it not but submit to His Will and way and be thankfull for thy Cure Iudges 12 â— with Ch. 16. 1â— Sampsons hair was an Ordinance to him
too Else All will be in disorder at once One Act of Faith shall sooner Remove the Mountain than all the Cattle on a Thousand hills Lastly Inference You that have closed with this Truth and having made diligent search do finde in your selves those Marks of God's Elect sit down and take the Comfort of it Let this Joy of the Lord be your strength Eat your bread and drink your wine or Water either with a Merry heart since God hath accepted you If David's heart was so taken with that love which chose him to be King afore the house of Saul how should our Souls be rapt into the third Heaven That We poor unworthy wretched We should be taken into that peculiar favour in which the generality of Men have nothing to do How should it affect our hearts Art thou of those who are Wise or Noble according to the flesh Be filled with an holy Amazement and exultation Rejoyce with trembling That the Great GOD to whom thou wast no more than others thy Consorts that are left and who commonly Chooses the base and foolish thereby to Magnifie His Grace should thus go out of His way to call in thee And hath also made His Call effectual to thee even then when thou wast inviron'd with a world of temptations to obstruct it And if thou be a Man of low degree poor weak foolish of no account among Men even as one that is Not and hath the Lord regarded thee in thy low estate and Magnified thee by setting His love upon thee Hath He taken thee from the dunghill to set thee among Princes even the Princes of the World to come This is that Exaltation which the poor should always Rejoyce in according to James 1. 9. Were you the head instead of being the tail Were the Necks of your enemies under your feet yea were the Devils themselves made subject to you It could not afford you the thousandth part of that Cause of Rejoycing as that your Names are written in Heaven Are other men prosperous in the world and free from trouble whiles you are reduc'd to a low estate and chastened every Morning Have perhaps but an handful of Meal and a little oyl in a Cruze c. yet think not your Portion Mean or hardly dealt out your good things are to come They are growing in the other World And at the time of harvest the Lord will send his Angels for you yea your Lord Himself will come and fetch you thither And you shall be for ever with Him In whose presence is fulness of joy and at whose Right hand are Rivers of pleasures for evermore And then you will Sing The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places At least say so Now. As Abraham dealt by his Concubines children so doth God by the Ishmaels of the world He gives them portions and sends them away But the Inheritance He reserves for His Isaacs To them He gives all that He hath yea even Himself And what can we have more OF REDEMPTION IN this Point we are equally concern'd with that of Election as the Great Comprehensive Means of bringing-about the Greatest End viz. the Glory of God in the Salvation of His Chosen That our Lord Jesus Christ hath a Body or Church to whom He is Head and Saviour is not supposed a Question But Who they are that do make-up this Body Whether the Whole of Mankind universally or Some particular Persons Whether He had in His death the same respect to All as to Some And whether Any of those he died for may miss of the benefits accruing by His death are questions of great Import and worthy a serious deliberation To Resolve which is the scope of the present Discourse The Substance whereof is in three Positions I. That the Body or Church of Christ consists of Elect Persons II. That for These it was that He laid down His life III. That the intent of His death cannot be frustrate For the I of These By this Body or Church of Christ I understand the Designed Subjects of his Spiritual Kingdom or Members of His Mystical Body to whom He was appointed by the Father to be Head and Saviour and They to stand related to Him as their Prophet Priest and King Which threefold office He bears peculiâ—rly towards the Elect The Church of the First-born and heirs of the World to come And of These doth His Body consist i. e. It is made-up of These exclusive to Others Their number is certain and intire and cannot be broken either by Addition or Diminution Of this the Tabernacle was a figure 1. In respect of its Symmetry or Proportion of parts which induced a singular beauty upon it Towards which Nothing could be added nor any thing abated 2. In that all the parts and Dimensions thereof were predetermined of God and not left in the least to humane Arbitrement or Contingency And these are expresly said to be Patterns of things in the Heavens Heb. 9. 23. ch 12. 23. that is Of the Heavenly Temple or Church of the First-born which are written There This Couclusion is drawn from sueh premises as these 1. In that our Lord and Saviour so manifestly shews Himself concern'd for the Elect as having some peculiar Interest and Propriety in them and charge of them With These his delights were from Everlasting Prov. 8. And as soon as they were actually in being He began His actual Converses with them and therein did even confine Himself to the Elect Seed With what unbelievable Patience and Goodness did He superintend the Church or Elect Nation Aâ—ts 7. 46 48. fourty years together in the Wilderness bearing them as on Eagles wings and tendring them as the Apple of His eye And when he dwelt upon Earth He went not beyond the bounds of the Holy Land where also all His delight was among the Saints Ps 16. 3. These He made his Consorts and Men of His Councel And when ye find Him with others it was for the Elect's sake that were among them How frequently and with what well-pleasedness doth He speak of These Professing His love to them and that according to the highest patern John 15. 9. As the Father bath loved Me so have I loved you And how great things He would do for them Not to the Halfing of His Kingdom Joh. 10. 15 16. ch 6. 40. but the laying down of His life for them Gathering them in Raising them up and giving them to sit with Him in His Throne Rev. 3. 21. But for the World He takes litle notice of them except with a kind of contempt and comination Let them alone Shake off the dust off your feet Joh. 7. 34. Give not that which is holy unto dogs c. Yea though they seek Him they shall not find Him Isa 65. 1. But for His Elect He is found of them even whiles they think not of Him The Instances of Matthew the Woman of Samaria the possessed
1 Chr. 29. 14. sayes he and what is my People that we should be able to offer thus willingly For all things are of Thee He acknowledgeth their Willingness to offer to be as much of God as the Offering it self And Paul having laboured more abundantly than all the Apostles puts from himself the honour of it 1 Cor. 15. 10. Not I but the Grace of God that was with Me. Three or four Things in seeking for spiritual blessings be sure to keep still in your mind 1. That you must be Nothing in your self New Wine is not for old bottles The Bottles must first be Vndone and made-up Anew Math. 9. 17. Or els The Wine will be spilt and the bottles perish All your imaginary Righteousness Wisdom Strength c. must be parted from you And to part with them is as necessary as to leave your Made-ground and build on the firm Rock 2. That Spiritual Blessings are a Gift and will not admit of any Plea which may seem to make them Wages What the Scriptures hold-forth as a Motive with God That you may plead and that is His Name And indeed Nothing els is pleadable at the Throne of Grace Esteem not your self the better for what you may carry with you Think not to be accepted because of your present It is not your Money nor your double money in your hand that Isa 55. 1. will fetch you Corn from Above tho it may from Egypt Silver and Gold Joh. 7. 37. Works and Worthiness are of no value at the Mint of Free-Grace There it is and Thence ye must have whatever may render you welcom at the Court of Heaven 3. Be not over-solicitous how you shall speed Nor think you shall fare the worse for coming in so tatter'd and pittiful a Condition Free Grace is Compassionate Rich Bountiful you are not the less welcom because you bring Nothing The best qualification is to finde your self ill-qualified Empty Hungry Poor Naked Blinde Miserable Electing-love hath provided Enough and More Not bread and water onely though these are very welcom to an hungring and thirsty soul but Wine and Milk Wine on the lees Isa 25. 6. Rev. 19. 8. A feast of fat things Not Aprons made of fig-leaves or Coats of Beasts-skins but Long Robes of Linnen fine and white money made of Leather or base Mettal that would burthen One to carry a Month's provision of it But Gold Rev. 3. 18. and of That the finest and tryed in the fire which hath nothing of Dross or Cankering Rust adhering to it And if thou have but little look on that little as an Earnest of More To him that hath shall be given Is 42. 3. Altho' thou be but smoaking flax He will not quench thee 4. Be sure you leave not Out your Mediatour the Lord Jesus Christ Electing love doth All in Him and so must you Ask all in His Name and then say Lord He is Worthy for whose sake Thou shouldest doe this And withall Take heed of Patching Joyn not Law and Grace together lest the Rend be made worse The Righteousness wherein you must appear before God is not made-up of divers sorts and peeces partly His and partly your own but a Seamless Vesture wrought throughout of one kinde of substance and by One hand In this you may appoach with boldness and touch the top of the Golden Scepter VI. Infer VI. Having so Firm and Impregnable a Rock to found your faith upon why should the Greatest of Difficulties even the power of Innate Corruption Discourage any Soul from Casting it self upon Electing love As that which is perfectly Able and the very design of it is To Subdue iniquity as well as to pardon it It chose us not because we were or would be Holy Eph. 1. 4. but That we might be so And to that End Undertakes the whole of our Work for us It is between us and Sin as it was between Israel and the Canaanites Untill the Lord began to Drive they did not stirr They were Gyants too big for Grass-hoppers to deal with Had iron Charets and Cities walled up to Heaven And yet that Company of Grass-hoppers turn'd them out And this because the Lord who gave them that Land was in the head of them He went before them and cut-out their way for them Whiles He drove they were driven When He ceased Psal 44. 2 3. Exod. 23. 28. the work stood-still Nay His own People were Routed and put to the worse And we shall find both Moses and Joshua still using Arguments fetch'd from the Covenant that God had made with them by which alwayes they were Supported Let us do likewise Make Election our All Our Bread Water Munition of Rocks and what ever els we can suppose to Want Here we are sure of Supply and Safety It 's a Tower that 's really walled up to Heaven A Never-to-be-emptied Cloud of Mannah and a Jacob's Well that is Never dry 'T is deep indeed and you have Nothing to draw-with yet be not disheartned Stay by it and the Well it self will Rise-up to you Numb 21. 17. rather than you shall want VII Infer VII Having done all you can and in the midst of your Doing Walk humbly as living on Another's bounty Assume not to your self but ascribe the whole of your Salvation and of all the Conducements thereto to Electing Grace and hang-on that Root alone Even Faith it self as it is the Believers act is not to be Rested in Nor to share in this Glory We may say of Faith as he to Foelix Acts 24. 2 3. By thee we enjoy much quietness but the honour thereof chiefly belong'd to Caesar who gave them that Governour Give unto Faith its due Accept alwaies and in all places the benefits you have by it with all thankfullness For it does you many good Offices and you cannot live without it Onely in the Throne let Grace be above it For That 's the Potentate which puts Faith in that Capacity and maintains it there And the truth is True Faith is best contented with its proper place To this End the Lord tells His People It was not their Sword nor their Bow that drove out their Enemies But say some It was the Sword and Bow which God put into their hands and which they Manfully employed No God will not have Men arrogate so much to themselves Psal 60. 12. Judges 7. 2. but to acknowledge It is God that subdues our enemies under us The People with Gideon He reckons too many to give the Midianites into their hands Lest they should Vaunt themselves against Him Faith and other Graces are Mighty onely through God As they are His Workmanship so 't is He onely can keep them Going as a Watch or other Engine cannot wind-up it self To frame a Perpetual Motion no Man hath ever attain'd No not in trifling Matters As thou hadst no hand in changing thy heart at first So neither