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for fo it feemed good in thy Sight, Mat. 11. 25. Luke 10. 21.

The Text, in the General, confifts of two Parts, and hath special Refpect to the Father and the Son; as alfo their joint Management of the Salvation of the People. All that the Father gi veth me, fhall come to me; and him that cometh to me, I will in no wife caft out.

The firft Part of the Text (as is evident) refpecteth the Father and his Gift; the other Part, the Son and his Reception of that Gift.

First, For the Gift of the Father there is this to be confidered; to wit,

The Gift itfelf; and that is the Gift of certain Perfons to the Son. The Father giveth, and that Gift fhall come; And him that cometh: The Gift then is of Perfons: The Father giveth Perfons to Jefus Chrift.

Secondly, Next you have the Son's Reception of this Gift, and that fheweth itfelf in thefe Particulars :

1. In his hearty Acknowledgment of it to be a Gift, the Father giveth me.

2. In his taking Notice after a folemn Manner, of All, and every Part of the Gift: All that the Father giveth me.

3. In his Refolution to bring them to himself. All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me.

4. And in his determining, that not any Thing fhall make him diflike them in their coming. And bim that cometh to me, I will in no wife caft out.

Thefe Things might be fpoken to at large, they are in this Method prefented to View: But I fhall chufe to speak to the Words,

1. By Way of Explication.

2. By Way of Obfervation.

First, By Way of Explication, (All) that the Fa ther giveth me. This Word Al, is often used in Scripture, and is to be taken more largely, or more ftrictly, even as the Truth or Argument, for the Sake of which it is made ufe of, will bear: Wherefore that we may better understand the Mind of Chrift in the Ufe of it here, we must confider, that' it is limited and reftrained only to thofe that fhall be faved, to wit, to those that shall come toChrift; even to thofe whom he will in no wife caft out. Thus alfo the Words All Ifrael, is fometimes to be taken (though fometimes it is taken for the whole Family of Jacob). And fo All Ifrael fhall be faved, Rom.11. By All Ifrael, here he intendeth, not all of Ifrael,in the largeftSenfe; for they are not all Ifrael which are of Ifrael; neither because they are the Seed of Abraham, are they AllChildren; but in Ifaac fall thy Seed be called; that is, They who are the Children of the Flesh; these are not the Children of God, but theChildren of the Promife are counted for their Seed, Rom 9. 6, 7, 8.

This Word All, therefore must be limited, and enlarged, as the Truth andArgument, for the Sake of which it is ufed, will bear; elfe we fhall abuse Scriptures and Readers, and Ourselves, and All And I, if I be lifted up from the Earth, faid Chrift, will draw All Men after me, John 12. 32. Can any one imagine, that by All, in this Place, he should mean All, and every individual Man in the World; and not rather, that All, that is confonant to the Scope of the Place? And if by being lift up from the Earth, he means, as he fhould feem, his being taken up into Heaven; and if by drawing All Men after him, he meant a drawing them into the Place of Glory; then muft he mean by all Men, thofe, and only thofe, that fhall in Truth be eternally faved from the Wrath to come: For God hath concluded them All in Unbelief, that he might have Mercy upon All, Rom. 11. 32. Here again you have All

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and All, two Alls; but yet a greater Disparity be tween the All made mention of in the firft Place, and that All made mention of in the fecond. Those intended in this Text, are the Jews, even All of them, by the first (AI) that you find in the Words. The fecond All doth alfo intend the fame People; but yet only fo many of them as God will have Mercy upon. He hath concluded them All in Unbelief, that he might have Mercy upon All. The All alfo in the Text, is likewife to be limited and refrained to the Saved, and them only. But again,

The Word (Giveth) or, hath given, must be reftrained after the fame Manner, to the fame limited Number, All that the Father giveth me. Not all

that are given. If you take the Gifts of the Father to the Son, in the largest Senfe; for in that Sense, there are many given to him that shall never come unto him: Yea many are given unto him, that He will caft out. I shall therefore firft fhew you the Truth of this, and then in what Senfe the Gift in the Text must be taken.

First, that All are given to Chrift, if you take the Gift of the Father to him, in the largest Senfe, cannot be intended in the Text, is evident,

1. Because then all the Men, yea, all the Things in the World must be faved. All Things, faid he, are delivered unto me by the Father, Mat. 11. 27. This, I think, no rational Man in the World will conclude. Therefore the Gift intended in the Text, must be reftrained to fome, to a Gift that's given by Way of Speciality by the Father to the Son.

2. It must not be taken for All, that in any Senfe are given by the Father to him, because the Father hath given him fome, yea, many to him, to be dafhed in Pieces by him. Afk of me, faid the Father to him, and I will give thee the Heathen for thine Inheritance, and the uttermoft Parts of the Earth for thy L'offeffion;

Poffeffion: But what must be done with them? Muft he fave them all? No, Thou shalt break them with a Rod of Iron, thou shalt dash them in Pieces like a Potter's Vessel. Pfal. 2. This Method he useth not with them that he faveth by his Grace, but with those that himself and Saints fhall rule over in Juftice and Severity, Rev. 2. 26, 27. Yet, as you fee, They are given to him: Therefore the Gift intended in the Text, must be reftrained to fome; to a Gift that is given by Way of Speciality by the Father to the

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Son.

In Pfal. 18. he faith plainly, that fome are given to him that he might destroy them; Thou haft given me the Necks of mine Enemies, that I might deftroy them that hate me, verfe 40. These therefore cannot be of the Number of thofe that are faid to be given in the Text; for thofe, even all of them fhall come to him, and he will in no wife caft them out.

3. Some are given to Chrift, that he by themt might bring about fome for his high and deep Defigns in the World. Thus Judas was given to Chrift, to wit, that by him, even as he was determined before, he might bring about his Death, & fo the Salvation of his Elect by his Blood. Yea, and Judas muft fo manage this Business, as that he muft lose himself for ever in bringing it to pafs. Therefore the Lord Jefus, even in his lofing of Judas, applies himfelf to the Judgment of his Father, if he had not in that Thing done that which was right, even in fuffering Judas fo to bring about his Mafter's Death, as that he might by fo doing bring about his own eternal Damnation alfo.

Thofe, faid he, that thou gavest me, have I kept, and none of them is loft, but the Son of Perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, John 17. 12. Let us then grant that Judas was given to Chrift, but not as others are given to him, nor as thofe made mention of in the Text; for then he fhould not have

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failed to have been fo received by Chrift, and kept to eternal Life. Indeed he was given to Chrift, but he was given to him to lofe him, in theWay that I have mentioned before; he was given toChrift, that' he by him might bring about his own Death, as was before determined; and that in the Overthrow of him that did it, Yea, he muft bring about his own Death, as was before determined; and that in the Overthrow of him that did it. Yea, he muft bring about his dying for us in the Lofs of the Inftrument that betrayed him, that he might even fulfil the Scripture in his Deftruction, as well as in the Salvation of the reft. And none of them is loft, but: the Son of Perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

The Gift therefore in the Text, must not be taken in the largeftSenfe, but even as the Words will bear, to wit, for fuch a Gift as-he accepteth, and pro-mifeth to be an effectual Means of eternal Salvation to. All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me :: and him that cometh to me, I will in no wife caft out. Mark! They fhall come that are in special given to me; and they fhall by no Means be rejected: For this is the Subftance of the Text.

Those therefore intended, as the Gift in theText, are thofe that are given by Covenant to the Son; thofe that in other Places are called the Elect, the Chofen, the Sheep, and the Children of the Promife,

&c.

These be they that the Father hath given to Chrift to keep them; thofe that Chrift hath promifed eternal Life unto: thofe, to whom he hath given his Word, and that he will have with him in his Kingdom to behold his Glory.

This is theWill of the Father that bath sent me, that' of all that he hath given me, I should lofe nothing, but fhould raife it up again at the last Day. And I give unto them eternal Life, & they shall never perish; neither shall any Man pluck them out of my Hand.

My

Father

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