thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I fanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. And of the apoftle Paul the Lord faid, He is a chofen veffel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and to fuffer great things for my names (ake, Acts 9. 15. He, afterwards fpeaking of his converfion, and call to the apostleship, afcribes them to the powerful grace of God,in confequence of his previous purpofe and fore-ordination. Gal. 1. 15, 16. It pleafed God, who separated me from my mothers womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his fon in me, that I might preach him among the heathen. Now, fhall we say that these, and other fuch inftances on facred record, are to be confider'd only as hiftorical relations? Surely that would be too low and narrow a meaning for them. According to the apoftle's reafoning in the 9th ch. to the Romans, in the cafes of Ifaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Efau, it is very plain they were intended for the illuftrating the methods of God's grace towards particular perfons. And, I think, it is juftly inferr'd and argu'd, "If there be an election perfonal unto things of a temporal concernment, and that fo long before fome of the perfons were in being, how much more unto things of a Spiritual and eternal concernment? And if the Lord did not look out of himself for the moving confiderations on which he felected thefe perfons to their feveral privileges and honours, much less can election unto life be founded in any defervings of the creature From the lefs to the greater is a fcriptural way of arguing, and in many cafes proves ftrongly "† But I proceed to exhibit that more direct and pofitive proof which the bible furnishes us with. There we read abundantly of an election which can be understood of no other than a perfonal election unto eternal life as the end, and unto Chrift, and faith, and holiness as the way. And tho' we find this doctrine in the old teftament, in the writings of Mofes and the prophets; as appears from fome of the fcriptures we have had occafion already to mention, and from others which I might turn you to ; yet I fhall here look only into the new teftament, where the myfteries of godlinefs are more * + Mr. Cole in his Difcourfe on the Sovereignty of GOD. 1 Kings 19. 18. compar'd with Rom. II. 2, 3. 4, 5. Ifai. 1. 9. compar'd with Rom. 9. 29. Ifai. 10. 21, 22. compar'd with Rom. 9. 27. 29. Jer. 18.6. compar'd with Rom. 9. 20, 21. Pfal. 106. 4, 5. Ifai. 65. 8, 9. Jer. 59. 20. Mic. 7. 18. manifeft, manifeft, and things that have been bid from ages and generations are discover'd. I fhall not diftribute the fcriptures I fhall mention into any other order than that which the bible prefents them in: And fo we must begin with fome paffages in the discourses of our bleffedSAVIOUŘ himself, by which it will appear that HE taught this very doctrine; He, who is the faithful and true witness, and well knew what doctrine was fafe and profitable to teach, as well as true. I think the first paffage we meet with to our purpose, if we read the evangelifts in the order of an barmony, is in the fermon which Chrift preach'd to the people at Nazareth, Luke 4. 25, 26,27. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Ifrael in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and fix months, when great famine was in all the land; but unto none of them was Elias fent, fave unto Sarepta, a City of Zidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Ifrael in the time of Elifeus the prophet, and none of them were cleanfed fave Naaman the Syrian. The ma nifeft defign of our faviour in thefe two examples, is to affert the fovereignty of God in the difpenfations of his favour; and to let them know, that as the prophet Elijah was fent to relieve a favourite widow, and the prophet Elisha to heal a diftinguish'd G 2 leper, leper, fo he came with a commiffion and defign to fave, not all, but a felect number, of the Jews and Gentiles. And it seems they could not bear this doctrine even in thofe days: For it follows, And all they in the fynagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him to the brow of a bill, that they might caft him down beadlong. But this did not caufe him to fupprefs the truth, or wave it, when he had occafion to mention it, whether in his prayers or fermons. -- At a time when he had been reproving and threatning the places where he had preach'd the gofpel, for their impenitence and unbelief, he comforts himself with the thoughts that there was a number upon whom the word had come with a faving light and power, pursuant to the purpose and pleasure of the father; whom he adores as the proprietor and difpofer of all fpiritual and heavenly bleffings, and whofe free difpenfation of his favours, he moft heartily approves of, and acquiefes in, Mat. 11. 25, 26. At that time Jefus answered and faid, I thank thee, O father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast bid thefe things from the wife and prudent, and bast revealed them unto babes. Even fo, father, for fo i feemeth good in thy fight! At another time when his difciples exprefs'd them 1130 felves fomething furpriz'd that he taught the people in parables, without an expofition to let them into the meaning of what he deliver'd to them, explaining things only to their small and felect company in a private way, and defired a reafon of this his conduct; he answers them in fuch a manner as to let them know, that spiritual light and knowledge, a faving discovery of gofpel truths, were given to fome, and to themfelves in particular, in a way of free fpecial diftinguishing favour; but withheld from others according to God's wife holy and fovereign pleafure: He faid unto them, Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given, Mat. 13. 10, II. -- So when, on another occafion, there were fome who complain'd against the method he obferv'd in the bestowment of his bounty and mercy, He in reply to them, vindicates his own right to difpofe of the bleffings of the gofpel as he faw meet, because he was the fovereign proprietor thereof, and none could claim what he did not fee cause to give. Mat. 20. 15, 16. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last fhall be first, and the first last; for many be called, but few chofen. And when, a little after this, the mother of Zebedees children, who |