As it is written, Jacob have I loved, and Efau have I bated, to confirm his glofs. VI. There is no man on earth whofe judgment we must follow, as the only rule of interpreting of fcripture; but the Spirit of God fpeaking in the fcriptures, is the only rule; and therefore fcripture can only interpret fcripture, and we must expone darker places by places which are more full and clear, after the example of the apostle, who explains what he meaneth by that dark place cited out of Genefis, by that clearer, Jacob have I loved, &c.

VII. So rich a treasure is the word, that not only are the truths therein held forth profitable for inftruction and admonition, &c. but alfo the very circumftances are fignificant, as the time when fuch and fuch a thing was faid, and ufeful for the more full clearing of the mind of the Lord; which fhould call us to more exact ftudy of the fcriptures, and fuch useful circumstances: for we fee the apoftle lays much weight upon the time when it was faid, The elder shall ferve the younger, viz. before they were born; and therefore fays, The children being not yet born, &c.

VIII. Carnal reafon being enmity against God, Rom. viii 7. and all his ways, cannot be foon captivated by the truth, nor will not be foon convinced of it; and therefore there must be line upon line, and one inftance upon the back of another: therefore fays he, And not only this, but when, &c.

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IX. The Lord Jehovah, the great Creator of heaven and earth, is fovereign Lord and abfolute Difpofer of all his creatures, and hath abfolute power to difpofe of them both as to foul and body as he pleafeth, all being his handy-work for here, he leveth Jacob, and hates Efau, and makes the elder ferve the younger, and all according to his own purpose, which is elewhere called the good pleasure of his will, Eph. i. 5.

X. God by an everlasting decree, hath feparated fome of mankind from the reft,

glory of his free grace, and fo makes choice of fome, as he thinketh fit, leaving the reft, and hath no way defigned all to life; for here is mention made of election, (which always importeth the taking of fome, and leaving of others) and the elder is made to ferve the younger; and Jacob is loved, and not Efau. See John vi. 37. Rev. xx. 15.

XI. All thefe whom God hath fet his love on from eternity, are individually and particularly condefcended on, and known to the Lord, 2 Tim. ii. 19. for Jacob have I loved, and Efau have I hated; they are particularly pitched on.

XII. This decree by which fome are predeftinate to life, and others to death, is not pendulous or conditional, depending upon fomething in man; fuch a decree being unfuitable for him who is altogether. perfect, as being no act of his will at all; fo that the decree cannot be conceived to be this general confufed act, I will fave fuch and fuch if they believe; but this abfolute particular act, I will fave fuch and fuch particular perfons: therefore we hear, that he loved Jacob, and there is no con dition mentioned; and before the children were born, or had done either good or evil, it was abfolutely faid, the elder fall ferve the younger.

XIII. As this decree of predeftination in God, is peremptor and particular, fo is it permanent and immutable; his will is stable and unchangeable, fo that whom he loveth, he loveth to the end; feeing there can nothing fall out in time, but what he hath decreed fhall fall out, and fo hath clearly foreseen; nor can there any thing be able to hinder him from effectuating what he purpofeth; and theretore his purpofes are not as man's, who can neither forefee events, nor refit all occurrences which vary every day therefore it is faid, That the purpose of God according to election might stand; hence we hear of their names being written in a book, Phil. iv. 3. Rev. xxi. 27. Luke x. 20.

fuch, feeing it is his decree which is his will, and fo himself, and therefore can have no caufe preceding: for here, Before that Efau had done any evil, it was fuid, The elder fhall ferve the younger; and Efau have I hated.

XXI. All that which moved God to elect fome to life, and appoint the reft to death, was only in himself and nothing elfe; his own good pleafure; and there fore, the purpose of God according to election is of him that calleth, otherways grace in God fhould not be the higheft caufe of all good: See Eph. i. 5.

XXII. Election, in God, is moft fure, and cannot be hemed in with any external qualification or privilege in its object: even the law of nature cannot bound it; for though by the law of nature the eldest fhould be prefered, yet electing love can make the elder to ferve the younger, and can pitch upon Jacob, and mifken Efau : The elder fhall ferve the younger. &c. See 1 Cor. i. 26. 27.

XXIII. Tho' God hath abfolutely elected fome to everlasting life; yet hath he not purposed to bring them to the actual poffeffion of it, but by fuch and fuch means as he hath appointed; for he hath abfo lutely, that is, without any condition, required or perceived to be in man, appointed both the end, and the means leading to the end therefore it is added, of bim that calleth, to put us in mind that effectual calling intervenes betwixt election and the poffeffion of what they are chofen

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XXIV. The Lord not only hath chosen his own to glory; but, that man's mouth. may be ftoped, and God may get the whole praise of the work, it is he alone that carrieth it on effectually, and leadeth his elect toward the end thro' the means; therefore he is ftiled, him that calleth: this is his work, to call effectually, to give faith, and fo carry them on towards the end.

XXV. As the making of the act of election to depend upon faith or good

works forefeen, is enough to make the decree uncertain and unftable; fo the confideration of this, that God was moved to elect, by nothing, lefs or more, in man, but merely of his own good pleasure, should abundantly confirm us of the fixedness of his decree: And the confideration of this, that it is he who doth execute his own decrees, and bringeth about the means for the fame, fhould perfuade us, that his purposes fhall not fail, but whatever he hath decreed fhall come to pafs: for fays he, That the purpofe of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth.

XXVI. The only fpring and well-head of all the good things which come to us, here or hereafter, is only the undeferved, free, and matchlefs. love of God: for his decree of election is called love; Facob. have I loved.

XXVII. Albeit the Lord, who is perfect in wifdom and knowledge, knowing all things at once, needeth not ufe any deliberation or confultation before hand, (which always floweth from ignorance) when he is about to decree any thing; yet all his decrees are done in wifdem and righteoufnefs: therefore his decree is here called his purpofe; that the purpose of God; he decerneth what he decerneth, wittingly and willingly.

And therefore he bringeth two places of fcripture, the one ferving to clear God in election, the other ferving to clear him as to reprobation; and from both these he draweth his conclufion. The first is out of Exod. xxxiii. 19. and the words are thefe; He faith to Mofes, I will have merey on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compaffion on whom I will have compaffion; as if the apoftle had faid, You fee, how in the first breaking up of this everlasting love in time, God is abfolute and free, and there is nothing of this kind deferved of man; he hath mercy on whom he will, his free good pleafure is the fpring and fountain caufe of all; and fo by having mercy and compaffion here, is not meant, God's everlasting act of election, predeftinating fome to life eternal; for to have mercy and compaffion doth always prefuppofe mifery: but God's act of predeftination doth not fo; for fome angels were predeftinated, who could not be confidered as miferable: and if God's act predeftinating men muft prefuppofe this, then it muft prefuppofe all that mifery to which mercy ufeth to be extended; and fo whom God electeth must be confidered, not only as guilty of Adam's fin, but as lying under all their actual tranfgreffions; and fo they and the reprobate fhould not be alike, yea, nor yet the elect themselves, fome being guilty of more than others, when God electeth them. And thus in time, only according to his free pleasure, he brings fome out of the gulph of fin and mifery, by calling them effectually, and bleffing them with faith, &c. which is a wonderful act of mercy indeed. The other word rendered compaffion, fignifieth, to love entirely, tenderly, affectionately, and to love with pity and compaffion, as mothers do the fruit of their womb, Ifa. xlix. 15. to have bowels of mercy towards any, and bowels yearning for any, both in Hebrew and Greek. And then concludeth, verfe 16. It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runeth, but of God that fheweth mercy;

that is, The caufe why God maketh choice of one before another, is nothing in man, nothing feen in his inclination, difpofition, or intentions, or any innate power in man to do good: It is not of him that willeth; man has no liberum arbitrium, having any influence in this; nor doth God fee any thing in man's endeavours, pains and labours, which doth move him to elect them; It is not of him that runeth: but all the caufe is in God only, all lieth in his own breaft; It is of God who fheweth mercy.

For the further clearing of thefe and the following two verfes, we must speak a little unto that fenfe which the Arminians put upon them, and fee whether their expofition fuiteth the apoftle's words here better than before; and therefore we fhall do these three things. 1. We fhall shortly fet down what they take to be the ground of the objection; or whence it rifeth: for the objection itself is most clear. And 2. fhew how far fetched this their ground is, and how little ground there is for it in the words. And, 3. how impertinently, if their opinion hold, the apoftle will be found to argue. They lay down the ground of the objection thus; If God make choice of the children of the promife, that is, love the faithful; and reject the children of the flesh, that is, hate fuch as feek righteousness by the works of the law, and that out of his mere purpofe; then God would feem to be unrighteous; for in the first covenant the Lord placed righteoufnefs and life in obedience to the law; and now if he fhould condemn fuch as feek life by it, he should certainly feem unrighteous. Thus they take up the occafion or ground of the objection; and how erroneously, we fhew thus; 1. By this means we must look upon the apoftle as fpeaking of that which he is not fpeaking of at all. As (1.) That he is comparing the two covenants together; for which there is no real ground, nor any colour of ground, unlefs without any colour of reafon we take Ifaac and

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