CXLV expository sermons upon the whole 17th chapter of the Gospel according to St.…

Reasons. 4 4. Our Election must needs be free and gracious, because all the good we are able to do, and all the holiness we have is the fruit and effect of Election; He hath chosen us to be holy and unblameable, Eph. 1.4. So some believed because they were ordained to Eternal Life, to be holy, not because we were holy; They were not ordained to Eternal life because they believed, but they believed because they were ordained to Eternal life: Thus you see that godliness being the effect of our Election it cannot be the cause, and therefore the godly have cause to cry out oh the depths and unsearchable riches of grace!

Reasons. 4 4. Our Election must needs be free and gracious, because all the good we are able to do, and all the holinesse we have is the fruit and effect of Election; He hath chosen us to be holy and unblameable, Eph. 1.4. So some beleeved because they were ordained to Eternal Life, to be holy, not because we were holy; They were not ordained to Eternal life because they beleeved, but they beleeved because they were ordained to Eternal life: Thus you see that godlinesse being the effect of our Election it cannot be the cause, and therefore the godly have cause to cry out oh the depths and unsearchable riches of grace!

Lastly. If we consider Election comparatively, so it must be wholly of Gods mere gift; That is, why God chooseth some and not others, yea, why sometimes the vilest and worst of sinners are taken, and others more civill and better moralized are left: The Apostle 1 Cor. 2. aggravateth this, Not many wise, not many noble hath God chosen, but the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; And thus our Saviour Mat. 11. Thou hast hidden them from the wise and prudent, and revealed them to babes; And it must needs be thus amongst men, for so it was with the Angels; The Scripture speaks of Elect Angels, Now why did some Angels fall and others are confirmed in their eternal happy abode, it