A34679:421
An exposition upon the thirteenth chapter of the Revelation by that reverend and eminent…
An exposition upon the thirteenth chapter of the Revelation by that reverend and eminent servant of the Lord, Mr. John Cotton ... ; taken from his mouth in short-writing, and some part of it corrected by himself soon after the preaching thereof ; and all of it since viewed over by a friend to him ... wherein some mistakes were amended, but nothing of the sense altered.
London: printed for Tim. Smart, 1656
Title page typeset from the transcription.
AN EXPOSITION Upon the thirteenth Chapter of the REVELATION. › Part
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Answ. 2. And again, it is called the Lambs book of life, because he is the head of all Gods elect; they are all elect in ⟨p. 137⟩him, not besides or out of him, not as actually believing in him, for it is long before any work of ours, Rom. 9. 11. Not of works, but of him that calleth, the children being not yet born, neither having done good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand. Election i• before any work of ours, God gives us in his eternal counsel to Christ, but we are not then in him by faith; faith is an effect of our election, not the cause of it: As many as were ordained to eternal life believed, Acts 13. 46. 48. But this is the thing; It is a true distinction that some give in that case; we are in Christ, not by actual existence in believing; nor as so considered, but by virtual comprehension: the Lord looks at us as in him, we are not in him by faith; but the Lord comprehending us in his everlasting decree, we are in him by Gods charter, even children not born, the Lord hath wrapped us in his everlasting arms, in his electing love, promising in time to give us faith to believe on him, and therefore to come to him, and to give him to us that we may live in his sight; therefore it is the Lambs book of life, as he is the son of man, the son of the Virgin Mary, to be united to the second person in Trinity, long before his humane nature was in being.
Answ. 2. And again, it is called the Lambs booke of life, because he is the head of all Gods elect; they are all elect in ⟨p. 137⟩him, not besides or out of him, not as actually believing in him, for it is long before any work of ours, Rom. 9. 11. Not of workes, but of him that calleth, the children being not yet born, neither having done good or evill, that the purpose of God according to election might stand. Election i• before any worke of ours, God gives us in his eternall councell to Christ, but we are not then in him by faith; faith is an effect of our election, not the cause of it: As many as were ordained to eternall life believed,