The divine will considered in its eternal decrees, and holy execution of them. By…

Such a mans disposition to Eternal life, if it be not such by its meriting condignity, must be such divinâ ordination; and if so, what is that but to say, this is the man to whom God wills Eternal life; and if before Faith God may will Eternal life to him, why ⟨p. 66⟩may not he before Faith elect him? Again; This disposition to Eternal life must be either some moral Virtuousness, or else some better Grace of the Spirit; if but a moral Virtuousness, how can it dispose to Eternal life? if a better Grace of the Spirit, how can it precede such a Mother-grace as Faith? But let us hear how the Remonstrants paint out this disposition in words of Scripture. These disposed ones (say they) are the sheep of Christ, Joh. 10. 4. the drawn of the Father, Joh. 6. 44. such as do the truth, Joh. 3. 21. such as will do God's will, Joh. 7. 17. such as have honest and humble hearts, apt and idoneous to embrace the Gospel. But what a perplexed Labyrinth of words is here? To be the sheep of Christ, argues a being in the state of Election, which is antecedent to all good dispositions in us; they are called sheep before their bringing home to God, Joh. 10. 16. and their bringing home goes before all gracious dispositions. The Fathers drawing imports God's action, and not man's disposition; the doing of the Truth is man's action, and not his disposition; the willing to do God's will is a gracious disposition, but such as goes not before Faith. ⟨p. 67⟩Indeed the young man (who yet had no true Faith) had some kind of will to walk in God's Commandments, Mark 10. 20. but it was not of the true stamp; but with a reserve of his darling Covetousness. To have a right Will to do God's Will is to be one spirit with the Lord, which without Faith is unimaginable. 'Tis not to be conceived that an heart can indeed be either honest to God, which is not purified by Faith, or humble before him, which is not irradiated by Faith. As for the last objection, That if these words import God's Preordination, then all the Elect of that Assembly did believe at that one Sermon, and all the rest were reprobated, it is built upon two false hypotheses; The one as if the Evangelist spake only of one Sermon, whenas the Apostle had now preached two Sabbath-days there; so that these words are most properly to be understood of the continued success of the Gospel, according to that,