about his Mafter's death, as that he might by fo doing bring about his own eternal damnation alfo.

Thofe, faid he, "that thou gavest me, have I kept, and none of them is loft, but the fon of perdition, that the fcriptures might be fulfilled," John xvii. 12. Let us then grant that Judas was given to Chrift, but not as others are given to him, nor as thofe made mention of in the text; for then he fhould not have failed to have been fo received by Chrift, and kept to eternal life. Indeed he was given to Chrift; but he was given to him to lose him, in the way that I have mentioned before; he was given to Chrift, that he by him might bring about his own death, as was before determined; and that in the overthrow of him that did it. Yea, he must bring about his dying for us in the lofe of the inftrument that betrayed him, that he might even fulfil the fcripture in his deftruction, as well as in the falvation of the rest. And none of them is lost but the fon of perdition that the fcripture might be fulfilled.

The gift therefore in the text muft not be taken in the largest fenfe, but even as the words will bear, to wit, for fuch a gift as he accepteth, and promiseth to be an effectual means of eter nal falvation to. "All that the Father giveth me, fhall come to me; him that cometh to me I will in no wife caft out." Mark! They shall come that are in fpecial given to me; and they fhall by no means be rejected: For this is the fubftance of the text.

Thofe, therefore, intended as the gift in the text, are thofe that are given by covenant to the Son; thofe that in other places are called the elect, the chofen, the fheep, and the children of the promise, &c.

These be they that the Father hath given to Chrift to keep them; thofe that Chrift hath promised eternal life unto; those to whom he hath given his word, and that he will have with him in his kingdom to behold his glory.

"This is the will of the Father that hath fent me, that of all that he hath given me, I fhould lofe nothing, but fhould raise it up again at the last day. And I give unto them eternal life, and they fhall never perifh: neither fhall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father that gave them me, is greater than all: And no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. As thou haft given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou haft given him. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me. and they have kept thy word; I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for those that thou haft given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them."

Keep through thine own name those whom thou haft given me, that they may be one as we are. Father, I will, that thofe whom thou haft given me, may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou haft given me; for thou lovedit me before the

foundation of the world," John vi. 39; x. 28; xvii. 1, 6, 9, 10, 24.

All these fentences are of the fame import with the text; and the alls and the manies, thofe, they, &c. in thefe feveral fayings of Chrift, are the fame with all the given in the text: All that the Father giveth.

So that (as I faid before) the word all, as alfo other words, must not be taken in fuch fort as our foolish fancies or grounded opinions will prompt us to, but do admit of an enlargement or a reftriction, according to the true meaning and intent of the text. We must therefore diligently confult the meaning of the text, by comparing it with the other fayings of God; fo fhall we be better able to find out the mind of the Lord, in the word which he has given. us to know it by.

All that the Father giveth.By this word Father, Chrift defcribeth the perfon giving; by which we may learn feveral useful things; 1. That the Lord God, and Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift, is concerned with the Son in the falvation of his people. True, his acts, as to our falvation, are diverse from thofe of the Son; he was not capable of doing that, or thofe things for us, as did the Son: he died not, he fpilt not blood for our redemption, as the Son; but yet he hath a hand, a great hand in our falvation too. As Chrift faith, The Father himfelf loveth you, and his love is manifeft in chufing of us, in giving of us to his Son; yea, and in giving his Son alfo to be a ranfom for us. Hence he is called, "The Father of mercies,

"We

and the God of all comfort." For here even the Father hath himself found out, and made way for his grace to come to us through the fides, and the heart blood of his well beloved Son. Col. i. 12. The Father therefore is to be remembered and adored as one having a chief hand in the falvation of finners. ought to give thanks to the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the faints in light; for the Father fent the Son to be the Saviour of the world, 1 John iv. 14; Col. i. 12. As alfo we fee in the text, the Father giveth the finner to Chrift to fave him.

2. Chrift Jefus the Lord, by this word Father, would familiarize this giver to us. Naturally the name of God is dreadful to us, efpecially when he is difcovered to us by thofe names that declare his juftice, holiness, power, and glory; but now this word Father is a familiar word, it frighteth not the finner, but rather inclineth his heart to love, and be pleafed with the remembrance of him. Hence Chrift alfo, when he would have us to pray with godly boldness, puts this word Father into our mouths, faying when ye pray, fay, "Our Father which art in heaven;" concluding thereby, that by the familiarity that by fuch a word is intimated, the children of God may take more boldnefs to pray for, and afk great things, I myself have often found that when I can fay but this word Father, it doth me more good than when I call him by any other fcripture name. It is worth your hoting, that to call

God by his relative title, was rare amongst the faints in old teftament times. Seldom do you find him called by this name, no, sometimes not in three or four books; but now in New Teftament times, he is called by no name fo often as this, both by the Lord Jefus himself, and by the apoftles afterwards. Indeed the Lord Jefus was he that firft made this name common among the faints, and that taught them, both in their difcourfes, their prayers, and in their writings, so much to use it; it being more pleafing to, and difcovering more plainly our intereft in God, than any other expreffion; for by this one name we are made to understand, that all our mercies are the offspring of God, and that we also that are called are his children by adoption.

All that the Father giveth-This word giveth is out of Chrift's ordinary dialect, and feemeth to intimate, at the firft found, as if the Father's gift to the Son was not an act that is paft, but one that is prefent and continuing; when indeed this gift was beftowed upon Chrift when the covenant, the eternal covenant, was made between them before all worlds. Wherefore, in thofe other places, when this gift is mentioned, it is still spoken of as of an act that is paft: as, All that he hath given me; to as many as thou haft given me, thou gavest them me, and thefe which thou haft given me. Therefore of neceflity this must be the first and chief fenfe of the text; I mean of this word giveth, otherwise the doctrine of election, and of the eternal covenant which was made be