IO:l An ExpoFtion of the Epifile ~ fhewn; here had been the greatefl: Power, the greatefl: Goodr.efs, the greate.O: Ser. VIll. Holinefs, and whatever elfe you will in all thefe manifefl:ed.. But you may haply UO"V"'J fay, here had the manifefl:ation of one Attribute been wantmg, namely, Mo·cy to Creattlrts in mzjery. I Anfwer, This Mercy IS but a further extenfJOn ol the fame love, c~ufingGod to continue to Jove them as. Sinners, whom he loved with a Free love as Creatures. Love ts the foundatton ol Mercy; and fo thar Love in God was fo great, that .it would have turned into Mercy, if rhere had been need; Epbej.2-4- God, wbo is ricb in. Macy, for tbe great lovr where– wit/; be bath loved 1tS ,f!Jc. Yet the more evtdently to fhew forth tillS, he leaves us to Sin and Mifery, and then fends his Son to take frail Flcfh upon him, and to Suffer and Die to redeem Us. And in this work of Redemption appear all thcfe Attributes anew, his Power, ]t~fiz.ce, Wt{dom, Holirtefs, f!Jc. as I faid bc– fbre. Eightly, and Lafl:ly, God ordered it thus fo to take us the more, whom he would bnng to heaven. Had we at firfl: been brought to that Commun\7n with Chrifl:, whtch we fhall have in Heaven alter the Day of Judgment, without having known either Sin or Mifery, it had been a· good and bleffed cond ition indeed; we fhould infinitely have rejoyced in tt, and had reafon fo to have done. But certainly Heaven will be fweeter to us, by reafon of our having once fallen into Sin and Mifery, and then havmg a Redeemer that came and freed us from all, and then brought us to Heaven. 0 ~ how fweet will this make Heaven to be unto you? Roma11s 9· 2 l• belore God brings the Veflds of Mercy unto Heaven, it is faid, he prepares them unto glo>J'· Now, what is it that prepares them to glory? It is couched in that exprellion there, with joyned, That they were Vef{els o{ Mercy, that is, that once had been fil– led with Mifery, and then he rakes them up to glory. This adds a fl1adow and a foil to Glory, to mai<C it the more glorious in thetr •pprehenfions. In an Aute– Majque you fhall have Hell firfl: prefenred; and that bting removed, you have Heaven prefen tly before you. Thus cloth God with us; all rhat falls out to us here, rtJgether with the whole work of Redemptton, it is but an AtJte-Mafque and Pr-elttdimn to take us up in our thoughts while we are here in this World: fo to render that glory, which we fhall have in Heaven, the more refplen.derit and glorious. This double Plot ferveth alfo to make the O:ory of Chrilt's Love the more illuflrious to the Church his Spoufe.Thofe that write Romances and feigned Stories, you fhall have them fet up fome one Man, and fome one Woman, whom they mean to magnifie and exalt to the dignity of a King and Ql1een, and in the end marry them glorioufly together: this they drive at; this is their lirfl: projeel: when they fet themfelves to write fuch a Book, But that they may ul<e the Reader the more, tefcre this conclufton they will in their Fiel:iori thrqw this Man and Woman into the greatefl: and moO: defperate extremities that c•n be imagined, feparate them in the greatefl: difl:ance each from the other, that the Reader fl1all judge it impollible thefe ever again fhould meet in an happy enjoyment and embraces. They will hurry them through all forrs of Misfor– tunes and difafl:ers, and mal;e that Lover to endure the greatcfl hardfl1ips, and run through the moO: hardy and heroical adventures and hazards for that his efpoufed Love, that can b-e; fo to etfeel: and bring about in the end her and his liberty and mutual content in the enjoyment each of other. This makes the .Story to be read along with pleafure; to fee all the way the confl:ancy of them both in their begun Loves, and in the end to fee them both extricated out of the depthS of Miferies, and to meet together and enjoy each other, and become moO: great and glorious Princes. Thts ufeth firongly to take thofe that are but Readers, and that, when they know it is but feign ed ; but if it were real , how would fuch an happy Catajlrophe take with and atfeel: thofe Lovers themfelves? Now jufl: thus hath God fet up Chrifl: and the Church his Spoufe, to be married together in Heaven for ever; that is his Plot: But he lirfl: throws her into Sin and Mifery, and then fends his Son Jefus Chrifl: to refcue and relieve her, fo to fhew his love unto her unto the Uttermofi ; and all this fo, to take our hearts the more, when we fhall come to fee his Perfon in Heaven. God commmdtth his love to tu i;ztbis, tbat while we were yet Simzers, be fent bis Son for tts, f!Jc. God loved us in ordaining us to life; but I will commend it yet more(fays God,) for
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