110 An Expo(ttion of the Epifilr: ~ us in converting us, wifdom and k12owledge, wifdomand prude11ce, faith and ho– ~rm. IX. lilufl, (as youlhallhear afterwards,) and his fcopc is to magnifie the riches ~ of Grace. that is !n God, in bdlowing fuch benefits on ~s; his Grace aboundeth in thedomg of It. And fo 1t IS all one w1th what Patt! faith of h1mfelf m 1 Ttm.(a parallel place to this)chap,r.va4. P aut fpeaks there of his converlion, as he fpeaks here ofthe Ephejians, and every Chrittian's calling, and converlion and works inherent in him. He faith here, ·wherei11 God abou11ded, namely in Grace : fo he faith there, The Grace of God wa; exceedi11g a6unda12t toward ,,!e; (Exceeding abtmda1tt, Jmp~.,.,tov«.Cl, it W2S O'l/fr·ft~.~l~ ). with faith a11d love, which is ill Jrjus Chrijl, fomeway anfwetable to receive lt. Here he reduceth the work of Calling to two Heads too, Faith and Love, Faithand Ho!irufl, (for Love is the principle ofHolinefs,) and Wifdom and Prudmce do by a Meytonimy, or by a Synecdoche rather, imply both thefe, So that that which Paul faith of his own Calling there, the fame he fpeaks of our Calling here, and the one ex– preifeth the other: There he faith the Grace of God was overjtd!, it over– flowed; fo the word fignifieth: And here his comparifon is from a Fouutain. Grace gulhed out from God's heart as a Fountain, when he firll bellowed faving wifdom andprttdmce, when he firll converted them. This is the meaning of the words, Wherei11 he bath abouridrdtowards us. _ I lhould not have !laid fo long upon the word but for the fake of fome Obfer– vations which this expreilion will afford. The Firll Obfervation is this. · 06Jerv. 1 , When you would fet a right value upon any bleiling bello'¥ed upon you; you are not to value it chiefly by the bleiling it felf bellowed, but by the grace in God out of which it comes, He cloth not fay here he gave abundance of Wifdom and abundance of Prudence (though all the quantity is noted here,) but he faith, he abounded in grace when he did it : The Apollle would have them fet the value of this bleiling upon the grace which was the fountain ofit, Whrreill (faith he) or ilt whicb he bath abotmded towards us. My Brethren, learn to value Spiri" tua! bleilings and Temporal bleilings likewife, not by the things themfelves, but by the love of God Ji·om which they come. A fmall bleiling may be out of abundance of love: So in what we do for God, a Cup of cold Water, the Wi– dows mite. God may abound in grace to thee in be!towing it, when the blef– fing is in tire matter of it but little. What is the reafon that many good Souls that have true grace wrought in their hearts, why are they fo unthanklul? They look to the grace wrought in them, and they fee that there is but a little of that, and therefore they ~alue. all b~ what they find in themfelves, by the 6/t.ffiftg 1vrougbt; I find but httlemme 1f any at all, and whJle thus they value the blef– fmg by what they find in themfelves, they prove unthankful to God. Whereas that little grace thou hall, that little faith, be it but,as a grain of Mullard-feed, it proceeds out of abundance of grace in God; Wherri1t he hath abotmded to– ward us (faith he here,) in working the leall beginning of true wifdom arid l>rudence in the leall Saint. God abounds infinitely in his love to thee,when thou 1all but the leall beginnings of grace in thee, as fmall at firll as Nicodem11s had. If you mar!< Paut's expreilion in 1 Tim. 1,14. (the place even now quoted,) he cloth not fay that his faith and love in Chrill were exceeding abundant; No, but faith he, the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant in bellowing Faith and Love upon me; he looks not to the quantity of his faith or his love, but he looks at the grace of both;and how cloth he magnifie that? He had faid before two things of himfelf; Firll,faith he,Iwas a Perject1tor mzd i11jurioru, I hated the Saints, there is the firll; but,faith he,I did it ignorantly in unbelief; I was mt fmbe!ievrr,aud I WtU a Perjecutor. Now for God to work faith inflead of unbe– lief and love to the Saints inllead of perfecution and hatred of them in me that was once an unbeliev<r and a perfecutor, the grace of God was exceeding abun– dant herein. He looks not to the work wrought, but he looks to the grace that bellowed it,conlidering the circumllances of the condition he was in be– fore. Obferv 2 , Secondly, Obferve what thing it is that this big fwelling w'ord abormded, · ovrrjlowi11g, gu/bed out, (as I may'fo fay) what is it ufed about, what is it that he
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