to tbe E P H E S l A N S. where will thy Soul be_ to 11ight I He was a fool for his labour. A mab that ~ !mows how to believe favmgly, and that IS w1fe forlus Soul, that man is only Ser.mlx: the wife man. Other men are wife in their Generatwn, (as Chrifr di!tingui!h- ~ cth it,) they are wife in their kind,. take th~~ i~ the world, and there they are wife indeed, and wifer than the Children of hght : But fanh .the Apome, God bath chofen the fools of the world to confound the w1fe, he d1d 1t on purpofe, 1t was his plot, The chiefefr thing the wife ones of the world brag of, it is their wifdom . God bath tal!en out fools, that have lefs under!tandmg, makes them able to f;ve their Souls, arid atthe latter day, who is the fool then ? Thus he confounds all the wife ones in the world. 1hey are ohly wife, that are wife to falvation. . . . I will give you a Scripture for it. It is in .7o6. 28. 28. Ethold thefear of th~ Lord, tbat is wtfdom, a11dto depa~tfrom E"!tl, zs unde~{lmtdmg. That IS the underfranding, the only under!tandmg, and 1f men be W1fe n.evcr fo rhuch m any thing elfe,thcy are fools. A Second Obfervation is this. , . Whom ever God (aveth, he dothgive them [o much k11owledge itt Spiritual 06fe>"V,'l.f thi11gs tHjbaUmake them wife, Let them be never fo ignorant before, ( they that are tome tb years of difcre– tion,) they !hall be wife eo fave their Souls. Do but obfervc it , Men that had but little wit in them before, when they are turned they will fpeak of Faith and of Chrift and of the My!teries of Salvation , exceeding ftrongly and wifely: What is the reafon of it ? When God is Mafier and teacheth a man; how foon is he learned whom he teacheth! Nofuch School·mafrer-as God is, he aboundeth toward a Man in wifdom and prudence, fo that a nian bath abundance ofknowledge the lirfr day almo(l.You !hall fee' it in mahy poor men that are turn– ed to God. I will give you but a Scripture forit, and fo pafs from it. lja. 3) :8. The Prophet [peaks there, of the tii?es of the Gofpel, when Chri(t was to preach the word, as appears by the former verfes; He tells us there that Chrifr , IS a way, m~d a htgh wqy, (that way that leads to hfe, ) a11d it Jba/t/;ecalled away of Holi11e[s, (which men mif.call, and call by a thoufand ·othernicl!names, butthat's the true name for it, awfiJof Holinejs,) and the tmc/ea11jbalt 11ot pajs over it. Take an ungodly man he !hall never hit on the way let him be never fo wife, for fothe oppofition implies, as you !hall fee by and b)\; For whom then !hall this way be? .ltfhalt befer the wayfaring mm,though fools, theyjha!t 11ot err in it. Art thou a wayfaring foul that art a going to Heaven, and hafr a mmd to go to Heaven ? And art thou fimple, bath God gi– ven thee a. heart to delire to be favcd and to feek after Chrifr? Take the great- . e!t Doctor m the world, ( 1f wicked) he !hall not find out the way that thou !halt find : Another man, a fool, he !hall find it ·, he !hall not err in it, becaufe • God whom ever he cloth fave, he himfelf is the Ma(\er and teacheth th.em this wifdom. And fo much for that 8th. verfe; I will fpeak a little of the 9th. and fo I will have done. Having made ktJoW111111to tts thr myfiery of his wilt,accordit~g to !tugoodplea• {ttrr, C!lc. Here ( as J told you,) he comes to External Calling, the making known to us theMJJiery of hi; wilt, whereby he doth work Spiritual Knowledge and Under• {landing in a man. Now to open this a little. . What IS meant by making known/You all know, that he did it by the preach• 1ngof the Apofrles, he doth it now by the preaching of the word , and by the Scnptures opened to you, whereby all that hear it and know it ate called. But what is meant by the Myfiery of hu wilt? (for this is the only, the chief hard thing here.) Some men do take it thus, to !hew the difference between the knowledge of behcvers and others. Others may know the will of God (they fay,) but there is a Myflery in.the will of God, wbkh only godly men know, and God reveals it t.o them : As 10 Colo{ 1. 26, To whom God would mnke k11o:d/n ( fpeaking of the'
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