to the E P H E S I AN S. p. Second Obfervarion is this. That the mercy lies in this, to know the Gof- ~ pel, the Myftery of his will: He doth not fay to know the Law,how ilightly the Strm; IX; Apoftle [peaks of the Law; The L .1w ( f01th he,) came b y M ofes , it is a~ ilighr fpeech, in companfo~ of Grace mtd Tr11th, that, he faJth, car::'C 6t .7efu1 Cbrtfl : Jt is the m) fiery ot his will m the Gofpe.l that he purpofcd m himfell, the knowledge of which a man fhould pnze. TillS IS the glory of Chnft , and this is the f!,lory of our preaching, He hath ordai11ed it for our G!orJ', faith he 1 Cor, 2 . 7 . The preaching of the Gofpel is that which brings in Souls. Luke 16. r6. Tbe Law ,md the 'Prophets were 1111til .!oh11, but now the Gofpcl is preached, men crowd into it, prefs into it, they come thick and threefold to it, men come in now when the Gofpel is preached, infinitely more then when nothing but the Law and the Prophets were preached. The L.1w a11d I be P rophets were 111ttil Johll, ji11ce that time (faith he,) the Ki11gdom of. God is prrached , a1Jde1.my, mall pref[eth i11to tt. TlHs ISit tha~ bnngeth men in,my Brethren. lFoe ts me (faith the Apo!\le,) Why? He fmth not limply, 1f I preach not, bur, ij I preach 110t the Gofpe! ; that is the main thing. . . . There is but one dung more to be opened, and that Is, Why It IS call€d the myftery of his will l One reafon is this, Becaufe the will of God is the foundation of the Gofpel. W'hat will you refolve into? You muft refolve it into his will, and into nothing, elfe. I will have wercy, this is the Gofpel,but his will is the foundation of it; I will have mncy 11ponwhom I will have mercy; and his Wdl fets his Underfland– ing a work, as it were tolind Ot1t ways to bring about the falvation of mankind .. He worketh all thiugs after the cottn{e! of hu ow11 wt!!, as rt follows afterward at the 'ltb. verfe. Hence thereforeit is called the myftery ofhis wilL 1will give you another reafon for It, which iS the better reafon for you, be– caufe the mort comfortable thing we know in the Gofpel , is the will of God to fave Sinners. Mark what I fay, ifthou kneweft all that God knows,(it is a great word, ) ifthou didft not know this thing, that his .m!nd and will were to fave Sinners, thou wert undone; the knowledge of this rs worth all the reft. To know that God is merciful in his nature, t his will not do it, you might have. known that,and dcfpaired, for it might have been faid,it is true, he is merciful in his nature, but the Q\reftion is whether he will be merciful or no. Yea, but I will have mercy. This word is worth all the World, this is the GofpeL It is called the My!\ery of his will thirdly, becaufe you might have known that Jefus Chrift had dyed too, yet if you had not known it is the will of God to accept of that Death for Sinners, you had been undone ftill, if you could poffi– bly have fuppofed this. What faith the Apoftle, He6, 10 . ro, when he comes to fpeak of the Sacrifice of Chrift, what influence it had into our Salvation ? I came to do thy will (faith he,) 6y the which wilt we are fan[!Jfedthrwgh the offeriug of tbe body of .1-Jtts Chrifl oucefor all. What is it that faveth you? that fanchfieth you? It is not fimply the offering of the blood of Chrirt, if you had heard Chrift had dyed, that would not have comforted you , had it not been for this will, by this will you are fanchfied through the offering of the body of Chri!\, Take an Obfervation or two from hence. You fee, my Brethren, what is the pith of the Gofpel; It is the myftery of God's wtll; to know but this, that God will fave Sinners in the blood of Chrift, this is the pith of the Gofpel. This is that which is clfentia[ to falvarion; and you fee too, that it is but a fmall thing, to know that God will fave Sinners iri Chrift. How wacious hath God been, he bath not laid upon ) ou to know all the hard tlungs m the Gofpel, (which Schollars know, and many believers rhat have large underftandmgs know,) or elfe you cannot be faved, But t.hi< ;, the kernel of all, God will fave Sinners, it is the myftery of his will;do{\ rhou know that? bath that taken thy heart? Thou knoweft that which will fave rhee,ifthou Imoweft no more; thou knoweft that which faith may feed upon, and which will make thee happy everla!\ingly,
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