An Expo[ition of the Epiple Now then what is meant byWifdomand by Rtvtlatioll? ~ There are feveral Interpretations ofit, which will hold forth to us the Apo!Ucs XIX. meaning. v-"V"".J Firll: you mull: know that all Spiritual true k11owledge it is called Revt!atio11, and th;refore many Interpreters think that Wifdom and Revelation is all one, on. Jy he calleth it Revelation, to lhew that it is fuch a k11owledge as is peculiar to Chrill:ians, and fuch a k11owledge as is by a fpecial Revelati011of the Holy Gholl: proper unto them, Mat~ 11. 2). I thank thu 0 Father, that thou hafl hid thefe thi11gs from the Wife mtdPrttdmt t{ the World, an1 kafl revealtd them to Babes. All Spiritual knowledgeeven ol the meanell: Chnfi1ans IS called Revt/a. tio11. Now it is called RevtlatiotJ in Three l\.efped:s. Firll:, Forthe peculiarity of it; for that you know is properly faid tobeby R.evelation, which is hid to another, but is made known to me, and which I could elfe no way have come to know it if it had not been revealed to me, This is plainly the meaning of Revelatio11, Mat. 1 r. 2). Thou haft hidthefr thi11gs fromtheWJ(e, andbaflrevealedthemuntoBabrs; andverfe27, No11e lmow– eth tht Father lmt heto w hom the Son revealeth him. So that it importeth ape– culiarnefs of knowledge, proper unto Saints which the Holy Gholl: giveth, and which the Apoll:le prayeth they might grow up in. Secoadly, It dorh import frill a further newnefs of knowledge, for if I know a thing but as I did afore, it is not r~veal~d to me, it is not ~ kn?wledge by Rr– velation, for Revelatzo11 I fay rmpheth ll:dl fome further new thrng. Now read Rom. 1. 17; he tclleth us-there that the Gofpel, the Righteoufnefs ofGhrill: is re– vealed from faith to faith. , What is the meaning of that l Why, it is revealed from one.degree of faith to another. Why is every n_ew degree of fait~ called a Revt!atzonT Why l becaufeafurther degree of fa1th makes the thmg new. That is the property of Spiritual knowledge, when a man iocreafeth in it, he fees fomething new in it, when that which is more perfect cometh, faith the Apo!lle, that which is imperfect is done away. My Brethren,in notional know– ledge, when aman doth know a thing, he cannot be faid to know it again , for he knoweth it already, becaufe the mind of man is all for news. Well,but in !pi– ritual knowledge, ifthou knowll: God fpiritually, though thou knowell: no more of him materially, yet thou hall: a new light come in, and God becometh again a new thing unto thee, as if thou hadll: not known him before, Therefore it is called Revelatio11, this k11owledge that isjoyned withwifdomwhereby we know God. As when aman feetl1 a beauty, though he fees all parts and all proporti– ons, yet if he be in the dark letlight come in he fees a further excellency, it is as it were a new face to him to what it was '(vhen he.had but a glimmering light. So though you fee no more of God, no more of his Attributes, yet if you rife to have a new light from the Holy Gall:, all that knowledge will become new: you will fee a further excellency in God, and have your hearts anew drawn to him a> if they never had been drawn yet; you will fay, ( when a new light cometh in,) you fee that in fin which you never faw before, Aman will fay, I faw not this before, thou11,h he did. Every new degree of light addeth a further degree of .lmowledge. Therefore it is faid to be by Revetatio11, he would have them to have new fights of God, which might lead them into communion with God. Thirdly, But there is one meaning which I lhall give you, which I think the Afoll:le in a fpecial manner aimeth at. For the Apoll:le here feems not to make Htfdom andRevelationone and the fame thing, as this Interpretation doth, but to make them different. Therefore the meaning that I do think may moreefpe· cially be aimed at, Ilhall open to you as briefly and clearly as I can. The knowledge of God here, (as I faid at firll:, ) is Commmti011 w ith God, in– timate knowledge of him, which he would have the Ephejians grow up in. Now, there are two waysof a Chrill:ians having communion with God,which theScrip· ture holdeth forth, and which theSain:s have experience of. The one is a way ofw ifdom, and the other is a way ofRevrlation. I lhall open thefe to you as J'lainly as I can, and then prove it. The
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