to the E P HE S I A N S. indeed would !hew Love, and infinite Love: B;n is there any way elie how S~ Love may be !hewn? Yes, if I permit and fufier thefe Creature~ to fair into ~ mi(cry, I !hal1 !hew love m a way of mercy to them. So that now our falltng imo Sin, and his giving Chrif1: to die for us, and all thefe things, they ;ue but to commend that Love which he firCI: pitch'cl upon us, as we are Creatures, whom he meant to make fo glorious, and whom he meant fo to love. Indeed in Rom. 5· 8. it is trnc·, the ApoCrk (~ith, that God commwdetb hit Love tOJVJrdt 111, that ,;;i.dfi we 1 vere J'Ct Fmmies, Chrifl du!d for tfl: But if you mark it, he cloth not {;1 y, that be fi:t his love upon us in the confideration of o,ur being enemies; but n>IN!jl Jl'e were E11emiu, J1e cornmended h1s love towards us ; fo he did in his Otcrees order it, that he won 'cl commend his Love towards ns by thi• : But now that confideration which he had of us, or that A!:t ·pitched firll-, was an Afl of J,ove. Only let me give yon this with it, that at the firCI: he refolved to !hew Love in a way of Mercy: As he refolved .to fhew hts Jnll-tce upon wtcked Men, in a way of Wrath; fo he refolved to !hew his Love in a way of.Mercy. And therefore as in the Coun!Llsof God all thmgs are at once ; fo we mu!l: conceive it, ·he rcfolved at the f.1mc time, when he thus fet his love u·pon us, to permit our falling into Sin, and fo Mercy be !hewn. But fl:ill if yon ask, What afl it was? whether our Elcll:ion was an act ofMercy, or an afl of Love? I an!wer clearly, (as a great Divine doth, who hath \pent much to the clearmg of it) it was an afl of Love : ft w.s his Decree to !hew mercy ; but thts All: was not out of Mercy, it was out of Love, and out of good-Will, to mamfef1: whtch Love he was refolved to !hew Mere), therefore he lets Man fitll. Eleflion, I f.1y, is an afl of Eove,rather than of Mercy. Mark the Coherence here, Goti>Vho is rich i11 Merry, fOr the great Love w!Jmn•llh he bath loved lfl. God being merciful in his Nature, having pitch'd an·afl of Love upon· us, when he law us fit}! into mifery, his Bowels turned ; but he loved m firf"l:. That Mercy ts m>ntioned firfl, it is becauf~ it fuited our condition ; it is not becaufe it was that Attribute, out of Y.>hich the afl of Eleflion proceeded, tho in Eleflion there was a purpofe to fi1ew Love in a way of Mercy. The Obfcrvation of that great Divine is this : Saith he, 'Run over the whole Scripture, and you !hall find indeed, tbe calling ~·of a Saint is attributed unto Mercy ; why? becaufe God calls him that is fallen 'into Sin, and therefore there is Mercy in it ; as in I T im. 3· I6. But I obtained 'Mm)'. I 'Pet. 2. Io. Ront. It. 3r, 32. You !hall find likewife, Gith he, Re– < million of Sins is attributed unto Mercy, I mean the afl of 1\.emiffion, and the 'exerci(c of it, in Luk.p 1..78, 79· Mat. r8. 33· So li~ewife Regeneration, as ' here, and in I Pet. 1. 3· and inTit. 3· So the aflual bell-owing ofGlory, ]11dc 'v. 21, 6c. There is only one place, C1ith he, and that is Rom, 9· 16. which 'fcemeth 10 make Eleflion an afl of Mercy : It is not of him that wil!eth, nor of <him that mnneth, lmt of God tbat f1Jewetb Mere)'. Bnt the truth is, Eleflion is 'not in the Text there, he cloth not f<,y, EleCiion if not of bim that wil!eth, nor of 'him t!Jdt mnnetb; but his bu!inefs isSalvation: It if not of him that willeth, that 'is, Salvation is not, but of God that fheweth mere}'. And if it be C1id, He hoth merry upon wfom he will h1ve mere}' ; his Anfiver is this : Saith he, That is in Eleflion. He grants, God decrees to!hcw Love in a way ofMercy; and becaufe that is the i!Ete, becaufc that they are !.wed by a way of Mercy, therefore they are called alfo Velkis of Mercy. But f1:ill that out of which Eleflion proceedeth, rt ts not !imply the Attnbnte of Mercy. And he gtves this exceeding clear and good !nll-.mce : ' God (faith he) is omnipotent, yet that God decreed to !hew 'his fOwer, that is not an Afl of Omnipotency ; [o God is wife, but to decree to ' !hew forth his Wifclom, is not limply to be refolved as an afl of Wifdom: So ' likewife here, God is merciful, eN. But the purpofe to !hew all thefe Attri– ' bntes forth, it is rcfolved into his Love. This mull- needs be !aid, (which I be- . fecch you to take along with you) that to !hew forth Riches of Mercy was the finpl caufe of his Decree, be had that in his aim, and in his eye; but- it was his Will, and it was his Love, ont of which this proceeded, and which he firll: pitch'<! upon us, that moved him thereunto. · And fo much now for that point, which I have fpoken to b~lt briefly, and per• baps more obfcurely: It is, I fay, a Point of Controverfy, which I will not enter into, to handle ~11 the particulars of it. 1
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