An Expojition of the €pijlle --- - --- ·~ ~ Firrt, if you obferve it? when hefpeaks of his Love,he !peaks of it as an act taken up by God, rho he ts of a lovmgNarure, whtch ts the foundation of that act, The Lroe ,.herewith hetm;ed m,. fatth he: But when he fpeaks of Mercy, lie !peaks of it, as of a ~tfpofitton whtch Love !hrred _up, which Love expcndeth and commandeth, gmdeth and dtrecteth : God ( fanh he) being in himfelf rich in Mercy, and in his own Nature, and having pitch'd an act of Lave upon us for that great love wherewith he loved us, ( fetting a!ide that Nature of Mercy 'that is in him,) he bath faved us, and quickncd us. Secondly, tho I do not much urge the Participl$, tl~, God [being] ricb, which being in God is his Elfencc, (for rho that word ["''] ts not always taken for Participium ejJe11di ) yet notwith· flanding look upon the words jufl before, he (peaks ofwhat we ~ere by Nature: We were by Nature, (faith he) and by our natural difpo!ition 1 Chi~dren of Wrath; and fo on the contrary,fpeakmgofGod, God (fatth he) 7rA><11@' G>V, who is in his nature, m hts dtfpofiuon, merctful, and rich in Mercy, evw when we were dead,&c. So that, ~fay, the words !imply con!ide~ed in the'?{el~es, import: Fir!l:, That God ts m hts nature and dtfpo!itton merctful, ( whtch ts the foundation of our Salvation): And then, That the Mercy that js in him is a rich Mercy there are Richesof Mercy in him. ' Tfhall !peak a word or two to the fir!l:, It is his difpo!ition thus to be merciful. You have an expreflion in 2 Cor. r. 3· where God is faid to be the Father ofMer– dei; which imports, that as be is the fpring of all Mercy, fo it is natural to him as it is to a Father to beget Children. He is not only faid to be a Father unt~ us, and like a Father to be merciful to us; but he is faid to be the Father of all the Mercies which he cloth be!l:ow upon us, more the Father of Mercies, than Satan is faid to be the Father of Sin ; yet he is faid to be the Father of Sin, and when he !inneth, he finnetht f his own, John 8. 44· I fay, it is his Nature, it is his Difpolltion: God (fai.thhe) who ii rich in Mercy; it is his Being. We are by nature Children of Wrath, he is by nature merciful. · Mercy, it is his delight, and therefore natural to him, as in all ails of Nature you know there is a delight. Mic. 7· 18. He retaineth 1101 hii Anger for ever, be– caufo (faith he ) he delighteth in :Mercy. The Mercies of God are called in Scripture his Boweli; now there is nothing fo intimate, or fo natural to a Man, as his Bowels are. And they are called his Bowels, becaufe they are his inwards, and all that is within him, his whole Being and Nature inclines him to it. Luf<! I , 78. Thr011gh the tender Mercy of our God; fo we tranOate it, look in your Margins, it is the Bowels of God. So in 'jam. 5· 1r. he is called, 1!1>AU<IDA«rx.vos, fW of Bowels. You know the Bowels are the moll: inward, and the moll: natural, more than outward Members : A Man may lofe an outward Member, and be a Man frill; but he cannot lofe his Inwards, his Bowels. They are faid to be his Bowels, becaufe all the Mercy he fheweth, he doth it from within. Hof. 2. 1 9· I will betroth thee 11nto me in Loving·kfndnef, .md in Merciei ; in the original it is, I will betroth thee 11nto me in Merry, and in Bowe!I; yea, in the Womb of Mercy, as the word !ignifi~. Now, as SanCiim well obferves, he cloth not only make a Covenant to be a Hu!band to us, and to betroth us to himfelfin Mercy; but, (faith he) thou fhalt have my Bowels, thou !l1alt have the Womb it felf that conceives them, thou !halt have tbe Mother of Mercies, as he himfelf is laid to be the Father of Mercies, becaufe that Mercy is his Inwards, and he begets it, he conceives it; he is both the Womb of Mercies, and the Father of Mercies. All thefe expreflions the Scripture bath, to fhew how natural they are tO him ashimfelf: God who is rich in MercJ, faith he. And then ag;;in, It is his Nature and Difpo!ition, becaufe when he cloth fhew mercy, he doth it with his whole heart: J Chron. I 7. I 9· According to t!J!ne own heart, haft tho11 done all thii Greatnef, fatth David, when he !peaks ofGods {hew·, ing mercy ; that is, thou haft {hewn mercy ltke thy felf, ltke the great God, ac• corcling to thine own he.:zrt. . . My Brethren, tho God is juft, yet his Mer~y ~ay be m fome refpell: fatd to be more natural to him, than all ails of Jufttce tt felf that God doth fhew, I mean
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=