io the E PH E SI·AN S. "~ I come now to the fecond, ho": there is a .Mine of Mercy Ipid iip 'in his .S~~ Purpofes and Decrees. A~an is 'faid tobe rich, that bath a Stod< andT reafure · laid up by him: Thou haft mHch G~ods laid "P. for many Years, :fanh thC:nch Man in the Parable. Now God bath ro·: , He JS not only mfimteiy merciful m his Na.- ture, that"s the Mine, but in his Purp(>fes and f>t?crees ; he had1 laid by as maay Mercies for his Children, as they ihaii for ever fpend, or ftand m need o£ Mercies might have been in his Nature, and referved to'himldf ;. hci. might have had that Treafure, and have Iud 1t: No, but he took what was·In hiS Nature, m rus own gracious Difpolition ; he fo>md himfdf to be fo and fo compailionate to Sinners, and he decrees fo to be m the mamfeftatiOn, of It to ·lhem. If you compare that place,_ih Exod. oo. 5, 6. with Exod. 34- 7· you fhaii find, that the Text t1ith, that be referveth or keepeth Mercy, ·Iays It up by him as a Stock, al)d as a Treafure; and for how Iong cloth he Iay it up ? what for one or two Geti~- rations ? So indeed he C1ith in refpetl: of puniihing, Vijiting (faith he) the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Childrm, Hnto the thirdand jo11rth Generation ofthr>;t that hate me; b11t he f.Fepeth Metcy for thoufonds of Gcneratio1u of them that lo<~ him. So that Iook what proportion three or four have to miiiions, that proportion bath the Treafi1fy ofMercy tO that of Juftice and Vengeance. God ftrctch- ·eth the Suppolition beyond what will ever f.1li out; for in the Succeffions ofMen there wiii not be a thouGnd Generations, there hath not been an hundred fincc the World flood: but to OlCw the great Stock of Mercy which he hath referved by him, he f.1ith, If there were thou(mds of Generations, and ten thoufand ofGenerations, ifthis World ihould Iaft fo Iong, h~ bath refen•ed Mercy enough for them aii, and aii this Mercy he will empty into the VeftCis of Mercy. There• fore Mercy is (aid tO be fi·om everiafting to everiafting. How Iong bath this Stock and Treafury of Mercy been laying up too? It bath been laying up ;even from everlafting. And therefore David, in Pfol. 2 5· 6. hath recourfe i6 the Mercies of God, which, he f.1ith, have been for evel' of old. And, my Brethreh, if God have been thinking thoughts of Mercy from evcriafting to thofe that are his, what a Stock and Treafury do thefe thoughts arife to, belides thofe tnat are in his Nature and Oifpolition! This is in his atl:uai Purpofes and Intentions, which he bath thought, and doth think over, again and again, 'every moment : Pfai. 40. 6. Man)', 0 Lotd, are thy wonderjid Wor0, and thy thoughts which are to m-ward, faith JeliJs Chrill ; for it is a PGim of Chrift, and quoted by the Apoftie, and applied unto Chrift, in Heb. ro. How """Y m·e thy tbo11ghts to m-ward! (he !peaks it in the name of the humane Nature,) that is, to me and mine ; if I would declare and fpeak of them, they are more than can be numbred ; and what is the rea!un? Becaufe God bath ftudied Mercies for his Chil&en, even from everla(ling. And then, He remweth his Mercies every lizorning i ndt that any Mercies are new, but he aCl:uaily thinketh over Mercies again ~nd :igain, and fo he brings out of his Treafury tvlercies both rlew and old, and the did :ire al– ways new. What a Stock, my Brethren, muft this need~ amount umo! Mer– cies from everiaOing to everiafting; (o you have it in Pfol. ro3.. 17. Aiid thefe Mercies always new, frdh every morning. Look therefore for M~rcy when v.ou co~e to Heaven. You have the Phrafe of finding Metcj lit that. D'f)', in. 2 Tim. 1. r8. There is indeed a Stock of Mercies laid up in' Heaven: 17;y M ercy, 0 Lord, is in the Heavem, faith Pfol. 36. 5· And the Mercies that are iil Heaven are higher and greater, infinitely greater Mercies, that we ibaii have when we come thither, than what we have here. It is a Treafury w!iich God hath Iaid up ihcre in his own eVeriafling Purpofes, Cot. r. 5. . And, my Brethren, Iet me teii you this, That Gcid, when .he Iaid up Mercies for his Children, he did not fay, I wiii Iay up fuch a Stock, or fo much Mercy : This he doth indeed to wicked Men, he Iays . by a Pittance, an AIIowance of Mercy for them, gives iherii fuch a Portion of the Riches of his Long-fuffering and Patience, (which is caiicd,Riches to\), becaufe it is the Glory. of God, and an eminent exceiiency in him)':. Carnal Men, I fay, whom God means to throw away, he faith of them, I wlll iay by lomuch; and when you have fpem tbi's, · you ihaii have a Treafure of Wrath for ii ~ and the truth is, when that Portion ofMercy is (pent, they are undone. Bllt God hath Iaid by Mercies for his Saints, * Y z withom
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