An Expojition of the Epiflle ~ vation, difrintl: fome way from Mercy and Love: Exod. 34· 6. The Lordgraciol!s ~ and mercijitl; he makes Grace a dtfrmct. thmg from Mercy: It is the fame for the fubfrance with Love and Mercy; yel"'tt holds forth fomethmg more eminently than both. r. It notetb out, not !imply Love, _but the Love ofa Sovereign, t'ranfcendently fuperior, one that may do what he w~ll, tb:tt may wholly chufe Whether be will love or no. Ther~may be lo~ebetwtxt Equals, and an Inferior. may love a Su– perior; but Love m one that IS a Supertor, and fo fuperior, as he may do what be wtll, m fucb an one Love ts called Grace: and therefore Grace is attributed to Princes, they are laid to be gracious to their Subjects. Subjects tho they love their Princes, yet they are not faid to be gracious to them. Now God who is an infinite Sovereign, who might have cbofen whether ever he would ba~e loved us or no, for him to love us, and to love us with a fpecial Love, this is Grace. In that ofExod. H· 6. when God proclaims his Name, what is the firfl: word ? The Lord, the_Lord, and gracious is the next:_The Lord, the Lord, graci– DitJ '. I am the So~eretgn Lord of all the Creatures, tf I love, if I !hew Mercy, tbts IS Grace. And m the Chapter before, v. I9, .he fpeaks hke a King, and like the Lord of Heaven and Earth, I will be gracious to whom I wi/1 be gracio11s. 2. Grace here, ~s it is in God, notes out not !imply Love, but the height of Love, a Love that wdl !hew alltts Goodnefs: Exod. 33· I9. I will, faith be, jhew thee all my Gbodneji; what follows? I ws/1 begracsous to whom I will begracious. For God to be gracious to us, is fo to love us, as to befrow all that becomes Crea– tures to have froin him, all that is fuitable to the condition of Creatures. When the Apomes therefore would wifh all good to thole unto whom they wrote, flill they wifh Grace, becaufe it brings the utmofl: good with it, it is Love extended to the utmoll ; if it be Grace, they !hall have his Son, and all things with him : He will graciou.fly with him give us allthings. So I told you the word fignifies,in that Rom. 8. 32· 3· Hence therefore, thirdly, it notes witball the greateft Freenefs. You have the Phrafe in Hofea I 4· 4· I will love thent freely. Where God loves, he loves freely; and GracedenotestbeFreenefsofthatLove, it fitperadds in the fignifi– cation of it, Freenefs; and Love in that refpetl: is called Grace, and Grace is but free Love. You !hall find it in Rom. 3.24. Being j11flified freely by his Grace. And therefore where the Apome ufetb the word Grace, or God is faid to give us out of this Grace, our Interpreters often render the word, togive '" freely. Thus in I Cor. 2. 12. The things that are freely given to 111 of God; the word is, things given to us out ofGrace, or graciou!ly. So in the place quoted even now, Rom. 8. 32· He ,.;lt with him give Hs all things freely, or graciou!ly, as the word fignifies. Now for God to give freely, it implies tbefe lix things, that I may open them difrintl:ly to you. Firfl; To fet his Heart and his Love on us,meerly out of his own good Motion, and good Will. Mark therefore how they are joined together, in Ephef. I. 5, 6. In the 5thVerfe be bad faid, that God predcflinated '"unto the Adoption of Chil– dren, according to the good pleajitre of his Wilt; and in the 6th Verfe be faith, To the praife of the Glory of his Grace. When be doth it tbm in a freedom, meerly out of the motion of his own Will, this is Freenefs, and this makes it Grace. Grace implies more than to give, tbo it implies that too; and tbo frill you !hall find both joined, it implies to give freely. Secondly; It is not only faid to be Grace, in regard ofthe Freenefs of it towards us, but in refpetl: of the Sovereignty of God's Will, that be may chufe to love whom be will, and do what be will, meerly as a Sovereign; for fo it is mofi cer– tain, that all that Adam bad might becalled Grace in that refpect; for what God did for Adam, all the Holinefs be bad, it was freely done, which yet in the Scrip– mre is not called Grace. It might have been faid unto Adam, Who made thee t• diffir from another? It was the freeWill of God: And what hafl thoJ< that thon didfl11ot receive? So that Grace here implies more than meerly the FreeneJS of a Sovereign, that God doth it meerly out of his Superiority. But y;e find, that ., Grace
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