\. dn Expofition of tbe~ Epiple ~ until now ; the words that follow [ Bj Grac~ }t are f-tl.] they are but a refu• ~ming of one particular, which he had fcattered by a Parenthefis in this grand .Difcourfe, which he explaineth a little further, but otherwife here is the Clofe. I need not tell you which of the Sences I lean to : the truth is, if they will both fiand together, I can hardly tell which to take; but I incline to the latter, as that which is mofi worthy to be the conclufion of fo magnificent and glorious a Difcourfe as the Apofile had made. I have gone by this Rule ever fince I began to open this Epillle to you, that is, ' to take in all the Sences in any Scripture, that. will confifr and fia?d toget~er; and I thmk the Excellency and Glory of a Scnpture (as of all Saymgs ofwetght and moment ofwife Men) lies in this: Take awife Saying ofa wife Man,and the .more depth of Sences can be fetched out of it, the more afpccts of meanings it bath, the more feveral ways it looks, the deeper is the Sentence, and the fuller of Wifdom, as in Sayings of Wit alfo ; and fo it is in the Sayings of the Holy· Ghoft. Now ofientimes there are Sences cannot fiand together, but I hope it will prove that both thefe may, and then the Sum of it is but thus: The Apoftle's Intent is to hold forth God's great Defign, whereof he had given thefe Ephe(ianJ Inftances and Examples, and of his.Grace to them in their Salvation; and-faith he, he hatp intended, and-doth confirm to all the World, by what he hath done to you, that for all the Ages to come, to the end of the World, he will !hew forth the like Grace; to call in a World of his Elm, whereof you are the Firft-fruits and Fore-runners; and when he hath thus, by !hewing forth that exceeding Riches of Grace, quickned all his Elect, and gathered them to Jefus Chrifr, then begins another World in Ages to come, in which he will break open the Riches of his Grace, which is the utmoll: Accomplifhment of our si!lvation, and the utmoll: Defign of Free-Grace, and where he will !hew fo much Glory, as to hold proportion with the exceeding Riches of the Grace of the great God, ,and of his Loving-kindnefs. And this I take to be the meaning of the WQrds, which doth comprehend both the Sences and Interpretations. SERM~ •
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