to the EPHESIAN S. Joving AffeCtion, for the way ofmanifefting of it, fo as in ~he way of carrying it, ~ tt !hall appear it is not fimply to glorify hymfelf,but out ?fkmdne!s to~ards us: he ~· puts that in,as that whtch!hall run along wtth all the mamfellatton of hts ownGlory. And ~herefore now he makesin the 4thverfe, Mercy and great Love to us, to be as well the Fountain and Foundation ofour Salvations, as the manifellation of the Riches ofhis Grace here, And then likewife thofeother Words [towardJ w] come in here, to !hew alfo thus much, That God in pitching upon glorifying his free Grace, did not do it up– on Men in tl)e general, as fome have conceived the Counfelsof God firll lay, viz. that he refolved firfi in bimfelfto glorify his free Grace upon Come in the general and indefinite,and then he thoughtofPcrfons; and feeing he had laid that conclu· fion, it wasall one to him (fay they) whom he fhould have chofen; fome he mull have ifhe would accomplifh that Decree, and fo he pitched upon thofc he did. NO\v to !hew the contrary, that even from the firll, that all along when he firfl: pitched upon manifefl:ing'the Riches of his Grace in the Salvation ofMen, he had the Perfons in his F,ye whom he would manifell this upon, and that it was not an after-Thought, ,a Thought ofindifferency, therefore the Apo!tle here faith, in hk Kindnefs [towardJ u•.J That general and indefinite way, is derogatory from that fpecial Love and Kindnefs whjch he beareth toward'u' in Jeftu Chrlft, as the Apo– fl:le here fpe*s. He joins you fee a refpeCl: toward'"'• as having [u•] .in his Eye in particular,together with the utmoll end he had in refpeCl: to himfelf, which was the glorifying of his <;>wn Love. He never had a purpofe of glorifying himfelf, but he had withal a purpofe at the fame inllant to make us the Velfels and ObjeCl:s ofhis Love. Laftiy, [l~t Chrif1 Jeftu] isadded, for He is adequate to all God's Counfels. God !hews not one Dram, nor calls one Beam ofFavour upon any Soul lout in Chrill: He bath choftn '" in him, and never confidereth us out of him, nor him without us, no'nor his own Glory neither, but as involving Kindnefs, he loved us altogether. And fo now you have a fummary Interpretation of thefe Words to that more general meaning, which indeed cloth comprehend the other two I gave in the !all Difcourfe. i confefs this Interpretation I now have given, that is, that thefe words fhould refpeCl: the Defign God had, as aiming at his own Glory, the Glory of his Grace, it was that which when I looked upon the words afar off, I thought had been the only meaning of them, and he that runs may read this to be the general Scope of them ; but when I approached nearer to them, there were two other more narrow (let me fay fo) Interpretations, (yet glorious ones too,) which did further appear to be of them, which I fpake to largely in the !aft Difcourfe. And, The firfl: of them is this', ( I !hall repeat it briefly ) That befides this general End that God had, as it refpeCts himG:lf fimply, he made the Salvation of thefe F.phejiam, and of thofe Primitive Chri!tians, to be Patterns and Examples ofwhat · Grace and Mercy he would !hew forth to Pollerity, in all Ages to come, under the Times of the Gofpel. And by !hewing, that he then converted Idolatrous Heathens all the World over, he did thereby give a Pawn and a Pledge of that .Riches of Grace, which he had broken up under,the Times of the Gofpel, and meant to go on to difpenfe in after Times, both to Jews and Gentiles. And to ·.this Sence alfo doth every thing in the Text, (as I !hewed you in the lafl: Dif.. courfe) give up themfelves, to make thefe Primitive Chriflians Patterns of Grace ro all Ages to come. • The word [to fhew forth J here, it is to give Proof, it is to give·alfurance by a Pattern; as in 2 Cor.8. 24. and 2 Tim. 1. 5· and efpecially.in .I Tim. I. I6. He Jet me "P tH a Pattern, faith he, that in me he 111ight fhew forth (it is the fame word) a/J Lmg-jitjfering, &c. And [o now this feconc\ Sence,. as the other is for the Glory of God, fo this is mightily for our Comfort and Encouragement, and all our Pollerity that !hall live in after Ages, to bring in wh~t Mercies, what Caving .Merctes God vouchfafed to thefe Ephejiam, and other Chriflians, as a Pattern and <· "' I i 2 Pledg
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