An Expofition of the EpijUe r"~ Pledg of what Grace we might expe/:1:: An~ there is no reafonto exclude this, ~and it comes well in under that General I menuoned even now. There is_alfo a fecond Sence I then named, a thi~d Se~ce indeed, and all in the Text gives Jt felf up to Jt hkew1fe: For thefe words bemg the conclufion of fo long a Difcourfe, the Holy·Gho([ huth the greaterc fumming up of all in them concerning Man's Salvation, that is included in any Scripture ; and that third 6ence is this, That whereas the Apome had fet out our Salvation as begun He bath q"irk,_nrd 111t"gether ••itb Cl,-ifl, he hath fet Chri([ in Heaven, and ther~ he hath given him our Portion ; that is, he hath put, as into the hands.ofa Feoffee \n Trurt, all the Glory we 01all have for ever; he bath in him raifed us up, and 1t1 bun fct us together 111 heavenly places; all the Glory we !hall have in the other World, which we are to p<>flds, is now put (faith he) into the hand of Chrifi; To what~end? That f..c 1mght Jbe~vforth m AgC! tocome, even to Eternity, the Riches ot that Grace which he bath mtended '.'' mChn!'c, which he bath already given us in Chnrc rcprcfcntatlvely,. whtch Chn([ bath taken poffeffion of, which (faith he ) is fo great a Glory, as tt requtres Ages to come, an Etetrrity of Time for to fpend tb.tt TreaG.tre which .is thus given us in Chrifl ; it requires, 'Ev To'i; «,;;;., Tels b"p)Cl,w!"o's, as the word ts, .Ages of Ages, to fpend them, and to mani– fe([ them ; which when thofe Times !hall begin, then !hall begin the Accompli!h– menr of our Salvation, and fo it rhall be compleat. And becaufe he would !hew how great that Salvation is, he defcribes it to us, fid1:, by the Fountain ofit: Look what Riches of Grace in Chri([ be bath to befl:ow upon them he loves in his Son · look what will require an Eternity of Time for to exhaufi fo great a Glory h~ hath dtGgned unto them, whom he hath placed in heavenly places in Chrifi Jefus. And. thts Sence I 01ewed yon to be asgenume as any of the other. I will not fl:and to repeat any thing of that, becaufe I mean tO fpend the refi of the Time inObfervations upon thefe Interpretations. Only in a word, I !hall firfl: give you an account why I take in all thefe Inter– pretations. I lay this for a Ground, (which I do not know, through fo many Infl:ances in Scripture, how any Man !hall beat me from it) namely, that all thofe Scnces that can fl:and together, efpecially, that are fubordinate one to another, and may be included one under another, how t9 exclude any fuch Sences, butto take them all in. I confefs, ifi meet with fo many Sences in Scripture, whereof one cannot fl:and with the other, then of neceffity we mull take that which is evident to be the principal Aim and Scope,and exclude the other.But,my Brethren, all thefe three are no way contradifrory one to another; the Holy-Ghofi hath penn'd the Words in fo varc and comprehenfive a meaning, as to involve, and in· elude, and grafp in all the three : For iodeed, that GOd !hould aim at the ma– nireflation of the Riches of his Grace, to magnify himfelf; that that !hould be the meaning, no Man can deny : And that the other two I mentioned in the !aft Difcourfe, may well come under that, be fuhordinate thereunte, and fiand together, is eafy to imagine alfo; becaufe it is but two Accomplilhments of the demonfl:ration of that Grace. He that intended to glorify his rich Grace, he hath two Accomplirhments of it : the one is, from the Afcenfion of Chrifi, until the Day of Judgment, when he will, in the Converfion through all Ages, and through all Nations of his EleCt, more abundantly than under the Law, tbew forth the Richesof his Grace, the Truth of which he bath held forth in the Example of thcfe Ephejians, and other Primitive Chrifiians: and then at the Day of Judgment, when that Execution and Manifefiatioil ofhis free Grace !ball have an end, at the gathering in of his EleCt, then he hath a new Treafure (as the ultimate defign of all) for to break up. Tho God had fpent fo much Grace in the ConverGon and calling in of thefe, and quickning of them, and giving Jefus Chrifi astheir Portion afore-hand; yet faith he, Know this, that there is a hidden T reafure, which will ask an Eternity of Time for them to fpend, and for to ex· haufl: the Riches of Grace he hath laid up for them in the Lord Jcfus. Now
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