== to the EPHE.SIAN s. SERMON EPHES. 1. 7• That in the .Ages ta came, he might [hew tf>e exceedil1,g 11\icbei of ~~~ Grace, in bi5 k.indnefs towards U5 in Chrift ]eJU5~ WHen I difcerned, that thefe Words were the Conclufion of that large and long continued Difcourfe about Man's Salvation, fir!l: and la!l:, which the Apo!Ue had begun at the 18th Verfe of the fir!l: Chapter, and continued until now ; and that the Scope in thcfe Words was, to hold forth God's great Defign therein: I concluded with myfdf this, That thefe Words mu!l: necei!arily have the mo!l: vaft and compre– henfive Sence, [eeing into them all t'he parts of the foregoing Difcourfe, as fo many Rivulets, fall and determine, as into a great Sea. Now to !hew forth the exceeding Riches of Grace, that that lhould he God's defign, is univerfally ac– knowledged, and the Words tl)emfelves do hold it forth. But then this Defign of God's, to !hew forth the exceeding Riches of his Grace, is faid by Interpre• ters, to look three feveral ~ays. . Firft; Immediatly to God himfelf, and to hold forth his utmoft End, as it re· ··,.. lates to himfelf and his own Glory, namely, to fet forth the exceeding Riches of his Grace in Man's Salvation; and that unlimitedly and generally, only exempli– fie<l}._n his KindnefS towards thefe Ephejam; the Glory of his Grace, and Riches of li1~Ce tohe fuch, as is worthy in all Ages to be celebrated: Even as in the firft Cltap.ter, the "'po!Ue had made the End, and the Bunhen of all in our SaLvation, to be to the 'Praife of hi< Glory, and, to the Glory of his Grace, as yott often read it there. Secondly; This Defign of God to magnify his GracC, is faid to have a refpeQ to all Mankind in future Ages, both of Jews and Gentiles, that God having !hewn fo much Mercy, ·and fo much Grace, and fo much KindnetS to thefe Ephejiam, in converting them, whenas they lay in thatmiferable and inextricable Condition with the re!l: of the Wm:ld, his Caving fuch as thefe with fo great a Sal– vation, it is a Pattern and an Example, (as the words, to fhew forth, oftentim~ figQ.ifie) what a Treafury of rich Grace God had to beftow upon After-Ages, which then he did begin to break up, and to give example of in thefe Primitive Converts. Thirdly; It is alfo faid, that the Defign of God's !hewing forth his Grace here in the Text, doth refpect thefe Ephejians, and Primitive Chriftians themfelves, to have been added to raife up their Expectations, by wh•t God had already done for them in themfelves: He had quicftned then• when they were dead in Sins ""d TreJPajJes, together with Chrift; and what he h•d done for them in their Head Chrift, he had in him raifed them, and Jet them together in heavenly Plaw, as the words before are : That fo by this their Expectations might he railed, what an exceeding Riches of 6race God had yet to be !hewn to all Eternity, that is, in all Ages to come, in the World to come. So that the Accomplilhment of our Salvatio.n in lieaven, and after the Day of Judgment, ( whereto the Words be· fore are but a Preparation, and a Foundation,) is the meaning of the[e Words. I !hall give you in a word, the Differences of all thefe Sences, and compare them one with another. The • "-"-Fi Serm. XX. ~
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