to the E P H ES I AN S. . ~ Firft; Becaufe.if that fecond Sence !hould be the only or the chief Meaning,~ the Words come in but as a Paremhefis,or Noteoflnference by the by; they come in but as an Ufe of Encouragement, from the former Narration ofwhat God had done for thefe Epbefans. But if the Apollle !hould go on here il:ill, to comfort the E~beftans themfdves, and in them all Believet·s, with what great things in Heaven they are to expect, the R.iches of his Grace to be manifefled there, by what he had !hewn already; fo the Words come in more directly, they do not come in by the by, but more homogeneal, and in the way of a continued Difcourfe made to the fame Perfons, ( fo the former words were ) and concerning nhem aHo. And then again, f prefer this thir~ Sence .to the fecond, becaufe his Scope is to fet out the final Aim of God m Mans Salvatwn, (as the words E That he may jhcw J do import) and the Greatnefs of Man's Salvation in Heaven, on which God will expend fuch R.tches of Grace, bemg the ulumate Iffue and Crown of all in God's fntenrions. Therefore, f fay, this !hould be rather intended and held forrh. Tbi>·dly; His Scope would feem to be rather to magnify the 'thing, namely! Salvation it felf, (which he is fpeaking of) and the Greatnefs thereof, which God had defigned us in the World to come, which !hould hold a proportion with thofe exceeding Riches of Grace which we had in this World, whereof God had given aal1rance in Chrifl, both at his R.efurrell:ion, and fitting in Glory, as the words b~fore !hew. And·this is rather tlle meaning, than meerly to !hew by the by~ that God would. !hew the like Riches of Grace to others in time to come. M,y Brethren, methinks when f look upon that fnterpretation only, it falls too low, and too flat, in comparifon of the other two, to come in to the end of a Difcourfe, which had contained the greateil: things that the Gofpel cloth afford, about the Salvation·of Man; it would rather feem therefore to heighten the Greatnefs of Salvation it fel£ Fmmbly ; That God would fhew the like Riches of Grace unto all Believers and others, is fufficiently implied in what he had done to thefe Epbejians, and it might be fuppofed: For thefe Ephejians, they are made the Standard ofall Man– kind, for their natural ~ifery and Condition, in v. r, o, 3· and fo for their Sal– votion in thefe. And therefore, altho their Example had not been propounded in a fet,way to confirm this to us, yet it is implied in the thing it fel£ f have gone over, f fay, all thefe Sences, and f have !hewn you, that they are all in~themftlves fuch, as both fully il:and with the Coherence, and do fully il:and witq .thefe Words which are here in this Verfe; and f have interpreted every Word in ~he Verfe to each of all thefe Sences. For my part, f plainly and truly cen~eiye; (to deliver my own Opinion of this and many other Scriptures ) that t~e floly-Gho(l h'ath a comprehenfive meaniog, and he bath penn'd the Words on -purpole that all thefe !llight be taken in. ff .he had left out thefe words, [ In Ages to come J the truth is, then the Words had plain!y referred to the Glory of God, !imply the !hewing forth "f the Glory of his Grace; but putting in that, and '[i" hh Kindnefs trmards ""•] it makes the Words to incline and to lean to this meaning, that he intends the Comfort of Poflerity. And how it fuiteth alfo wi~~the Perfell:ion of Salvation, which he means to bell:ow in Heaven, r !hewed yotl-ith•whole Sermon at large. f have weighed every thing to the full, and I find oothmg m the one Sence that wtll exclude the other, or in the Words, that all thefe may nor il:aod together, Unto all thefe three Sences r !hall now fpend tllis-Di!Courfe, in giving you Obfervations thereupon, a Story of Oblervations. f gave you Obfervations upon the firil Sence in the la(\ Difcourfe, and I !hall 'nqw f-i"';.)'PU fuc_h Obfervations as d& give themfelves up to the other two, which (fqr my part f thmk) at'@ but two feveral degrees of Accomplifhment of the Dffi10nffi-ation df Grace : the on,e here, to Millions ofElect in after Ages, whilfl: thiJ-iE.;W lafls ;·'and--rlie other to-all his Children, to break open a new Treafury oflJ\"4~n tl;te \¥:brld·\:o come, and the one to lucced the other : even as you ili~lr ~h,C<,rrtany- Prophecies in the Oltl. Teil:ameqt, and in the Revelationsalfo, to hafe'feve.ral Accomplilhmems. ;I
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