to the E PHESi A N S. My Brethren, if God _have done fo great things _in the bringing us to Giory, ~; as the preparation to tt, he ~td let us fall mto Sm, dehyered us out.of _tt, ~ fent his Son to die for us ; tf thefe be but the Preparations, what,wtll the Riches be ? And yet all this is but Preparation, That he might fhew forth the exceeding Richn of his Grace, in the .Ages to come, in Kindnefs towards UJ in Chrifl Jefw. Third!;, What is it that God will expend upon us in Heaven ? He will expend upon us the exceeding 'J?ichn ofhis G;ace. , . . . My Brethren, The exceedmg Rtches of God.~ Grace mufl be latd out m fomething which !hall be proportionable to it.. If a King .lhould fay, Go take all the Riches in my Kingdom, and expend tt upon .fuch an Entertainment, if the maker of the Entertainment be Faithful and Wife, the Entertainment !ball be fuitable to rhofe exceeding Riches that are laid forth and expend– ed. If we fay, that fuch or fi.tch a thing doth cofl a Man fo much; .we reckon it folly in him that is the Purchafer or Procurer of it at fuch a Rate, if it do not hold fome Proportion to the Cofl. Now then if God will !hew forth the exceeding 'J?!ches of hi< Grace, that Happinefs and Glory that mull: hold a Proportion to this, and come up to it and be wortby of it, that Entertain– ment which God himfelf is the maker of, and therefore he will nor call: away any whir ofhis Grace, but his Saints !hall have it out in Glory, how great mull: that Glory be ! And it is to ma4! a fhcw, on purpofe to fhew forth. Saith God, I will !hew how great a God I am, how Gracious I am, how well I can love Creatures, and how kind he will be when he meaneth to be kind. If Ahajitertn being.a great King, will make a Feafl to !hew the Riches of his Glorious King– dom, how great, how magnificent !hall the Feafl be? . If God will make Crea– tures happy, and and undertakes to do it, to !hew forth the exceeding Riches ofhis Grace, and this before all Ages, all Men, when all the World is gathe– red together, how great mull: this Glory be ? Anrl I befeech you confider, who are the Stewards of all thefe Riches that are in God ? Here is Grace and Loving Kindnefs; we are therefore like to be well entertained. You fee Grace is at the Cofl, and gives Commiffion to Loving Kindnefs to fpare for nothing. If it be to fhew forth the Riches of Grace, Grace will be fure to provide for its own Glory, to !hew it felf to the utmo£1:, and when Kind– nefs towards us, !hall have the command of Grace's Purfe ; that will be fure to think nothing too good for us. If a Prince lhould employ one to make Entertainment, that is of a profufe and prodigal Spirit, and a deep Ob– ferver and Favourer of the Perfons to be ent~rtained; he will be fure to lay on Cofl enough. Efpecially if the Prince fet open his .Coffers, and bid him take out what ever he will for that Entertainment ; what an Entertainment will you expect !hall be made by this Man ? Saith God to Loving Kindnefs, here is all my Riches, take whatever you pleafe : And my Brethren, to be fure that isprofufe enough. f>nd then ag>in, It is made God's ultimate Defign here of all he hath done· for us, it was the firfl thing in his Intention and Thoughts, which he had in his Eye as the End and Conclulion of all. Therefore he did let us fall into Sin, dead in Sinr and Trefjajfes, Children of Wrath, therefore he fent Jefus Chrifl, therefore he quickned us in him, therefore he fet us in heaven!; places in him; what is the Defign, the ultimate End in God's Heart of all this? That he might fhew forth the exceeding Riches of hi< Grace in the Ager to come. The Truth is, this God that is rich in Mercy, had fo much Riches by him, that he thought of all profufe and expenfive ways to lay it out; as if one lhould have lomuch Riches by him, that he knew not how to expend you. God might have brought us to Heaven immediately, but he let us fall into Sin, to draw out in– finite Riches in pardoning, and yet this is but by the way, what then is the good– ncfs of God that is laid up for the Sons of Men for Eternity? *Mm
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