A SERMON on,&c. Firft, The delivery of a gracious Mefi'age as from himfelf, intimating and manifeibng his R.oya~ mind and inclination, how it ftands towards them, For when two are at variance' there can never be any hope of peace or agree" ment, unlefs the Party injured fhews an inclineablenefs at leaft to liften to it. Now The effect of that Meffage in brief is, . Firfl, 'That whereas they might conceive him moO: )ufily to be averfe to the very motion of it} that yet he.tor his part is not only cont~nted and inclined to liften to an agreement, but iS, and hath been;ever (Q fully Willmg to, and.defirous of it,that as he bath been a reconcdmg the·Worl?; Ew" from Ewrlafliltg God waJ reco11ciJitJg, ~c. hath made (as it were) his ch•ef b_ufinefs, that he hath plotted and been defirous to bnng about. And though all thmgs elfe are of him as Verfe 3o,tellsus, yet thismainly above all the reft; TottUiiJil/o, wholly fet upon it. • And, Smttd/y, Whereas prefently it mi~ht be thought, that ~e being fo jufl: and fo Jealous a God, fenfihle of the leaft InJury, fo tender of hts Glory ; arid jealous of the lcaft wrong to it, as_ that he would require and l'ropound to have full fatisfactton firll:, as the condttton of thetr agreement; wluch that they, or any other Creature , either were able or willing to perform , was out of all hope. . . Therefore, Secondly, I fay, he btds us declar~, for that alfo men need not trouble themfelVes, for he himfelf hath been fo jealous in this byfinefs, as that he bath took order for it beforehand. He hath been I11 Chrijl, recotlciliitg the World; that is, in him, and by him, (as a Mediator and Umpire, and Surety be• tween him and yc>U,) tlus great matter bath been taken up and accorded; H~; and Jejiu Cbrifl, his only Son, have from all eternity laid their heads together (as we may fpeak with reverence) to end the q~arrel, ChriO: fhould undertake to fatisfie his Father for all the wrong was done lum. Ht wa~ made fin, that is, a Surety and a Satisfaction _for it'· who _knew 110 ji1z! verfe ult. Thqt they, ~c. And God the Father ~port tt ts fo fully fatts~ed, as he ts ready not to tmpute their fins to them ; but to tmpute all ChnO: s R.tghteoufnefs to them, and to receive them into favour more fully than ever. G•dwill in Chrift rtconciling the Wor!J, 11ot imputing theirftns,~c. The Second partof our <;:ommiiiion is, That h,e.hath given us f~ll power and authority to deal wtth Men about tt, and to tranfact and perfect thts Agreement, with charge to tell t~is Melfageto ~ll and every man in the World. And upon this ground, That ReconctlratroiJ ts to be obtamed from God for them, to entreat them to be reconciled. And when men accordingly feek it, as dms revealed to. them, thoygh by us, it is as if God had done it, v. 20. As though God, and, _I in Chrift's jfead, fays the Apofl!e. . . . , . . And.this, my Brethren, is to preach the Gofpel unto Men; which is the bell: . News that ever Lar heard, or Tongue was employed to utter; which took up God's thoughts from Eternity, and lay hid in his brea!l, which none but he and his Son knew. Which, if it were but for the Antiquity of the fl:ory of it, it is worth the relating, it being the greatell: Plot and State Affair that ever was tranfacted in Heaven or Earth, or ever will be. · Having by way of Preface, to the Great bufinefs of Rteonciliation, faid thus much, I now proceed to the words of my Text. For it is notpoj]i6Je, that the Bloodof Bulls at~dGoatsjhouldtaktaw'!)'/in,~c. ' T Hefe words are a Record of the .greatell and deepel1: Myftery of State, and the Secret paffages thereof, that ever yet was tranfacted either in Heaven or Earth. No lefs than the Confultation and Conference, yea,the very words that pafl between God the Father and the Son, fpoken at the Councel Ta• ble, at which no one was prefen~ befides, but the great Secretary of State, the Bleffid Spirit, who revealed thts. And ·. 91
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