A SERMON on And this, when they fat upon the greateft bufinefs of State, the Treaty of Pet~cebetween God and Men; and this, juft at the time when God was difpatch– ing his Son to come down into the World, and had prepared him a Body ready for him to tranfaCl: it in. Thm whtn he cometh ittlo tht World, HeJt~ith, ~c. Which Speech of his bath yet further reference unto, and quotes a Record far more Ancient even the fir!\ General Counfel kept in Heaven, and the Records of it, ltt the'Volume of thy Book, ~c. The Book is, Li/;er 'Decretalium; the Book of God's 'Decrees; yea, and a Re– cord that was written in the fir!\ page of that Book. !11 the Volume of tht Book indefinitely, fays the P(almifl. But the Holy Ghofl, who had read over and written.ev~ry Le~f of it! quoting it here, fays, ;, "*~iJ) To£,,,,,, !11 Capitt, in the begmmng of tt, wh>ch vanes not the fenfe, bur mterprers it. And if you hope to find it, (asfome have gone about to do)-in the firft words of Genifir, In prmctpw crtavtt 'De~; you are deceived, 'T1s the Book of God's 'Decrus there Chrifi remembers it written, that He was appointed to do God'; Will. More plainly the words contain much of the firft part of the ftory of the Gofpel, (Tht Riches of the Glory, of which I have elfewhere difcourfed of in general;) For as there are Three Perfons, as I have formerly fhewed who have a joynt hand in that work of Salvation, the SubjcCl: of the Gojpel: 'fo the whole !tory of the Gofpel bath Three parts alfo; in every of which, fome one of them bears an efpecial part. The Firfi part, God the Father had the chiefeft hand in, who drew the Plat– form of this great Work, contrived it, made the motion firft to his Son; as you fhall fee anon. . The Second, God the Son, when he came down and took flefh, and cloathing himfelf in the habit of a Servant, tranfaCl:ed the Redemption of the World ac-" carding to that draught. As after him, when he was off the Stage, came the Spirit to apply what he had done, and all the benefits of it, whofe work makes up the Third part. Now this Firfi part, which is moll: hidden, being invifibly done in Heaven, before the World was; the difcovery of which gives light to the other two, which of all ftories that ever were recorded is the ancienteft. This is the SubjeCl: of my difcourfe, and partly of this Text; I /ball difcover fo much of it as the words carry me unto, and divide and open the Text in handling of it. · . And Firfi, to begin with the Bufinefs itfelf, which is the SubjeCl: o~ this !tory, which was the aim and end of all. The 4thverfe tells us, it was The taking a– way of Sins. This I mention firfi, becaufe it is the Hindge, the Text, and my difcourfe turns on. And to accomplifh this, what needed fo much ado l Nothing had been more eafie for God, th1n to take away fins by taking away the Sinners, both at a ftroke, and fo to caufe Sin toceafe, as Ezekielfpeaks, Ezek.1.~.48. Nay, was it not a hard thing for him to keep his hands off them, (and therefore it is attributed to thegreattuflof hu Pow.r,) that he is able to contain himfelf, Nm,;6,•4·'7· And it had been nothing out of his way, to have taken Sins and Sinners rhus away, he is able enough to bear thclofs of Souls. What jj it to thee if the Na- · tiotts perifh '! Wifd. 11.. He weakens not himfelf, as Kings do, when they cut off an Army of Rebels, and fo are forced to forgive the moft, becaufe their glory confifts in the multitude of their SubjeCl:s. No, He could create enough a· new. But this i< not my meaning, but fo to take away Sins, as the Sinners might. fiand ftill, to !tand and be ju!tified in his fight. There are fome, even among Sinners, whom he bears a fecret good-will to, and bath done from everlal\ing, of whom he fays with himfel ·; ".'1erem.8.4;. ShalJ t!Je)'fa/1, attd 1101 arife; fhalJ ht turn away, tmd 1101 r<tur;J1, Some, Hts mmd lmgers after, as that place exprelfeth
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