Of Eleflion. 99 Father of rhe Prodigal it is a!fo fpoken. And iiie 'i'·~rd .Pre(t1ltmg afore [his] rVVno· Glory manife!lly declares whpfe Joy it is, what is IJlOfi .intended ,, even his~ own :nore than ours. For, it fpeaks how it is his own Interefi, h_is Self, inte;efi, his Glory which moves him:_And what he hatb in .his heart when he'doth it, that moves him fo to prefent us, and therefore fills him with Joy in doing it. And it is as much as to fay, he cloth it for his own Solace; wi~h t_he highefi delight aod greatefi plealure to himfelf: He gratifies himfelf m It: It" matter of deareft enjoyment of thofe whom he bath fo long loved,which he taketh in them, now when he fees them perfectly holy: As elfewhere God is faid to R.ejoyce.over us, Ztph. 1. •7· The Lord thy God in the midft of' thte id Mighty; he wiltJavt, he w•lt rejoyce over thee with jo)'; he wilt rtjl i11 his love: He wiltrtjoyctover thn w11hji11gmg. If in this life, when abfent from him, much more when we ~ome home to h1m, and he bath us prefent wirh him, in the Prefcnce of his Glory: A11d that La11d (the Typ~ of it) fhatl b( .calttd Beulah; tha11s, Thy dtltght ts m her: For the Lord dtlighttth i11 thee, lfai. 42. 4• He loves us when finners ,; but deli_ghts in us, but fo far as we are holy :And now when he fees us come firfi afore his Prefence, faultlefs and perfectly holy; then his delight, and his joy in us is full: And then, at that time, .-when we come lid\ into his Prefence , fays God with him. felf; Lo, I loved thu m)•Cre/Jture from everlafli11g, and I dt_/ig11ed him then by choice, 11oi only to be mi11e; _ ;n__y pewlittr; _b11t 1chofe him j'ormy {elf to re– joyct in, m:d to cwtmU11iC(ltf 1(1y whole fdj 1mto. And 11ow, thiJt after fo long a time, feting that hoJinefs I dejigned, to be comple/Jtedin him, to pre.– pare himfor my t>Jjoymmt-oj him, rmdfor hisfull enjoyment of Mt, in the pre{mce of m;•Glory, I thm folemnly prefent him with txceedi11g gre/Jt joy u11to my {elf: For ljhatt have more_jpy mtdf'olace_ it~ him, than he Jbatt have in Me: For 'twas for my{elf thiJt I fir{I_ didchoo[e him, as my ultimate E1zd, whiCh is 11ow '"complifhed a11d perfet1ed._ _. And thus uoderllood, Refpondent ultima primu; and th~t Maxim fo ufed and applied in the point of Gods Decrees, that wha~ is_)aft in e_xecution, is firfi in Intention , and e contra is fully cleared up : Though~ think, that that will not bold-in all things about thofe Decrees, yet in this it is perfectly true: This being the ultimate End of Gods fir!\ choice and caft of his Eye upon us. And in like manner you fee, it ii la!l in execution, he chole us for himfelf; that was his primitive intention; and he prefents to himfelf, as !aft in execution: He delighted with infinite delights to choofe us, forefeeing all he meant to bring tis .to; and above all, his own enjoyment of us. ThusVeut, to. 'f• 0111], the Lord had a delight in thy Fathtrs, to lovt them; and he chofe theirSudafttrthem: EvmyottiJbove art people, M itu thudar: And at the Iall, he prefents them, ( having accompldhed his End, once) to himfelf, with exceeding great joy . Aad now, to tell you, how happy and ble!Ied you will be for ever, af– ter this fo folemn aPrefentation of you made by himfelf, to himfelf, None knows but himfelf, that knows himfelf, and his own blelfednefs: Only, in briefcarry home this ; that you will bo as happy, as God himfelf can make you , as for the kind of it, of which! fpake before. I might next fhew you, that we are alfo ordained for ."'efm Chrifl: For unto him; and for him, you were likewife chofen as well as for the Father; as I have interpreted that in Eph. '· 5· where 'tis fa id, God the Father havilzg predtjli– tztJted m by ]tfm Chrifl ( .;,.,;•lv) [unto him] that is,ro the fame Jefus Chri!l, as well as .-:, .,;.a., or, that God the Fatl]er did it to himfelf: I take in both io that .;, •v•h, both to him, that is, to Chrift as well as to himfelf; that is, to God the Father, who himfelf prede!linated us. And Chrift himfelffrom Heaven faid of Paul, he id a CHOSEN veffil TO ME. Yea, and Chrift alfo chofe you from everlal\ing with the Father, and as God the Father prede!li– nated you for him, that is, for Chrill his Son, fo Chrift alfo, for himfelf: And that he will in like manner prefent you to himfelf alfo, you have it in Eph. ~·27.That hemightpre{ent it tohim{ttf "Glo>'iom Church: And you will eafily Gunt, that this might in fome refpect more Properly be faid. of him, than of the Father; becaufe as the difcourfe in that Chapter was, he is 0 2 1ht
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