SERMON
XI
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for
his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us
up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus" - Ver. 4-6.
THE Apostle in the former verses having given a full and
exact description of man's misery by natnre and in the state of nature, both by
reason of sin and the wrath of God that is due thereunto, begins here to set
out the greatness of that love and that mercy in God which is the cause and the
fountain of our salvation. And he sets it out, as I shewed you the last
discourse, when I ran over the series of all these three verses, in the most
taking and most advantageous way, and in the greatest truth. I shall not repeat
what I then delivered.
I came to the exposition of the words, and what I
shall now say will be some little addition, as I go along, to what then was
said.
But God - Besides wbat I said of this particle but in the last
discourse, I only add this, indeed as the main thing, that it serveth to usher
in, not only a great turn, the greatest turn that ever was, - it doth not only
usher in the notice of a remedy to misery, that there is balm in Gilead that
may be had, because that God is merciful, and that is his nature, and that
therefore he may be merciful to us, and so that there is hope concerning this
thing, - but it ushers in and gives the intimation of a forelaid intention in
God, of a contrivement and design beforehand taken up and set upon, whereby God
had beforehand prevented all the mischief and all the danger that was like to
arise from the misery and sin which the elect were fallen into. He had laid
such a design as all this misery and sinfulness that the elect ones had fallen
into should be so far from undoing them, that it shall but serve to set out
that love the more; and so the words that follow do evidently shew. 'But God,
for the love wherewith he loved us;' he hath loved us and chosen us out of love
from everlasting, and hath shewed it in this, by triumphing over all that
misery, that even ' while we were dead in sins and trespasses, he hath
quickened us', &c. And it is a love not only which mercy and pity stirs up,
after he had seen us thus miserable; but it is a love that having been so
great, and so long borne to us, and first pitched on us, that it stirred up
mercy and bowels to us in this misery; for so, if you mark it, the words run :
' God,' saith he, 'who is rich in mercy,' - there is his nature, - ' for his
great love wherewith he loved us.&' And not only so, but this love being
seated in a nature infinitely rich in grace and mercy, had conspired with
mercy, and contrived the depth of misery, to extend that riches.
On them so
great a love had set itself, even to this end, as in the 7th verse, 'that in
ages to come he might shew forth the exceeding riches of his grace, in kindness
and love to us.' And thus also in Titus iii., that but even now mentioned
ushers in, upon the like occasion, the like reserve or design beforehand laid,
to glorify love and goodness. Bat when the kindness of God and love to man
appeared; namely, when that love, taken up by him long before this sinfulness
he spake of in the verses before, hath lain hid as it were in ambushment,
letting you march on in sinful ways under Satan's banners; that in the end
appears and prevents all tbat misery, and rescues you out of it. There is, I
say, a kind of ambushment, if I may so express it, a waylaying of all that sin
and misery the elect fell into.
And how many such buts of mercy, lying in
wait to deliver and save us out of great and strong evils, did we meet with in
our lives? And this but here, of this great salvation, is the great seal and
ratification, of all the rest. To tbis purpose you may observe that oftentimes
in the New Testament, when mention is made of Gods ordaining us unto
salvation, this phrase is used, he did it ' from the beginning. So it is
in 2 Thess. ii. 13 ' God, saith he, 'hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation; that is, he had beforehand, even from the beginning, set
his love upon you, so that all that sinful estate you have since run into
should be no prejudice nor damage to you. And it comes in here, as if that a
company of men, whom a king or a prince loveth, or children whom a
fathers heart is set upon, are permitted and let alone to run into the
highest rebellion, to do as evil as they could, as the phrase is, Jer. iii. 5,
so that by the law they are dead men, men undone, men of death and
condemnation, there is no hope for them but - but that the king, as he is
merciful in his nature, and so apt to pardon any, so besides he hath had his
heart set upon it, and it is but his design, to shew his princely grace tbe
more in pardoning them and advancing tbem to higher dignities upon it.
But God - And God cometh in also here, besides what I mentioned in tbe
last discourse, to shew that all salvation is from him, he is the sole author
and founder of it; as in ibm. ix. 16, 'It is not of him that willeth, nor of
him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy :' so here, 'But God, that is
rich in mercy.
I came in the next place, for the opening of the
words, to shew you the difference between mercy, and love, and grace; for you
have all those three in these three first verses. Love is a desire to
communicate good unto us, simply considered as we are creatures; but mercy
respecteth us as we are fallen into sin and misery, as we are dead in sins and
trespasses. And then that of grace, as I shall open in its due place, adds but
this, a freeness unto both. Love and mercy freely bestowed, that is called
grace in either.
Also, for explications sake, I shewed you why the
Apostle doth not content himself to name mercy only, or love only, as the cause
of our salvation, but that he addeth love to mercy. I gave you two reasons for
it, in a word. If he had named mercy only, that respecting misery, it might be
thought that that would but relieve us out of misery. But because he mentioneth
not only a deliverance out of the misery we lay in by nature, which mercy doth,
but the highest advancement besides, to sit together with Christ in heavenly
places; therefore he mentioneth love. It comes in likewise, in the second
place, to intend and make mercy the greater; for when mercy cometh out of love,
and not simply out of a virtue of mercy, if a father be of a merciful
disposition, he will pity any one out of a virtue of mercy in him, but he will
pity his son out of love.
Then again, for the further explication and
understanding of this, I told you, that of the two, the main and the primitive
cause is love ; for so, if you observe it, the text implies. 'God, being rich
in mercy, saith he, ' for his great love :' it is resolved into love. To
explain this - In the first place, you may observe here, that Gods being
merciful is mentioned but as his nature and disposition, which may be wrought
upon; but love comes in, as having passed an act of his will, set upon us. For,
my brethren, had God had never so much mercy in his nature, never so much
goodness and lovingness as he hath, yet if it had not been a fell act of love,
through his will pitched upon us, we had never been the better. Our salvation
doth not only depend upon mercy, but upon love; and not only upon the love of
his nature, but upon an act of love, a love set upon us with his will and
heart. It is not an indefinite disposition of mercy in him, as it is said of
the kings of Israel that they were merciful kings ; but that which our
salvation depends upon - though upon that also - is this, that an act of love
hath determined this mercy, engaged this mercy.
I shewed you likewise that
it is rather an act of love than of mercy. That first act of election is indeed
to shew mercy, but not so properly out of mercy.
Then, thirdly, love is
said to be the cause for this reason also, because that love is it which
directs mercy to the persons; love singles out the persons, and so they become
vessels of mercy.
The next thing I explained and observed in the last
discourse was, the circumstance of time here. He doth not say, God that doth
love us, as he that began to love us when he first called us, or loveth us now
he hath called us; but, God that hath loved us. I gave you a like scripture for
it, in Jer. xxxi. 3, 'I loved thee with an everlasting love; which, I
told you, hath two things principally in it, and both are intended here in this
'hath loved us, which is a love before conversion, and ensureth
conversion. 1. For the time, for the beginning of it, it is a love from
everlasting ; and, 2. it is a love continued all the while, from everlasting,
even till the time of ones calling.
The last thing I came to in the
last discourse is this, us; 'hath loved us. He hath not only put forth an
act or purpose of love at random, indefinitely, that he would love some of us,
or that he would love mankind, but us determinatively. As it was not merely the
natural disposition of love and mercy in God that was the cause of our
salvation, but an act of his will put forth; so is it not an act of mere
velleity, or an indefinite act, that he would save some, but it is us; he
resolved upon the persons whom he would save, he resolved upon them distinctly
and nakedly loved them distinctly, by name; and nakedly, that is, loved their
persons, without the consideration of any qualification whatsoever.
And so
now I have done the explanation of these words in a plain and brief manner. I
reserved two things to be handled, which I shall now despatch. The one is, the
greatness of this love; and the other is, the riches of this mercy.
I made
observations from the words thus explained in the last discourse. There is only
one observation which I shall at this time handle, and that is this: -
Obs - That the foundation of our salvation is an act of love, it is
out of love ; 'for the love, saith he, 'wherewith he loved us. I
shewed it in the last discourse, in distinction from mercy; that it was rather
an act of love (the primitive act) than of mercy, which I will not now
prosecute. My brethren, election is an act of love. I mention this because it
is fundamental to what shall afterwards follow. The Apostle in the former
chapter had expressed election to be an act of Gods will; 'being
predestinated according to the counsel of his will, saith he, ver. 11.
And he calls it also an act of Gods good pleasure; 'according to his good
pleasure that he purposed in himself; so var. 5, 9. But to take their
hearts the more, when he comes to make application to them of the misery they
lay in, he terms it now an act of love. To make it an act of his will and good
pleasure was but a more general thing; for by his will he worketh all things,
his will is pitched upon everything; and that it is an act of his good
pleasure, imports rather the sovereignty and majesty of God, out of which he
did it, and aiming at himself therein: but love is a condescending virtue. When
a king will speak as a king, he saith it is his pleasure, and he makes it an
act of his will; but when ho calls it love, his majesty comes down then. Love
doth import not so much the sovereignty of God in it, though it was joined with
an act of sovereignty, aiming at his own glory; but it imports especially a
respecting us in it; for it is to communicate good things for the sake of him
we love rather than our own.
Now I find that election is especially
expressed unto us by love, indeed the one is put for the other usually in the
Scripture, both in the Old Testament and in the New.
Take the Old
Testament. When he would say he had chosen Jacob and refused Esau, how doth he
express it? 'Jacob have I loved, saith he. So in Rom. ix. 13; it is
quoted out of Mal. i. 2. And afterwards, when he cometh to speak of the choice
of the people of Israel and of their fathers, both Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
in Deut. x. 14, 15, how doth he express it? 'Behold, saith he, 'the
heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lords; the earth also, with all
that therein is. He had choice enough:
'Only, saith he, 'the
Lord had a delight in thy fathers, to love them; and he chose their seed after
them. That is, as the Septuagint there hath it, 'He chose to love
them. Mark it, he expresseth his choice, and sets it out by those sweet
words, love, yea, and a delight to love them; a love unto their persons, and a
delight in that love. So you shall find that love and choice go together; as
Ps. xlvii. 4, and Ps. lxxviii. 68: He chose the tribe of Judah, the inhabitants
of Mount Sion, which he loved. And thus in the New Testament also, when our
Lord and Saviour Christ, who was elected by his Father as he was Mediator, as
we are, as you have it in 1 Peter i. 20, where it is said that he was
'foreordained before the foundation of the world; how doth Christ himself
express it? In John xvii. 24, speaking of the glory given him, (therefore he
speaks of predestination,) he saith, 'Thou lovedst me before the foundation of
the world; that is, thou gavest me this glory by a choice, by an
election; and you see he expresseth it by love. And, ibm. xi. 28, they are
beloved according to election. You shall therefore not only find election
called the counsel of God, and the purpose of God, and the will of God; but
grace joined to it, purpose and grace both put together. So in 2 Tim. i. 9, 'He
hath saved us, and called us, according to his own purpose and grace, before
the world began. And you have a more express place for it in Rom. xi. 5,
where it is called the 'election of grace, or love, for grace there is
taken for free love; the soul, the spirit of election lies in that act; and
therefore we are said to be chosen in Christ, which is all one and to say we
are loved in Christ; for to love is to choose.
And so now I have despatched
that observation, which is previous to what I am to deliver afterwards.
Now
I come to those two things which I said I reserved in the last discourse to be
now handled; for there is nothing remaining to be spoken to in this ver. 4,
but, first, to shew you the greatness of this love; and, secondly, the riches
of this mercy: two of the greatest subjects if one would handle them as
subjects, - that is, in the whole compass of all that might be said of them, -
that the whole book of God affords.
Now where is it that I must begin? The
truth is, riches of mercy offers itself first in the words; but we must give
the prerogative to the greatness of love, because, as you heard before, it is
the foundation of mercy. 'Riches of mercy are brought in here as
subserving his love, commanded and disposed of by his love; for the reason why
God lays forth riches of mercy to these and these persons, is because he loveth
them. So then that stock, or that treasury of love, which the will of God was
pleased to set apart first for his elect and children, and lay up in his own
heart, this is that which I am first to speak unto; you see it is in the text.
And let me say this of it : we can never search enough into this; we may pry
too much into the wisdom and counsels of God, to seek a reason of his doings,
but we can never pry enough into the love of God. It is a sea of honey, as one
calls it, and if in wading into it, we be swallowed up of it and drowned
therein, it is no matter. And let me likewise profess this about it, that of
all subjects else, it is of that nature as cannot be set out by discourse or in
a rational way. It is part of the meaning, I think, of that of the Apostle in
Eph. iii. 19, where he calleth it a love that passeth knowledge; that is, the
human way of knowledge by way of reason and discourse, whereby we infer and
gather one thing out of another in a rational way, and so come to the knowledge
of them. But it is more fully the meaning of that in Rom. v. 5, 'The love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts by time Holy Ghost which is given unto
us. He doth not say, the love of God which he hath told us of, and spoken
so great things of in the Scriptures, - and indeed you shall upon search find
the Scripture to speak little of it, - bnt he saith, 'the love of God which is
shed abroad in our hearts.
So as he doth not speak of a love which a
mans understanding, by collecting one thing out of another, or by laying
one thing to another, - as reason, yea, spiritual reason, in other things useth
to proceed, - and so may argue to be great : but the way to apprehend it is, by
its being shed abroad, and the report and taste of it the Holy Ghost makes. As
the seat of Gods love is his own heart, his will, so the receptacle
thereof is not so much the understanding as the heart of a Christian. The
conscience of a man is the proper receptacle of Christs blood, when it
sprinkleth it from evil works; but the heart of a man is the seat of Gods
love, to be shed abroad there. And to this purpose he addeth, 'by the Holy
Ghost, as being solely and immediately his work; for he in one moment can
speak more to the poorest man, of the lowest and meanest understanding, of the
greatness of Gods love than all that the Scripture says of it, or than
all that all the divines in the world out of Scripture can say of it. The truth
is, all discourses of Gods love are in themselves dull and flat, compared
with what representations and impressions thereof the Holy Ghost makes. As,
take an excellent song, when it is set in pricksong, what a dull thing is it to
what the music itself is? My brethren, so is it here. Therefore still you shall
meet with such expressions as these in the Scripture : Come, see, and taste how
good the Lord is : and, if ye have tasted how good the Lord is, &c. ; for
the greatness of Gods love is only known that way.
Now to shape out a
little the subject I am to speak unto; for it is a great point, and would swell
into many sermons if I should speak all that which in a discoursive way may be
said of it. Neither do I purpose now to say all that may affect your hearts and
take you with this love. No, the thing that I must keep to is this, to speak of
that love borne to us before calling, before quickening, as it is the cause of
our salvation ; I say, of the greatness of it in that respect, which is proper
to what the text here saith, and confine myself merely to such things as are
held forth within the compass of these three verses.
The first
whereof is this: It is great in respect of the subject and rise of it. It is
God that loveth us, and it is called 'his love. For if you mark it, there
is that little particle in the text, but God, saith he; he puts an
emphasis upon that; and likewise, his love, saith he,
wherewith he loved us.
Secondly, The greatness of it may
be set forth by what may be taken from the persons mentioned here upon whom
this love is pitched - set; and that either simply considered in our persons
nakedly; or else, secondly, in the condition that we were in, that we were dead
in sins and trespasses: even, saith he, when we were dead in
sins and trespasses; that though he did not make choice first of us when
we were dead in sins and trespasses, yet he ordered in his decrees that that
should be our condition, to shew forth the more love. The Apostle puts an
emphasis upon it, both npon us, not others, and upon us in that condition, dead
in sins and trespasses.
Thirdly, From what those words will afford,
the love wherewith he loved us, which to me holds forth these three
things : Here is first an act of love; loved us. Here is the time,
and that is the time past; hath loved us. And here is, thirdly, an
intimation of a special kind of love; his love wherewith he loved
us. He contents not himself to say, for his love, or,
for that he loved us; but you see he doubles it, for his love
wherewith he loved us.
Fourthly, and the greatest of all shewn
before calling, is in giving Christ. The Scripture runs most upon that, and
indeed instanceth in almost nothing else, for that is enough. But you will say,
this is not in the text. Yes, it runs all along, through every verse mentioned.
For he saith, we are quickened with Christ, and in Christ, who therefore out of
that love was given unto death for us, as chap. i. 19. And we are raised up
together with him, and we sit together in heavenly places in him. Lastly, Here
are the fruits of this love, which, you see, are quickening, raising up with
Christ, sitting together in heavenly places in him.
And these, I say, are
the particulars which I shall confine myself unto, as those which the text
suggesteth.
Let us begin first with the subject, and rise, and original of
this love. He loved. But God, for his great love wherewith he loved
us. My brethren, all that I say of this is but this, that if God will
fall in love, and is pleased and delighted to set his love on creature; how
great must that love be? And whomsoevers lot it falls to, they shall have
enough of it. God that is infinite hath an infinite love in his heart to
bestow, and whoever it be that his will is pleased to cast that love upon, of
whom it will be said, he hath loved us, it must be a great, ye; an
infinite love. The fountain of love in God being, as was said, his goodness;
for it is in all rational creatures, that which makes them love is a goodness
of disposition in them; the fountain of love, as was said, is goodness, and so
far as any are good, so far are they apt and prone to love others; and
according to the proportion of the goodness, so will the love be also, and
accordingly the greatness of love in any.
Now God, he is so good, as he is
said only to be good. There is none good but God, Matt. xix. 17;
that is, with such a transcendency of goodness; and therefore answerably
thereunto, God is said to be love, so 1 John iv. 8. As none is good, so there
is none that loves but he - that is, in comparison of him, The goodness and
kindness in God, yea, and all the goodness that is in him, (as ver. 7,) moved
him to love somebody besides himself; that he might communicate his goodness to
them. And so his will resolved to love such and such persons, for he would not
communicate his goodness to those whom he did not love; rational, wise men will
he sure to love those whom they do communicate much to, and so did God. He also
resolving to communicate all his goodness to some, resolves also to love them
first, and his love shall be proportionable to his intent of the communication
of his goodness, and that to the greatness of that goodness in him. He meant to
communicate his goodness to the creature to the utmost; for if he will do it,
he will do it as God, or he will not do it at all, he will shew himself to be
the chiefest good; why then be will love them to the utmost, and love them like
the great God too.
There is this difference between Gods loving and
ours : we must see a goodness in the creature that we love, to draw out love
from us; but all the love that is in him, he had it in his own power to set it
where he would, Exod. xxxiii. 19, I will be gracious unto whom I will be
gracious. We can but love so far as our love is drawn out; our will doth
not intend love to the height, unless it runs out in some natural way; but so
can God say, I will have such and such, and I will bear such and so great an
affection to them. And when he doth so, his will shall not only cause him to
communicate all his goodness to them, but cause him also to do it with the
highest love, with rejoicing over them, with delighting to love. So you have
the phrase in that place of Dent. x. 15. Men may, and do, do good to others,
beyond the extent of their love, for other ends; a mans will may cause
him to communicate good to others beyond what the proportion of love is in his
heart. But it is not so in God : as is his goodness, so is his love; therefore
God is good to Israel, and be loveth Israel; it is all one, as in Ps. lxxiii.
1.
In one word, then, will you go and take the rise and the original of
love in God, the genealogy of it, and so by that the proportion of it?
First, His goodness putteth him upon communicating himself, and then he
loveth those proportionably unto whom he communicateth himself; and so he sets
himself to love, singles out the persons. This you have in ver. 7, In his
kindness towards us. Tit. iii. 4, 5, when he shews the causes of our
salvation, as he dotb here, he begins first with the same word used in ver. 7,
a goodness, a sweetness, a pleasantness of nature in God, an heroical
disposition of being good unto others, from whence ariseth a philanthropeia, a
love to mankind; which, though there it be expressed indefinitely, yet as here
and elsewhere, he pitcheth upon particular persons. Or, to give perhaps a more
clear place for it, Exod. xxxiii. 19; when God there would express his heart to
Moses, and intimate to him that he loved him, and how dearly be valued him, -
and therefore this Moses his choice is mentioned as an instance of the grace of
election, in Rom. ix., - what saith God to him? I will make all my
goodness pass before thee. So he begins to him; his scope was to shew
what love he did bear unto Moses, by the effect of it, and that proportioned to
its original in God, and he would have his heart taken with it; how doth he
begin? I have, saith he, all goodness in me, and I mean to communicate it unto
thee. And what follows? I will be gracious unto whom I will be
gracious; he pitieth upon persons, as in Moses' instance appears, and
love upon those persons. And those, saith he, whom thus I resolve to be
gracious unto, they shall have all this goodness; I have c east out of my
goodness, my love and grace on thee, and therefore I will cause all my
goodness to pass before tbee. The that hath my love, he hath all my
goodness; and the rise of all is that his goodness, and the manifestation of
it.
Now as love thus ariseth from goodness, and the desire of communicating
of it; so mercy arisetli from love: for what follows? I will be merciful
unto whom I will be merciful. First he says, I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious; there it is taken for favour and acceptation
freely; and if they be fallen into misery, I will be merciful, my
mercy shall do as great wonders as my love. In Eph. iii. 18, he prays that they
may be able to comprehend what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and
height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. And what
follows? And be filled with all the fnlness of God. Why? For
whoever God hath pitched this love upon, all the fulness that is in God is
coming upon that soul; for it is the love of the great God, it is a love
proportionable to his goodness; they have and shall have all his goodness, all
his fulness.
To cause us therefore to set a value on this : of all
dispositions, good nature, as we call it, and love, in whomsoever it is, is the
best, and God himself values it most as in himself; be takes more unkindly the
despising of his love than he doth the slighting of his wisdom. And love, in
whomsoever it is, is the most predominant of all dispositions; whatsoever is
good and whatsoever is excellent in any, love hath the command of it; and so it
hath in God. All his goodness, the whole train of it must pass before Moses,
because God had loved him, and resolved to be gracious to hum. So that now,
look how great the great God is, so great his love must needs be; for, as I may
so speak with reverence, it commandeth all in this great God. In John x. 29,
saith Christ, My sheep, no man shall pluck them out of my hand; for, saith he,
it is the will of my Father that gave them me that they shall be saved; and he
is greater than all. He hath set such a love upon them that all the greatness
in this great God is interested in it. It hath commanded and set on work all in
God; it hath set on work all the persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to bear
several offices in our salvation. It hath set on work all attributes, mercy,
justice, power, wisdom, wrath itself to fall upon our Lord and Saviour Christ,
his only Son. Why? Because love is the most predominant, wherever it is it
commandeth all; and that which commandeth all that is in God, must needs be
great.
In other dispositions, he sbews forth but one or two attributes : if
he throw men into hell, he sbews his justice and the power of his wrath; but
where he loveth, he draweth forth all. The poets themselves said, that love
governed God. And, as Nazianzen well speaks, this love of God, this sweet
tyrant, - did overcome him when he was upon the cross. There were no cords
could have held him to the whipping-post but those of love; no nails have
fastened him to the cross but those of love. And hence - to confirm this notion
more to you, that love is the predominant tlnng that commandeth all - you shall
find that God is every attribute of his; he is his own wisdom, his own justice,
his own power, &c.
Yet you have him peculiarly called love. It is not
said anywhere of God, that I know of, that he is wisdom, or justice, or power,
&c. Christ indeed is called the wisdom and power of God, that is,
manifestatively, as he is Mediator. It is true, indeed, all Gods
attributes are himself; but yet love in a more peculiar manner carries the
title of him. God is love, saith be, in 1 John iv. 8; and be saith
it again, ver. 16.
Let us expound the words a little, because we are now
upon them. Beloved, saith he, ver. 7, love is of God.
He is the fountain of it, and if the fountain will love, if he that is love
itself will love, how great will that love be? We use to argue thus, that God
is therefore the highest good because whatsoever is good in any creature is
eminently found in him. Truly thus doth the Apostle argue. Love, saith he, is
of God. All the love that is in all creatures, in all angels and men, that is
in the heart of Christ himself, it is all of God, he is the fountain of it;
therefore whosoever hath his love, his love from whom all love is, it must
needs be a great and an intimite love. As the Apostle saith, ye need not be
written to, to love one another, ye are taught of God so to do. It is nature in
you, so it is nature in God. Now what follows in the next words? Love is
of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knowoth God; he that
loveth not, knoweth not God. It is such a phrase as this : if you be
ignorant of what is the greatest excellency of any one, you do not know him;
the man is thus and thus, this is his character, and his closest character, if
you do not know that, you do not know the man. So saith he of God, God is
love, and there is no man that doth know him, but he finds so much love
in him towards him, that ho must needs love others; and be that doth not love,
knows him not, for love is his genius. And as to love one another is the great
commandment that Jesus Christ gave us; so for God to love us is the greatest
and most eminent disposition in the great God, Will you have a definition of
God ? Why, saith the Apostle, God is love ; and he contents not
himself to have said it once, but he saith it again, ver. 1 6. Now then, great
must needs that love be which is his love. Mark that emphasis : for his
great love wherewith he loved us.
It is great also in this respect,
as in G:od, - for still I am arguing from its being in him as he is the subject
of it, - because there is no other rise of his love, besides that of his
goodness mentioned, but his love ; his own love and goodness is a rise to
itself. All love in us is of God, but all love in itself must needs be much
more of himself; this argues it great, wherever he pictureth it. For if he
loved us for anything in us, it is too narrow : for the truth is, so he loves
all creatures; so far as there is any goodness in them, so he loves them; but
that he should love his saints thus, it would be too narrow, too scanty a love.
He loved Adam but this, plainly; it was but a providential love wherewith he
loved Adam, take him in that first estate. God saw all that was in the
creatures to be good, and he loved them; so be saw that which was in Adam to be
good, and that was the cause he loved him. But when love in the great God is
the predominant thing, that which commandeth all in God, when this shall be a
fountain to itself, then it will overflow, it knoweth no bounds, nothing is so
diffusive. It is a saying of Bernard, and it is an exceeding good one :
That God, saith be, loveth his children, be hath it not
elsewhere, from anything out of himself; but it is himself from whence that
love riseth, his own love is the spring of his own love, and so is the measure
of the extent of it, and that knows no measure. And therefore he must needs
love strongly, saith he, when he is not said so much to have love, as that he
is love. And therefore this love, which is the fountain of love itself, how
great must it be?
Again, the end of his love is but to show love; it
is the great end of it, and so large as his end is, so large must his love be,
and his desire to love. What a man loveth for an end, he loveth infinitely.
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his
grace, saith ver. 7, that is, of his free love there is no end. As he
hath no reason why be loveth but because he willeth, so he hath no higher end
to love but because he will love, and because he doth love, and because he will
show love, if so great a love will make itself its end, how unsatisfied will
that love be? And so much for the subject of it.
I will only add this. Do
but only take a scantling of it by the love that is in the Mediator, Jesus
Christ, who is God-man. That ye may know, .saith the Apostle,
the breadth and length, the depth and height of the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge. What need I stand to set out that love to you? It drew
his from heaven to the womb, and from the womb to the cross; and it kept him
upon the cross when any great spirit in the world would have been provoked to
have come down; it was his love that held him there. But now that love that was
in the heart of the nman Christ Jesus, and as he was Mediator, is less than
Gods love. My Father, saith he - and hr speaks as Mediator -
is greater than I ; and so also is his Fathers love greater
than his. And yet if there were infinite words made of creatures loving, they
would not have so much love in them as was in the heart of that man Christ
Jesus. All love is of God, so John saith; and the truth is, all the
love that Christ had was of God; he spake to his heart to love us. Thine
they were, saith he, and thou gavest them me ; and therefore
he loved them. Great therefore must his love be, because it is the love of God;
it is his love.
I should also add under this head, that as it
is great in itself; because it is the love of the great God, so therefore it is
greatly endeared to us. For love, be it never so small, is always heightened by
the greatness of the person that loves us. The greatness of the person doth not
heighten mercy, it shews a nobleness in him indeed, as for a king to be
merciful; but for a king to love, this is a heightening, and endearing of it to
us, for majesty and love seldom meet, - because it is a coming down, a debasing
of majesty.
But I shall not speak much to this head, because I am not to
speak things that may endear the love of God to you, but as it is the cause of
salvation. Only I will give you that scripture in a word : Ps. cxiii. 6,
He humbleth himself, to behold the things that are in heaven and in
earth. Why is God said to humble himself in this? Is it a stooping and
condescending in God to take all things into his ommmiscient knowledge, and to
guide and govern the world? Truly he were not God, if he should not do it; if
any creature should escape, any motion of a fly should escape the knowledge of
the great God, he were not God; yet he calls it a humbling, a condescending. 0
my brethren, what is it then for him to condescend to love?
The second
thing in the text here by which the greatness of this love is set out to us, is
the persons whom he loveth; us, saith be. And this setteth out the
greatness of his love to us, by way of endearment, which therefore I shall more
briefly pass over. He loveth us, not others; that is clearly the Apostles
scope. We were by nature children of wrath, as well as others ; but God,
who is rich in mercy, loved us, not others ; and out of that love he
hath quickened us. Others are not quickened ; the whole world lies
in wickedness, but we know we are of God; and a few are quickened, it was
because be loved us; a special love, that argues greatness too.
To set out
the greatness of it in this respect, and to endear it to you, in the first
place, the great God, when he meant to love, he did not go and say, I will love
somebody, or I will love indefinitely; no, but he pitched upon the persons.
That way of the Arminians doth exceedingly detract from the love of God, viz.,
to make him a lover of mankind, and that that is the thing out of the
consideration whereof he gave his Son; and that he loves them in common, and
loves them indefinitely; and if they believe so, God will then shew love to
them. (John 3:16 shows the Arminians right in that! Ed.)
God might
delight himself in heaven, though men had never been saved; he might then have
upbraided them with their unthankfulness. No, God goes another way, he directly
sets up the very persons whom he meant to love, and he lays forth all the
contrivances of his hove, having them distinctly in his eye; as a father that
lays out portions for every one of his children by name, legally and
distinctly, hath them in his eye; so doth God. I will have mercy on whom
I will have mercy. That same on whom implies that it is not
indefinite. I will only give you that observation, upon comparing two places
that are both known, and I will bring them both together by paralleling of
them. Saith Christ, in John xiii. 18, I know whom I have chosen.
The parallel place directly to it is in 2 Tim. ii. 19, God knoweth who
are his; that is, distinctly knoweth them, he had them in his eye, viewed
them, and under the viewing of the persons, on them he would bestow all, did
lay the whole lot, all the contrivements of that salvation he intended. Which
he did to endear his love the more, having the persons to whom in his
eye; he did not do it indefinitely, that he would love mankind, and have some
in an indefinite way. Dare any man say, that he did not know the man Christ
Jesus, and pitch particularly upon that man that was in the womb of the virgin?
Did he only say, I will have a mediator somewhere out of mankind, he did ordain
that man; so Acts xvii. 31. And he was foreordained, saith 1 Peter i. 20; that
very man that is now in heaven, that inrdividuaL nature, and no other. And so
he did do with the members likewise: for there is the same reason of both.
But then, secondly, as his love is thus set out to us, that it was not
indefinitely pitched, but as having all the persons in his eye and having them
all in view; so by this also, that he hath not pitched it upon everybody. This
is distinct from the former; for an indefinite is not knowing whom he pitched
it upon. Now as he knew whom he pitched upon, so he hath pitched but upon some,
not on every one. He might have pitched upon all, but the text saith otherwise;
us, not others. So then here is another thing that sets forth this love, it is
a special love, and that greateneth it also. My brethren, if God would love, it
was fit he should be free. It is a strange thing that you will not allow God
that which kings and princes have the prerogative of, and you will allow it
them. They will have favourites whom they will love, and will not love others;
and yet men will not allow God that liberty, but he must either love all
mankind, or he must be cruel and unjust. (But Kings are human and sinful.
Does this imply that God is the same? Ed.)
The specialness of his love
greateneth it, endeareth it to us. You shall find almost all along the Bible,
that when God would express his love, he doth it with a speciality to his own
elect, which he illustrates by the contrary done to others. (This is getting
puerile! "God so loved the world...."Jn.3:16 Ed.) In 1 Thess. v. 9, he is
not content to say, he hath appointed us to obtain salvation, but
he illustrateth it by its contrary; he hath not appointed us unto wrath,
but to obtain salvation. Not to wrath, for it might have been our lot,
for he hath appointed others to it. Isa. xii. 9, Thou art my servant, I
have chosen thee. And he doth not content himself to say so only, for if
he had said no more, it implies only that he had taken them out of the heap of
others that lay before him; but he adds, I have chosen thee, and not cast
thee away; that is, I have not dealt with thee as I have done with
others. And you shall find frequently in the Scripture, when he mentioneth his
choice of some persons, he holdeth up likewise on purpose his refusing of
others. When he speaks of Jacob, and would express his love and set it out to
himward, he saith, Jacob have I loved; that might have been enough
for Jacob, but he sets it out with a foil, Esau have I hated. And
in Ps. lxxvli. 67, when he speaks of an election out of the tribes, he contents
not himself to say he chose Judah, but he puts in the rejection, the
preterition at least, of Joseph. He refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and
chose not the tribe of Ephraim; but chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Sion
which he loved. So among the disciples; how doth Christ set out his love
to them? John vi. 70, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a
devil? and, chap. xiii. 18, I speak not of you all; I know whom I
have chosen ; and, chap. xv. 19, I have chosen you out of the
world; and, chmp. xvii. 9, I pray not for the world, but for them
which thou hast given me, &c.
I will give you but one eminent
place, which indeed concerns us in these times. In 2 Thess. ii. 11, speaking of
the times of Popery, and the apostasy thereunto, he saith, God shall send
among them strong delusion, that they should believe that lie, that great
lie of Popery; and among other things why he mentions this, what use doth he
disprove thus to, his hardening the Popish and apostate world that would not
receive the truth in the love thereof? That they all might be
damned, ver. 12. But that, in ver. 13, to set out his love to his elect:
But we are bound always to give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation,
though he hath done, and will do thus with others. The thing I quote it for is
this, that he setteth off, enbanceth the greatness of Gods love to themn,
in regard of the specialness of it, that he hath not dealt with thorn as with
others: thanks be given to God always for you. Now this concerns us, for we
live in the times of Popery; the Christian world began to warp towards it then,
and we and our forefathers have lived in the height and ruff of it. Now what
saith Rev. xiii. ? - it is a parallel place, - All that dwell upon the
earth shall worship the beast, whose names are not written in the book of life
of the Lamb. You see the reason why many men now are set against Popery,
and embrace the truth in the love thereof, and are savingly kept from believing
that great lie; and that these parts of Europe fell off from Antichrist. It is
because God hath borne multitudes of men whose names are written in the
book of life of the Lamb.
Now that God doth thus set his love upon
some and not on others, of purpose to set off his love and make it greater, I
will give you a place for it Deut. x. 14, Behold, the heaven and the
heaven of heavens is the Lords thy God, tbe earth also, with all that is
therein. Only the Lord had a delight in my fathers, to love them, and he chose
their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day. If I
would choose, saith God, I have choice enough, I have the heaven of heavens, I
could have filled all those with creatures; and there were angels that fell, I
might have chosen those, and fixed them as stars, never to have fallen; but I
let multitudes of them tumble down to hell. And I had all the earth also, and
all the nations thereof; before me; but, to shew my love in a special manner, I
have chosen you above all the people of the world. So that, I say, the
greatness of his love is set off by the specialness of it. Therefore he doth
call the people of God upon all such occasions to consider, the one with the
other, that their love of God may be greatened also. Rom. xi. 22, Behold,
to them severity, to thee goodness. He would have them to eye both at
once; why hath he shewn severity to others? That his goodness to thee might the
more appear. He calls them to behold it; behold, saith he, to them severity,
and to thee goodness; the one setteth off the other.
And I might shew you
that God hath shewn his special love, not only in choosing you out of all the
rest of mankind, and angels, and the like, others he refused and threw down to
hell, but out of all creatures possible, on which he could have made. Believe
it, brethren, there came up before him, in his idea, infinite millions of
worlds; all that his power could make were as makeable as we were, and be chose
us out of all that he could make, aud not only out of all that he did make, on
did decree to make.
And let me say this: the greatness of his love, in
respect of the specialty of it, is mightily enhanced to us, the elect, in the
latter ages of the world, in this respect, that God had all the great heroes of
all ages that are past before him, the great worthies of the world, all the
wise, gallant, brave men in Rome and Greece, anrd in all nations, in all the
ages before, - he might have filled up thy room in heaven with some of those;
there were men enough amongst them that might have had places in heaven, and
thou mightest have been let alone. No, all these could not win away his love
from thee that livest in this age; he passed ever all them, suffered them to
walk in their own ways; they are perished, they are gone; and, as the phrase is
in 1 Pet. i. 5, he hath reserved heaven for thee. The love of God to thee, I
say, is not only magnified by those out of whom he hath chosen thee in this
age, but in all ages past; and when all mankind shall meet together, it will
infinitely greaten the love of God to that remnant whom he hath chosen out of
all the rest of the world. It is special love that makes his love great
love.
Obs. - I will give you this observation, which I find in the
Scripture. He calls his church his love; so Cant. v. 2. And he himself terms
himself by the name of the lover; so Rom. viii. 37, and Rev. i. 5. It is his
title, and because his style. The church is his love, so as he hath no love but
the church, it is not scattered to other objects; therefore, Rom. xi., they are
said to be beloved according to election, even as they are said to
be called according to his purpose. It is by way of distinction,
noting out a specialty of love that accompanies election.
And then, if you
add to this, in the third place, the fewness of those upon whom this love is
pitched, it doth exceedingly greaten it; for the fewer that all the love of the
great God is pitched upon, the greaten the love is, and this, in the coherence,
though not in express words, we find in the text; for the rest, whom these
us were called out of, were the world, the world lying in
wickedness: among whom we had our conversation, according to the course
of this world. When God hath betaken himself to a few, to love them, oh,
how will he love them? He will be sure to lose none of those, because they are
so few. When a great rich man shall have but one heir, a few in his will, to
divide his goods amongst; so when God, that is rich in mercy, and hath great
love, shall have but a few to enjoy it, how will his heart be intended more his
love? Isa. x. 22, Though Israel be as the sand of the sea, - he
speaks of election, - yet but a remnant shall be saved. And yet
let me add this, in the fourth place, that he loveth every one whom he hath
chosen as if be loved none else; lest any of his children should be jealous of
it, he doth so dexterously manage his love that every one may say, None is
loved as I am. As he said, I am the greatest of sinners; so may every one of
his children say, I am the greatest of beloved ones. So loving is God to those
he chooseth, that all sort of natures speak this of him, be they of what
condition soever.
There is also this to be added to this head, the
condition wherein we were when we were called, even when we were dead in
sins and trespasses. But I will reserve that till it comes in order in
the text.
And so much now for that second head here in the text, which doth
illustrate the greatness of the love of God, - us, and not others.
I come
now to the third, which contains divers particulars in these words, for his
great love wherewith he loved us. There is
1. Acts of love mentioned.
There is -
2. The time when he loved us, viz., before calling. And then -
3. There is a special kind of love; his love wherewith he loved
us.
To begin with the first - There two greet acts of love which God
hath shewn to us. The one was that from everlasting; the other, when he gave
Jesus Cbnist. I will not speak of the latter now, because it comes in
afterwards at ver. 5. But let us take in that act of love in God which here
certainly the Apostle hath a more special recourse to, - that is, his electing
love, which is eminently tbe love which thus same hath loved us referreth to,
and which is the foundation of all the rest, and let me in a word on two shew
you the greatness of this.
First, Let me say this of it, that take it as it
was an act in God, it can never be expressed what it was, nor how great it was.
And therefore God himself, as I may so speak with reverence, is fain to
manifest that love which he took up in his own heart, by degrees and by
effects. The Scripture itself doth not knew how to give you the greatness of
that love which God did pitch upon us from everlasting, but it is still fain to
do it by the effects. In 1 John iv. 9, when he had said before that God is
love, and therefore he hath thus greatly loved us, he is fain to fall upon
speaking of the effects of this love : In this was manifested,
saith he, the love of God towards us, because that God sent his
only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. And,
ver. 10, Herein is love, - it is manifested in this, - not
that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our shis. And after he had spoken of his love, what
saith be? ver. 12, No man hath seen God at any thise; the meaning
whereof, I think, is clearl this, as if he had said, I am fain to tell you this
love of God which I am discoursing of, as it is manifested in the effects; for
if you would have me speak of it as it is in the fountain, it is not to be
expressed, for no man hath seen God at any time; he is not able to know what
love is in the heart of God but at the second-hand. It may be illustrated by
the gift of his Son, by making of us happy and glorious in heaven, by his
communication of himself to us throne; but what, and how great it is, can never
be expressed. And I will give you the reason why I interpret it thus, because
in Exod. xxxiii. 19, ike., when God hath spoken of his love to Moses, and said,
I will be gracious to those to whom I will be gracious; he adds,
No man can see God, and live; for you cannot see into this love, as
it is in him.
And let me likewise say this second thing of it: That that
love which God did first take up, in the first act of it, it was as great as
all acts transient for ever can express or vent to eternity; it is great love
therefore. I say, all the ways and acts that God doth to eternity are but mere
expressions of that love which be at first took up. Christ, and heaven, and
whatever else God shrews you of love and mercy in this world, or in the world
to come, they all lay in the womb of that first act, of that love he took up,
wherewith be loved us. God was not drawn on to love us, as a man
is, who first begins to love one, and to set his heart upon him, and then his
heart being engaged, he is drawn on beyomnd what he thought, and is enticed to
do thus and thus beyond what be first intended. No, God is not as man herein,
but as known unto God are all his works, from tbe beginning of the
world, so is all his love that be meant to bestow. And be took up love
enough at first, as he should be venting of all sort of ways that he hath taken
to do it, unto eternity. For there is no new thing to God; if there should be
any one thought on degree of love rise up in his heart afterwards, which was
not there at first, there should be some new thing in God. and the reasons is
clean by this too, that he doth love out of his own love, therefore his love at
the very first dash, when he first began to love us, was as perfect as it will
be when we are in heaven. When Adam fell, God was not then drawn out to give
his Son; no, we are not so to conceive it, God had all before him fnom
everlasting.
And this, I say, is easily manifested; for the first act of
his love was the womb of his giving Christ; God so loved the world that
he gave his Son. Therefore the Scripture makes all the grace that ever we shall
have to be given us at the very first, when God first loved us, 2 Tim. i. 9,
According to the grace of God, which was given us before the world
began. And Rom. xi. 29, speaking of election, as he had done all along
the chapter before, he saith, the gifts of God are without
repentance. He gave all in the first act, when he first chose us, and
never repenteth of it. Election, I say, is expressed to us by all that God
means to bestow upon us actually to eternity, for even and even, which he
hath prepared for them that love him; so the phrase is, 1 Col. 11
9. And, ver. 12, We have received the Spirit of God, that we may know the
things which are freely given us of God; that is, given us when he first
set his heart upon us. My brethren, when God first began to love you, he gave
you all that he ever meant to give you in the lump, and eternity of time is
that he is retailing of it out. I will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious. And then all this goodness that he means to communicate to them
unto whom he is thus gracious, is a passing before them even unto eternity.
First, the giving of his Son, he cause first in the train; and then the giving
of his Spirit; and thou grace and glory: and whatever variation of glory there
is that is to come, it is all but time passing on of the train, it is all but
the communicating of that goodness of his which he did ordain tbe first time he
thought on thee to love thee.
There is an emphatical word in the text,
great love, - as your great critics observe, and so the Septuagint constantly
useth it, - which doth not signify that God loves us often, or that his love is
reiterated, but that he loves us with one love. The Arminians would make the
love of God incomplete, and never complete till we come to die; but it is not a
matter of that nature, it is not as sanctification, that admits degrees in us,
but it is of the nature of those things. I will give you that place for it, Ps.
cxxxviii. 8, the Lord, will perfect that which concerneth me. What
God did intend to David from everlasting at once, he is perfecting of it in
him. There is, saith he, a great deal of mercy yet to come, God hath not half
done with me, he will perfect that which concerns nse, and he is perfecting of
it to everlasting; so it follows: Thy mercy, 0 Lord, endureth for
even. God hath set up, as I may so speak, an idea in his own heart, what
a brave creature he will make thee, and how he will love thee, and all that
even he doth or will do, it is but a perfecting of that idea, and of that love
wherewith he loved thee from evenlasting. The mercies of God are said to be
many, you read often of them in the plural; hut his love is said to be but one,
because he loved us with one act, even from eternity.
Yea, he took up so
much love at the first, that his wisdom and all in this is set on work to study
and contrive ways how to commend that love, and therofore that word of Tit.
iii. 4, which we translate kindness, as it signifies so it
signifies a study, as it were, in God, all sort of ways to deserve his all of
mankind. It was so great at that he knew not how to express it enough; for do
but considor a little with yourselves. He began to love Adam upon the terms of
a providential love, but that is is not good enough, he must have those of
mankind he loves to heaven. He was not content with direct ways of loving, -
that is, to love them in their head Jesus Christ, as he loveth the angels, and
so no more ado,- but to show the more love, lets them fall into sin, become
enemies to him, and then sends his Son. And, my brethren, the truth is, this
cost Jesus Christ dear, merely that God might shew forth the more love; for we
might not have been sinners ; and though sinners, yet we might have been saved
without any satisfaction. But it was a digression of love, as I may truly call
it, it was an excursion of love, that as man being sinful sought out many
inventions, so God being loving, he sought out a world of inventions for to
shew his love. Now, do but think with yourselves, that the very first thought
of love that God had towards you, the very first glance of love he took up,
should he so much, as that all sorts of ways that his wisdom can invent, and
that in an eternity of time too, should be little enough to vent and retail
that love which thus in the lump he took up. My brethren, this must certainly
be a great love.
And I will add but this to it that his love was so
greedy,- mark what I say unto thee - when he first began to love thee, that the
next and main thing that he thought of; that he had in his eye, as I may speak,
in order and degree, though all was but one act, was that happiness he meant to
give thee in heaven, he doth as it were overleap, so greedy was his love, all
the means between; they come in, as I may say, in a second thought. If, I say,
they do allow an intention of the end before the means, if God intended the end
before the means, he intended that happiness which thou shalt have first.
Therefore observe what the Scripture speaks; though it saith that God ordained
us to believe, and ordained us unto sanctification, yet ordinarily it
expresseth it thus - he hath ordained us unto life. And the place is
emphatical, 2 Thess. ii. 13, God hath from the beginning ordained you to
salvation; mark, he joins you and salvation together, and then comes in
the means, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the
truth. But, I say, his eye was so intent upon thy good, that look what is
thy chiefest good, what he means to make thee in heaven, that he pitcheth first
upon.- And so much now for that act.
Let us next consider the time.
He loved us ;this carries us to the time past. So that if you ask
me when this love did begin, the truth is, if 1 may so speak with reverence, he
loved thee ever since he hath been God. Jer. xxxi. 3, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love; and unto everlasting there can be nothing
added. God is from everlasting, and his love is from everlasting. He may be
said to have loved thee ever since be loved himself; or ever since he loved his
Son in whom he chose thee. As he was God from the beginning, and as Christ was
the Word of life from the beginning, John i. 1 ; so he hath ordained thee unto
salvation from the beginning, 2 Thess. ii. 13. And the school-nren do rightly
say in this, that the liberty of Gods will doth not lie as mans
doth, that it was a while suspended, no, not for a moment, There was
never an actual suspension, for then there were an imperfection; but there
never was any thime in which there was in his heart a vacuity of love to thee,
or unto any one whom he loveth. How infinitely doth this endear the love of God
to thee, and make it great If one have loved you from infancy, that no sooner
he began to have a thought of love, or to love himself, but he loved you, and
pitched his heart upon you, how great will you account his love! John makes a
great matter of it, I John iv. 10 'herein is love, speaking of the love of God,
that we loved not God, but he loved us first. We did not begin, but he began :
and when did he begin? Even from eternity, when he loved himself, and loved his
son.
And as he hath loved you from eternity, that is the first thing
considerable in it, so let me add, in the second place, which this hath
love doth also evidently import,- comparing it with ver. 7, that in
ages to come, and here 'hath,' that is, from everlasting to everlasting,-
he hath continued to love his children with a reiterated love. That act
of love which he hath first pitched, he hath every moment renewed actually in
his own mind. He doth but turn over and over again thoughts of love to thee,
amongst the rest of his elect, unto eternity. Saith the Psalmist, and it is
Christ that speaks that psalm, who knew the love of his Father, and knew his
heart. Ps. xl. 5, How many are thy thoughts towards us, O God?' Many
indeed, for they have been from everlasting, therefore they cannot be numbered.
And not only that first act, that first thought he had, but the whole lump of
that love is still renewed every moment, and shall be unto eternity. I could
give you a multitude of places. He is therefore said to have us in his eye. and
to write us upon the palms of his hands, &e.
And, lastly, it is to
everlasting, which though it be not in this verse, yet we meet with it in ver.
7, that in ages to come. As he loved us from everlasting, from the
beginning, as it is in that 2 Thess, ii. 13, so he loveth us unto the end, John
xiii. 1.
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