Light from Heaven, Part 30
Good will towards men.
The words need not further to be explicated there is no great difficulty in them, the points considerable are these.
God now hath a gracious good will towards men.
This good will, is the foundation of all good.
And this is founded upon Christ.
The first of these I will but touch, because it doth but make way to the other.
Gods good pleasure to men.God, shewes now good pleasure towards men.
The love that God beares towards man, hath divers termes, from divers relations, as it is a propension in him to doe good, so it is love. As it is his free, so it is his good pleasure or grace, as it is to persons in miserie, it is mercy. The fountaine of all is love. But as the object is diversely considered, so the termes be divers, good pleasure and grace imply freedome in the party loving, and mercy implies misery in the party loved.
Now this free good will and grace, it is towards Men, towards man-kind, hee saith not, towards Angels; it is more towards men, then (even) to good Angels (in some sort,) for now man is taken to be the Spouse of Christ, good Angels are not so: neither is it good will to evill Angels, for their state is determined, there is no altering of their condition: therefore God is called Philanthropos, not Philangelos; and the Scripture calls this Philanthropia, the love that God hath shewed to men in Christ. Therefore wee should have thoughts of God, as gracious, loving our nature, more then the Angelicall nature in some respects.
And learne this for imitation,To love mankind. to love mankind. God loved mankind, and surely, there is none that is borne of God, but hee loves the nature of man, wheresoever hee finds it, hee will not stand altogether, whether it be good or bad, &c. But because we are now in the way, and our state is not determined, and because God loves the nature of man, therefore every man that hath the Spirit of God, loves mankind, he will labour to gaine Turkes, or Indians, &c. if hee can, because hee loves the very nature of man, but I passe from this point to the second.
Gods good will, the g…ound of all good.This foreign, Good will of God, to restore lapsed man, by the sending of his Sonne, is the ground of all good to man, and hath no ground but it selfe.
Gods grace and love to the creature, is altogether independant, in regard of the creature, God fetcheth not reasons of his love from the creature,Gods love independent. but from his owne bowels. What can he foresee in persons that were dead? nay, in persons that were in a contrary disposition to goodnesse? there is nothing but enmity in our nature, to supernaturall goodnesse, can God foresee grounds of love in enmity?
Deut. 7.8.As Moses tels the people of Israel in divers places, Deut. 7. and 8. That it was not for any foresight of good in them, they were the stubbornest people under heaven; therefore God, to shew his free love, hee chose a stubborne people, and singled them out to be the object of his mercy: so God oftimes takes the unlikeliest then in the world, and passeth by many, otherwise of sweete natures: so wee see, even the meanes themselves, they are of Gods free mercy and love.
Covenant of grace.We have whatsoever we have, by vertue of the Covenant: for what could wee looke for from God but in Covenant, wherein he hath bound himselfe? now since the fall, this Covenant is called, the Covenant of grace: That now, if we believe in Christ, we shall not perish, but have life and salvation: in all the parts of it, it is of Gods free grace and good pleasure. What is the foundation of the covenant?Foundation of the covenant free. Christ, Christ is of free grace, God so loved the world, that he gave his onelyonly Sonne. There is nothing freer then gift, Christ is a gift, the greatest gift, he came freely from God, he gave him to death for us all, Rom. 8.
And then whatsoever good thing wee have in Christ, Rom. 8.All good by Christ, free.it comes freely too, hee that gave Christ freely, shall hee not with him give us all things too?
Then the very grace to keepe the covenant, repentance and faith, they are the gift of God, I will take away your stony heart, and give you new hearts, and cause you to walke in my statutes; I will circumcise your hearts: so the grace to walked in the covenant of grace, it comes from God, God doth his part, and ours too, to shew not only, that the covenant of grace is a covenant of wondrous love, to give us grace here, and glory herafter: but that the foundation is of grace, and the performance on our part is of grace: nay, it is of grace, that hee would enter into covenant at all, hee humbled himselfe wondrously, to vouchsafe to enter into covenant, it was humiliation on Gods part, and exaltation to us, therefore as it is in Zacharie, we may cry, Grace, grace, there is nothing but grace, and free love, in the whole carriage of our salvation.
If whatsoever good come to man, be meerely from Gods good will;To empty our selves. let us emptie our selves, and give him the glory of all; it is easily spoken and heard, but not so easily done, for man naturally is proud, and for flesh and bloud, to bee brought to goe out of it selfe, and acknowledg nothing in it selfe, to give the glory of all goodnesse, and happinesse to Gods free grace, and goodnesse, it is hard to bring proud nature to doe this; but we must begge grace of God, to worke our hearts to this, more and more, to empty our selves of our selves, and to give God the glory of all: But,
I come to the last point, because I would end this text at this time.