First, I must prove to you that it floweth from the pleasure of his goodness. The apostle's word in the text is evSo/cia dyaOaxivviis.
VeR. 11.] SERMONS UPON 2 THESSALONIANS I. 285
'EvSo/cla signifieth his most free will ; a^aQwavvf]^ his benignity. In the whole course of our salvation, the pleasure of his goodness is to be observed. The coming of Christ : Luke ii. 14, ' Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will towards men.' The covenant of grace : Col. i. 19, 20, ' It pleased the Father that in him all fulness should dwell : and (having made peace through the blood of his cross) by him to reconcile all things to himself ; by him, I say, whetherthey be things in earth or things in heaven.' The ministry : 1 Cor. i. 21, 'It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.' The grace to embrace the covenant offered : Mat. xi. 26, 1 Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.' It is God's good pleasure to reveal it to some and not to others. The grace to keep the covenant ; so in the text, and Phil. ii. 13, 'He worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure.' So that God's will is the rise and root of all. So for the blessings of the covenant, they all come from his good pleasure. The blessing by the way: Deut. xxxiii. 16, 'For the good will of him that dwelt in the bush, let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, because of his gracious favour.' So for the blessing of the end of the journey, for eternal life : Luke xii. 32, ' Fear not, little flock ; it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom ; ' ivSoKrjcre, out of his own accord, and the inclinations of his singular mercy. Our Father's pleasure doth not only concern our final happi- ness, but all the ways and means which conduce thereunto, to give it in such a way as best pleaseth him.
To make this more evident to you, take these considerations —
1. That God hath absolute power and sovereign right to dispose as he will of all his creatures, not only as to their temporal but eternal concernments: Mat. xx. 15, ' I may do with mine own as it pleaseth me.' As the master over his goods, as the potter over his clay. No- thing before it had a being had a right to dispose of itself ; neither did God make it what it was by necessity of nature, nor by the command, counsel, or will of any superior, nor the direction of any coadjutor ; neither is there any to whom he should render any account of his work ; but merely produced all things by the act of his own will, as an abso- lute agent and sovereign lord of all his actions : Eev. iv. 11, ' Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.' None can call him to an account, and say, ' What makest thou ? ' and why doest thou thus ? Isa. xlv. 9. Why dost thou dispose of me in this or that manner ? If the question be, Why God made me a man, and not a beast, not a plant, &c. ?
2. The sovereign will is the supreme cause why he did pass by some and elect others : Rom. ix. 18, ' Therefore he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy.' God is not bound to render any reason beyond his bare will : ' It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy,' ver. 16. God is to be con- sidered as the governor of the world, or as a free lord. God will not show mercy so as to cross his government, nor so bind himself to his government as shall cross his liberty as an absolute lord and free agent. Compare 1 Cor. ix. 24, ' So run that ye may obtain.' It is not in him that runneth, yet, ' So run/ The first place belongeth to God's dispensa- tion of grace as a free lord, the second as a righteous governor. God is
286 SERMONS UPON 2 THESSALONIANS I. [SER. X.
arbitrary in his gifts, but not in his judgments ; his judgments are dis- pensed according to law and rule, but his gifts of grace according to his own pleasure. So God will have mercy on whom he will have mercy ; it is his prerogative to convert whom he will ; that is not an act of right and wrong, but of favour and grace ; therefore the cause that moved God to elect any, or one more than another, is his absolute sove- reign pleasure, or favour and good-will towards those whom he did elect.
3. This absolute dominion and sovereign will is sweetly tempered with his goodness, or rich favour and gracious condescension toward his elect ones. His will to them was good pleasure, or the pleasure of his goodness. God hath a gracious good- will towards his people. The propension or self-inclination that is in God to do good to his people is called his benignity or goodness ; but as it is free, it is called the pleasure of his goodness ; as it is to persons in misery, it is called his pity and mercy. We are to consider it here as free and independent in regard of the creature. What could he foresee in us to move and incline him but what was the fruit of his own grace ? The first grace is the mere fruit of his mercy and pity to us, giving us a new heart, whereby we repent and turn to him. More expressly to the case is James i. 18, 'Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures ; ' Ezek. xxxvi. 26, ' A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.' In all the subsequent grace, though we are qualified according to the rules of his government, yet we merit nothing there ; the con- tinuance of what is received is a part of the pleasure of his goodness ; for as he begat us of his own good-will, so by the same good-will he continueth us in the state of grace to which he hath called us : Gal. vi. 16, ' As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them and mercy ; ' Phil. i. 6, ' He that hath begun a good work in you will per- form it until the day of Jesus Christ.' They that walk most accu- rately stand in need of mercy ; all our comforts and supplies are the fruit of undeserved grace. For our final consummation, the same pleasure of his goodness which laid the first stone in the building doth also finish the work: Jude 21, 'Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.' We take glory out of the hands of mercy, and it is mercy that puts the crown upon our heads. It is mercy that pardoneth our failings, accepteth our persons, rewardeth our faithfulness, pitieth our miseries, relieveth our wants ; it is mercy that maketh us worthy of the glory of the blessed. In short, it is mercy doth all for us. The whole progress of this work from first to last is all from God ; not from any worth of ours, nor by any power of ours, but merely from the pleasure of his goodness.