And you see in the genealogy of Christ, he came both of Jews and Gen- tiles, as we see in Kuth, Divers of our Saviour's ancestors, they were Gentiles as well as Jews, to shew that he that came of both, he came to be the Saviour of both. But it is the safest, as I said before, in these queries, to rest in the wise, unsearchable dispensation of God, and rather be thank- ful that God hath reserved us to these times and places of knowledge, than to ask why our forefathers did not know Christ. We enjoy a double spring of the gospel, and the benefits of it. First, we were delivered from heathen- ism. What kind of people were we in Julius Ca3sar's time ? Barbarous people,]; And after, when popery came in, God delivered us from that ; there was a second spring. Yet how few give God praise, that hath had mercy on US Gentiles, that hath delivered us from Gentilism, and from the dark- ness of popery. But we grow weary of religion, as they did of manna, Numb. xi. 6.
Let us therefore make good use of it, that God hath been merciful to us Gentiles in these later times. And let us that are born in the precincts of the church help our faith in the time of temptation this way. Certainly God means well to my soul. I might have been born before, in times of ignorance and places of ignorance, and never have heard of Christ ; but I have been baptized and admitted into the church : and by that there is an obligation. Before I understood myself, I was bound to believe in Christ. God was so careful of my soul when I understood nothing, that there should
« Cf. Note in Vol I. page 303.— G. % Cf. note c, page 539.— G.
t That is, ' wicked.'— G,
512 TUE FOUNTAIN OPENED.
bu a 1)011(1 for niL" to believe in Christ. If God Lad not meant well to my soul, I should not have lived so much as to bear of the gospel. Thus we should gather upon God, as the woman of Canaan did upon our Saviour Christ, and fight against all distrust and unbelief, and all temptations of Satan, that present God as though bo cared not for us. There cannot be too much art and skill to help our faith this way.
Again, the Gentiles have now interest in Christ since the coming of Christ, and not before. It is a mystery. It were not a mystery, if the Gentiles had had an interest in Christ, and been within the pale of the church before.
There are several degrees of the dispensation of salvation. There is, first, the ordaining of salvation. That was before all worlds. And then the promise of salvation. That was when Adam fell. Then there is the procuring of salvation promised. That was by Christ, when he came in the flesh. Then there is the promulgation and enlarging of salvation to all people. This was after Christ was come in the flesh. Then there is the perfect consummation of salvation in heaven. Now the execution of the promise, and the performance of all good concerning salvation, it was re- served to Christ's coming in the flesh ; and the enlargement of the promise to all nations was not till then. I do but touch this, to shew that God hath had a special care of this latter age of the world. Some account the first age of the world to be a golden age, the next silver, and then an iron age. But indeed we may invert the order. We live in the golden age, the last ages, when Christ was ' manifested.' Wliat is the glory of times and places ? The ' manifestation of Christ.' The more Christ is laid open with his ' unsearchable riches,' the more God glorifies those times and places ; and that is the golden age where the gospel is preached.
Therefore, we cannot be too much thankful for that wondrous favour which we have enjoyed so long time together, under the glorious sunshine of the gospel.
Hence we have a ground likewise of enlarging the gospel to all people, because the Gentiles now have interest in Christ ; that merchants, and those that give themselves to navigation, they may with good success carry the gospel to all people. There are none shut out now, since Christ, in this last age of the world ; and certainly there is great hope of those Western people. We see the gospel hath imitated the course of the sun. The Sun of righteousness hatli shined like the sun in the firmament. The sun begins east, and goes to the west ; so the gospel. It began in the eastern parts. It hath left them ; they are under the Turkish barbarous tj^anny at this time. The gospel is now come to the western parts of the world.* For Christ will take an holy state upon him, and will not abide long where he is disesteemed, where the gospel is under- valued, and blended with that which is prejudicial to the sincerityf of it; when there is little care had what men believe. The state of the gospel and truth is such, that if it be mingled overmuch with heterogeneal stufi", it overthrows it ; and Christ will not endure this indignity. Therefore, let us take heed that we keep Christ and his truth with us exactly ; and let us take heed of sinning against the gospel, if we would have it stay with us, especially of sins immediately against the gospel, as for instance,