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NOTE.

Under the common title, 'THE GLORY OF THE GOSPEL,' Goodwin left two works, the one consisting of two sermons, and the other of a treatise divided into eight chapters. Although he probably intended that the one should supersede the other and, if he had published his works himself, would probably have suppressed the former, the greater part of the matter of which is incorporated and more fully treated in the latter, yet, as they are both included in the folio edition of his works, it has not been considered right to omit either of them in this reprint; the rather that, as they stand, they differ too widely to be regarded merely as different editions of the same work.-ED.

THE GLORY OF THE GOSPEL.

SERMON I.

Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.-COL. I. 26, 27.

THE apostle spends this chapter, from the 13th verse to the end, in three things principally.

1. In setting out Jesus Christ in all that fulness of the riches of his glory wherewith he is arrayed and represented in the gospel; from ver. 13 to 23, from whence to the 4th verse of the second chapter, he falls into a commendation and elogium of the gospel, Which is that mystery,' as the text hath it, wherein is made known that rich glory of Christ, the glory of the mystery, which riches is Christ.'

And the apostle doth both these on set purpose (as in the 4th and 8th verses he professeth), to divert and take off these Colossians' minds, from these vain' deceitful speculations grounded on philosophy, traditions of men, &c., gaudily and speciously set out with enticing words. This, I say,' says verse the 4th, lest any, &c.' 'Beware,' verse the 8th, 'lest any spoil you through philosophy, and vain deceit.' To dash and put these quite out of countenance at once, he discovers riches and glory. To discover the beggarliness of these rudiments-as the apostle elsewhere epithetizeth the best of them, Gal. iv. 9-he lays open the riches of the mysteries of Christ, and displays the glory, and the excellency of it, to spoil, and cause to vanish, and come to nothing, the enticing gloss and lustre of all other wisdom (as it is 1 Cor. i. 19), which had well nigh spoiled them.

Now, in this place of this first chapter, the words I have read unto you, the current of his commendation of the gospel's excellency swells to the highest, and runs with the deepest and strongest stream, within the limits of which therefore, I will confine myself, as affording matter enough to set forth the glory of it, and that by all that doth commend unto us any knowledge.

For first, it is commended by the original author and revealer of it, with his intent therein; God himself, who is best able to discern what knowledge is the fullest of riches and glory, chose to reveal and make known this merely for the worth of it; namely, because the riches of glory were revealed by it.

The first says God would, or was desirous to, make known the riches of glory that were in it; that moved him to it.

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Secondly, If the worth of the subject matter revealed doth ennoble a knowledge, then must this be glorious, for Christ is the subject matter of it, 'which riches are Christ, the Lord of glory.'

Thirdly, If all the properties that are excellent in any knowledge will add worth to it, they centre in this,

First, If depth and profoundness, it is a mystery.

Secondly, If preciousness and abundance; it is full of riches and glory. Thirdly, If profitableness and usefulness, it not only reveals riches of glory to the knowers of it, the saints, out of themselves, but makes them possessors of all the riches it reveals, and gives them certain hope of all the glory it speaks, which riches are Christ in you, made your Christ, with all his riches, for the present, and to you the hope of glory.

Fourthly, If secrecy commends a knowledge, as it doth, it hath been hid long from the beginning of the world in regard of the clear revealing of it, but now in the end of the world it is revealed.

And lastly, If rareness, now it is revealed, it is not made common, it is revealed only to the saints, who only know it in the riches and glory of it, To whom God would make known,' &c.

You have the scope and meaning of the apostle; mine at this time is by enlarging on these particulars to set out the glory of the gospel; that part of the word which in strict sense reveals the doctrine of God's free grace, the work of Christ's redemption, and the riches of it, justification, and sanctification, and the secrets hereof; for this is the gospel.

But you will say, To what end will all this be? I wish there were no need of it, so I never preached more, and that both in regard of the people and ministers themselves; for the people of this land, it were well for England if the contempt of this glorious gospel and the ministry of it were not their greatest sin. Happy were we if the measure of our iniquities were made so much lighter by the want of it! I should then expect to see many more years past ere it were filled than now are like to be. And is there no need to set forth the glory of it? And for the ministers, they might add more beauty to their own feet, and souls to God, if in their speculations and preachings they did not, as the Pharisees of old did in their practice, (if we may judge what is in the cistern by what ordinarily cometh in and out), neglect the great things of the gospel forementioned, and tithe mint and cummin, pick truths of less moment, bolt and sist them to the bran, but leave the other unsearched into and uninsisted on.

But, my brethren, however we may esteem this doctrine of the gospel, and what other knowledge we may pride ourselves in, and wear out our brains in, yet it is this which is the riches of the Gentiles and saints, as this place shews, and many more: the pearl of the world,' Mat. xiii. 45; the glory of the ministry,' 1 Cor. ii. 7; which God ordained for our glory,' namely, apostles' and ministers', the preachers of it.

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The clear revealing of which was the desire and longing of the patriarchs and prophets, who though they knew the legal covenants as fully as we, yet this doctrine of salvation, Christ's sufferings, God's grace, was it they inquired into; that is, sought to God by prayer, and searched diligently,' that is, searched using all means of reading and meditating, to attain the knowledge of it, and all this diligently; spent, and thought it worthy of the chiefest of their pains, which, when it came to be revealed, the apostles Qu. He first '?-ED.

counted it their glory, which Paul therefore, who had profited so much in the Jews' religion, Gal. i. 14, professeth, Phil. iii. 8, that he accounted all dross and dung for this excellent knowledge of Christ. He might well say, Rom. i. 16, he was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for he makes his knowledge therein his chiefest excellency, Eph. iii. 4, there is a parenthesis wherein you would think he boasted speaking of his own writings, Whereby when you read' (saith he) 'you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ.'

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What do I, speaking of the study and glory of prophets and apostles? It is the study of the angels, which they think worthy of their greatest attention. Look into both these places, 1 Pet. i. 12, Eph. i. 10, Which things the angels desire to pry into;' these glorious creatures that know God in his legal covenant and work of creation more fully than ever Adam did, that have the immediate participation of God himself, have his face to read lectures in, day and night, and yet glad if they can get but a peep and glimpse of the way of saving men by Christ, as being a knowledge of greater excellency than otherwise they have any; yea, and so desirous are they to learn it, that they are content to go to school to the church, Eph. iii. 9, 10, That to principalities and powers might be made known by the church,' &c.

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But what need I speak of angels, prophets, and apostles? It is the great study (if I may so speak with reverence), the wisdom and great learning of God himself, who was the first professor of it, called so xar' ox, 1 Cor. ii. 7, speaking of the gospel, says he, We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,' and that a hidden wisdom before the world was, hid in God, Eph. iii. 9; God's act, and peculiar to himself; whereas other knowledge men and angels have in common with ns infused at first creation to attain to, and pick out of themselves.

But this is his wisdom, which he alone had studied, and which none knows but those to whom he revealed it, which hath brought me to the first part of my text; setting forth the excellency of the gospel,' that it is a mystery which God only makes known, and that to saints, for the riches of glory that are revealed in it.

1. Now, to shew you the original and the intent of framing this mystery, you have it expressed in this frame following:

Our all-wise and infinitely blessed Lord, who had from everlasting riches of glorious perfections of holiness, justice, wisdom, mercy in him, which though he himself knew and was infinitely blessed in the knowledge of them, though no saint or angel had ever been, or ever knew them, yet all these his glorious perfections being crowned with goodness, both made him willing to make known what riches of glory were in him unto some creatures which yet were in Christ, his goodness moved him to it, for bonum est sui communicativum, and it is the nature of perfection also to be manifestativum sui, and that not because any perfection is added to it when made known (which makes us desire to manifest our imperfections, as being perfected when made known), but that they might perfect others. This set him upon some ways to make known his riches and his glory to some that should be made happy by it, and to that end he would have saints his saints, as being beloved of him, unto whom he might as it were unbosom himself and display all the riches of glory which are in him, into whose laps he might withal pour out all his riches, that they might see his glory, and be glorified in seeing of it, John xvii. 3, 24.

And one way he began to manifest his glorious back-parts to angels and

man in the first creation, in the law, covenant of works, and works of creation which he had done, as his eternal power, and Godhead, and goodness in the glorious workmanship of heaven and earth, and of such glorious creatures as they themselves were, Rom. i. 20. His wisdom in the ordering, governing, and guiding so great a host and armies of several creatures, to several ends, by several laws; his justice in his legal covenant, giving them life whilst they should obey; threatening damnation to the disobeyers of it; his infinite holiness in that perfect and exact rule of righteousness, the copy of his own will written in their hearts.

Here was one way whereby God made known what glorious riches were in him, which might have made him glorious in their eyes, and themselves happy; and this the angels and Adam at the first had. But all this contented him not; God would make known a further mystery, another larger, deeper way, an act found out of the depths of his wisdom, namely, this doctrine of the gospel, which he kept hid and close in his own breast; not a creature knew it, no, not the angels, who were his nearest courtiers and dearest favourites; it lay hid in God, Eph. iii. 9, hid even from them, verse 10.

A mystery which, when it should be revealed, should amaze the world, put the angels to school again, as if they had known nothing in comparison of this, wherein they know over again all those glorious riches which are in God, and that more perfectly and fully than ever yet. And so after they had a little studied the catechism and compendium, there should then come out a large volume, a new system, of the riches of the glory of God, the mystery of Christ in the text, which is the last edition also that ever shall come forth, now set out, enlarged, perfected, wherein the large inventory of God's glorious perfections is more fully set down, and with additions.

The reasons why God did thus intend to manifest himself are:

First, Because he would shew his manifold wisdom, which is the reason given of revealing the gospel, Eph. iii. 10. That to the angels might appear the manifold wisdom of God.'

That his wisdom is so vast and large, that he could vary and take more ways than one; and as he had two sorts of reasonable creatures to shew himself unto, so a double way, a double sampler, a double method, a systema majus et minus.

And secondly, because indeed it was of itself too obscure and too imperfect.

First, Too obscure; for in the gospel, and works of redemption, they came to see all that they saw before; and this more clearly and largely, wherein they see more power in Christ, the power of God,' 1 Cor. i. 24. In raising himself up from death to life, declared with power thereby to be the Son of God, Rom. i. 4, and also the exceeding greatness of his power in raising us up also, Eph. i. 19, as might easily be shewed greater than in the creation.

Wherein they likewise see a greater and clearer instance and manifestation of his justice, in putting to death his own Son, taking on him to be a surety for sin, than if a world of worlds had been damned for ever. And in that his Son also, they came to see a greater and more transcendent righteousness than ever appeared either in the law or is inherent in the angels; for if all their righteousness were put into one, it could but justify themselves, it could not satisfy for the least breach of the law in another. But in the gospel, and work of redemption, we see a righteousness of that breadth that is able to cover the sins of millions of worlds; of that length

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