63                                              OF THE MERCY OF GOD.                                                          Boon I.

Virgin Mary expresses it, from generation to generation,
without any variation or change, Luke i. 50.
6. It is common to all the three divine persons, Father,
Son, and Spirit; for as there is one comm6n undivided
essence, of which each equally partakes, the same divine
perfections an.d attributes belong to them, and so this of
-mercy: mercy is ascribed to the God and Father of Christ,
1 Pet. i. & and to our Lord Jesus Christ; not only as
Man and Mediator, but as the true God and eternal life;
to whose mercy we are to look for it, Jude v 21. and to
the blessed Spirit, who helps the infirmities of the saints,
" and makes intercession for them with groanlags which
cannot be uttered," Rom. viii. 26.
7. Mercy is displayed only in and through Christ; God
out of Christ is a consuming fire; it is only in him
God proclaims his name, "a God gracious and merci-
ful ;" he is the mercy-seat, and throne of grace, at which
men obtain mercy and find grace; he is the channel
through which it flows, and through whom it, in its effects,
is conveyed to the sons of men: they are right who cast
themselves not on the absolute mercy of God out of
Christ; but upon his mercy, as displayed in him, as the
Publican did, Luke xviii. 1 & In a word, it is represented,
as great, large, and ample, and very abundant; we read
of a multitude of tender mercies; and God is said to be
rich andplenteous in it; as will appear more fully by con-
sidering the objects and instances of it, Psalm ciii. 11
and li. 1.1 Pet. i. 3. Eph. ii. 4. Psalm lxxxvi. 5.
II. The objects of mercy may be next observed: and
that this may appear in a plain and clear light, it will be
proper to remark, that the mercy of God is general and
special: with respect to the general mercy of God, all
creatures are the objects of it; the Lord is good to all,
and his tender mercies are over all his works, Psalm cxlv.
9. there is not a creature in all the earth but partakes of
it; hence says the Psalmist, The earth, 0 Lord, is full
of thy mercy .t Psalm cxix. 64. even the brute creation,
the mute animals, share in it; it is owing to mercy that
they are preserved in their beings, Psalm xxxvi. 5, 6. and
that a provision of food is made for their sustenance; and
who sometimes are in great distress, and when they cry to
God he gives them their food, Joel i. 18, 19, 20. Psalm
civ. 27, 28. and cxlvii. 9. Job xxxviii. 41. All men, good
and bad, partake of the providential goodness and mercy
of God; he is kind to the unthankful and unholy, and
makes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and
sends rain on the just and on the unjust, Luke vi. 35.
Matt. v. 45. He preserves and supports all men in their
beings, and so is the Saviour of all, and especially of them
that believe, 1 Tim. iv. 10. and gives thetn the neces-
saries of life, food and raiment, and all things richly to
enjoy, both for convenience and pleasure: yea, even the
devils themselves partake of mercy, in some sense; for
though God has not spared them, so as to save them, and
not condemn them; yet he has given them a kind of re-
prieve, and reserved them to the judgment of the great
day; so that they are not yet in full torments, as their
sins have deserved; and as God punishes none more but
less than their sins require, this may be reasonably sap-
posed to be the case of devils, even hereafter.
As to the special mercy of God, none are the objects
of that but elect men, who are called vessels of .mercy,
Rom. ix. 23. because they are filled with it, even with all

spiritual blessings, which flow from it, and which are be'
stowed on them according as they are chosen in Christ,
Eph. i. 3, 4. and so particularly regeneration, which is
according to the abundant mercy of God, they are fa-
voured With, being the elect of God, 1 Pet. i. 2, 3. and
these, as they are redeemed by Christ, share in the spe-
cial mercy and goodness of God; and therefore are under
obligation to say, with wonder and thankfulness, "the
Lord is good; Iris mercy endures for ever," Psalm evil.
1, 2. and especially, being effectually called by the grace
of God, they appear to be the objects of mercy; then
they who had not obtained mercy, did not know their
interest in it, nor actually enjoyed the blessings of it,
have obtained mercy; are blessed both with knowledge
of interest in it, and with the open possession of the
blessings of it, 1 Pet. ii. 10. These are described some-
times by them that call upon the Lord, to whom he is
plenteous in mercy, Psalm lxxxvi. 5. by "them that love
him, and keep his commandments; to whom he shews
his mercy," Exod. xx. 6. Nehem. i. 5. Dan. ix. 4. and
by them that fear him, and towards whom his mercy al-
ways is, Psalm ciii. 11, _13, 17. Not that calling upon
God, love to him, and observance of his commands, and
the fear of him, are the causes of his mercy to them, since
that is prior to all these, and is the cause of them; but.
these describe the persons who openly, and manifestly,
share in the mercy of God, and to whom the effects of it
have been applied, and who may expect a continuance of
it, and larger discoveries and displays thereof to be made
unto them; as well as they shew that the tnercy of God
is special and distinguishing, and yet that it is not limited
to any family or nation, but is enjoyed by all that love and
fear the Lord in every nation, Acts x. 34, 35.
HI. The instances of mercy, to the objects of it, are
many and various.
1. It appears in election: it is, indeed, a controversy
among divines, whether election is an act of love or of mercy:
I am inclined to be of the opinion of those who take it
to be an act of love, and not mercy; as God dhose literal
Israel, because he loved them, Dent. vii. 7, 8. so spiritual
Israel are first beloved, and then chosen, 2 Thess. ii. 13.
electio praessupponit dilectionem; but then, though the
decree of election flows from love, and not mercy; yet
God has in it decreed to shew mercy; he has resolved
within himself, saying, I will have mercy, and will save;
and therefore in this decree he has appointed them not
unto wrath, which they deserve, but to obtain salvation
by Christ; which supposes them fallen creatures, and so
objects of mercy; for the decree of election inay be
distinguished into the decree of the end and the decree
of the means: with respect to the end, the glory of God,
men were considered as unfallen, in the pure mass out
of which God designed to make them for himself: but
with respect to the means, redemption by Christ, and
faith in him, the Redeemer, and sanctification of the
Spirit; here they were considered as fallen creatures;
and so, with propriety, those chosen ones may be called
vessels of mercy.
2. The covenant of grace is a display of the mercy
of God, as before observed; it is built upon mercy, and
built up witIt it; it is stored with it, and is full of it.
Mercy called Christ to engage in it, and set him up as
the Mediator of it, and prevented him with the blessings