Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/d_000.lzh/D_050.TXT

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50                                               OF THE WILL OF GOD.                                                          Book I.

of God; 1 Cor. ii. 7. Eph.. iii. 10. every doctrine is a
display of it; to instance only in justification, and the
pardon of sin. Justification is-by the free grace of God,
and yet in strict justice; grace provided Christ to work
out a righteousness; grace accepts of it in the room and
stead of sinners, and grace imputes it to them: the righ-
teousness of Christ, by which men are justified, is com-
mensurate to the law and justice of God; so that "God
is just, whilst the justifier of him that believes in Jesus :"
the grace of faith is wisely appointed to receive this righ-
teousness; it is of faith, that it might appear to be of
grace, and that pride and boasting might be excluded;
which, had any other been appointed, would not have
been so apparent; this being a soul-humbling, a soul-
emptying grace, which receives all from God, and gives
him all the glory: pardon of sin is of free grace, and yet
through the blood of Christ; and is both an act of grace
and of justice; God is just and faithful to forgive it, as
well as gracious and merciful; he forgives sin, and takes
vengeance on the inventions of the sinner: pardon pro-
ceeds upon the foot of satisfaction, which grace provides;
and so both grace and justice agree in it, and are glori-
fied by it: the ordinances of the Gospel are wisely insti-
tuted to answer the end of them; baptism to represent
the overwhelming sufferings of Christ, his burial, and re-
surrection from the dead: the ordina:,ce of the supper,
to shew forth his death; the bread broken is a proper
emblem of his broken body; the wine poured out, of his
blood shed, and his soul poured out unto death for sin-
ners. Wisely has God appointed men, and not angels, to
minister the word and administer ordinances; "men of the
same passions with others ;" who may be heard and con-
versed with, without dread and terror; frail, mortal men,
earthen vessels, in which this treasure is put, that the ex-
cellency of the power may be of God, and not of men;
and a standing ministry is wisely fixed, to be continued to
the end of the world, for the use, relief, refi'eshment, and
comfort of God's people, as well as the conversion of sin-
ners; and all for the glory of God.
5thly, The wisdom of God may be seen in the go-
vernment and preservation of the church of God, in all
ages; in guiding them by immediate revelation, without
the written word, when the church was in a few families,
and the lives of men long; then with written laws, sta-
tutes, and ordinances, suited to the infant state of the
church, among the people of Israel; and now with or-
dinances, more agreeable to its adult state, under the
gospel dispensation, throughout the world: and as it is a
church and kingdom not of this world, it is supported, not
by worldly, but spiritual means; and wonderfully has it
been preserved, in all ages, and increased, amidst all the per-
secutions of men; no weapon formed against it has pros-
pered; and God has made it, and will still more make it to
appear, that he rules in Jacob unto the ends of the earth.

CHAP. XI.

OFtTHE WILL OF GOD, AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF IT.
HAVING considered the attributes of God which
belong to his understanding, as an intelligent Spirit, his
knowledge and wisdom, I now proceed to consider his
Will, and the sovereignty of it. And shall,

I. Prove that there is a Will in God; for in all intel-
ligent beings there is a will, as well as an nnderstanding;
as in angels and men, so in God; as he has an under-
standing which is infinite and unsearchable; so he has a
will, to do what he knows is most fitting to be done.
His understanding influences and guides his will, and his
will determines all his actions; and his will being thus
wisely directed, is called, the counsel of his will, Eph.
i. 11. A will is frequently ascribed to God in Scripture;
The will of the Lord be done, Acts xxi. 14. 14/t,o has
resisted his will, Rom. ix. 19. Having made hnown unto
us the mystery of his will, Eph. i. 9. and in many other
places; the will of God is no other than God himself
willing; it is essential to him; it is his nature and es-
sence; it is not to be s. eparatcd, or to bc considered as
distinct from it, or as a part of it, of which it is com-
posed; which would be contrary to the simplicity of God;
or to his being a simple, uncompounded Spirit; which
has been established. Will is ascribed to each of the di-
vine persons; to the Father, John vi. 39, 40. to the Son,
as a divine person, John v. 21. and xvii. 24. and who also,
as man, has a will distinct from that, though subjected
to it, John vi. 38. Luke xxii. 42. and to the Spirit, who
is said to forbid, and not to suffer some things to be
done; that is, to hill them; and to hill is an act of the
will, as well as to will, Acts xvi. 6, 7. and he is said to
divide his gifts to men severally, as he will, 1 Cot. xii. 1 t.
And these three, as they are the one God, they agree in
one, in one mind and will
lI. I shall next shew what the will of God is: there
is but one will in God; but for our better understanding
it, it may be distinguished. I shall not trouble the rea-
der with all the distinctions of it made by men; some are
false, and others vain and useless; such as into absolute
and conditional, antecedent and consequent, effectual and
ineffectual, &c. the distinction of the secret and revealed
will of God has generally obtained among sound divines;
the former is properly the will of God, the latter only a
manifestation of it. Whatever God has determined within
himself, whether to do himself, or to do by others, or to
suffer to be done, whilst it is in his own breast, and is
not made known by any event in providence, or by pro-
phecy, that is his secret will; such are the deep things of
God, the thoughts of his heart, the counsels and deter-
minations of his mind; which are impenetrable to others;
but when these open, by events in providence, or by pro-
phecy, then they become the revealed will of God. God's
secret will becomes revealed by events in providence,
whether it be considered general or special; the general
providence of God, with respect to the world and church,
is no other than the execution, and so the manifestation
of his secret will, with respect to both: to the world, its
production, the origin of nations, the settlement of them
in the various parts of the world; the rise of states and
kingdoms, and particularly the four monarchies, and the
succession of them: to the church, in the line of Seth,
from Adam, and in the line of Shere, from Noah, and in
the people of Israel, from Abraham, to the coming of
Christ: and the book of Revelation is a discovery of the
secret will of God with respect to both, from the coin-
ing of Christ to the end of the world; the greatest part
of which has been fulfilled, and the rest will be; as the
destruction of antichrist, and the antichristian states; the