“We were dead in sins and trespasses, we were children of wrath by nature, hell was our place.
It is the exceeding riches of His grace that pulls men out of that miserable condition, and sets them upon that height and top of blessedness and happiness in the world to come.
It is thy mercy, say they in the Lamentations, that we are not consumed; Thy mercies fail not.
It is the mercy of God that we are not in hell.
And when we are in heaven, it is mercy that hath brought us there.
And it is mercy and grace that continues us there forever.”
–Thomas Goodwin, “Sermon 19: Ephesians 2:7,” The Works of Thomas Goodwin, Volume 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage, 1861/2006), 2: 303–304.
