An Expofttion of the Epiftle r-.../'-.__.-- thofe lnteq,-retations that j>Ut moO: fair. It was neceffary for me to do it, for .thcy Ser. XV. that read Comments will h(ld that thefe are thegroat Interpretations. ~ Now then in exam:nir.g what it is, I f11Jil do that firfl in general. It is firfl a wqrl; of the Hol)•Ghofl; that is certain, he may be called an E<~r. 1 ufl, the Holy Ghofl's Perfon may be fc called; but he is not called a Seal, but in relation to ail aCto!Sealing: It importeth a work of the Holy Ghoft upon the heart; ihis giving of the ~~rfon of the Holy Ghofl to a man is the highefl Ear. ncft of Heaven, more t!:an ·hiJ your Graces. But tf you fpeak .of the Holy Ghofl as a Seal, it impoitetha thingfealed, an aCt of his, a work upon a man's Spirit. That is the firO:. •· Secondly, It is a Metaphorical·(%Rre1Iion,or a fimilitude; and if you will open this Similitude, ym(muft have recouife to the ufe of Se<tls, what ufe Seals Lrve for. Divines give manyufes of a Seat, ;that they apply to this particular in the Text. They fay, God fealeth his Children, becaufe he owneth them to be hi.< by way of appropriation, fetteth them apart to l;ie his; as you Merchants feal your _goods, and fo difiinguifl1 them from other mens goods. As Caul+ r >,the Spoztje is called a f'aled Formtmn unto Chrift. The meaning of which Meta– phor is this; The Jews you mufl: know, whofe drink was Water; there were fome Fountains and Springs more delicate than others: Thofe that were great men, fuch as Solomon, the Kings and others, if they had a delicate Spring of Waters, they •·oiled t1 Sto11e upon it, (fo you read they did of their WdJs, Gm.29.) and then When they had done they would feat that Stone, that their Servants, or others, walking in their inclofed Gardens. might not tafle of that Spring, they would referve it for themfelves; as in Mttlt.27. TheyJealed 11p the Stone that was rofled 11pon the Sepulchre to make itJitre: fo they ufed to do to their Fountains, rolling aStone upoo them they fealed them up. It is an. allu– fion to what ones Wile or Spoufe lhould be to him, She jbould be M a fealed Fountai11, approp>'iated unto him atom!, and fo faith Chrifi is the Church to me. Prov.-;.•),18. 'Drinkwaters out of thi11e ow11 Cz[ler11; Let thy Fouutain be btef!ed (faith he, fpeaking of a man's Wife ;) rejo_)·ce with the wife of try ) 'Ottth. And fo now to appropriate the Soul to Chrift, to make the Soul that ftoled Fotmtain, this is one Interpretation they give of it. Solikewife for Eflnnation, and for Secitrity, and the like; they give many fuch. But, my Brethren, I cut off all fuch Interpretations in a word or two. And the Firfl is this, That you have all thefe upon believing, as well as after believing. You are difiinguilhed from other men, you are fealed in that fenfe you are nppropriat•d to God when you are firft convened; but this fealing i; after believing: therefore !\ill this hitteth it not. Secondly, Let there be never fo many ufes of a Seal, that which is proper to the (cope here is feal ing of an Inheriunce; you fee the Apo!1:le fpeaks of an Inheritance, whereof the Holy Gh_o_R is a Sealer; We have obtai11ed (faith he) an Iuherttattet b)' Faah, a11d havmg be!Jeved we art fealed with the Hob Spi– yit of Promife. So that now, if you would know the proper meaning of the word, you mufi have recourfe to the u(e of aSeal in fealing up of a_n Inheritance. What ufe is there of a Seal in fealing up of Inheritances? There is adouble ufe of it: There is firO:, a making the Inheritance fure to a man in it felf; and there is Secondly, a making the man lm0w that it is his, to confirm and fettle his Spirit that it is his. Now let us fee which of thefe two is the Seal here meant, Firft, It is not the fealing of it to make a thing fure, to make Salvation fure, that is not the fcope principally here to make it fure in himfelf; and the reafon is this; For to make falvation fure there needeth no Seal after believing. No, there was aSeal [et to make falvation fure long before his believing, therefore that is not the Apo!1:le's fcope here. Look into 21im.2.I9. The Jotmdatio~tof the Lord flattdeth Jure, havi~tg this Seal, the Lord kfloweth who a1·e his. He fpenl<s of God's eternal Election; there is the Seal now by which falvation is made fure in it felf, therefore now for the Holy Ghofl to feal it up, to make it fure in it felf afterward, it needed not, there needed not a fecond Seal to that
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