206 An Expofttion of the Epiflle SER.MQ~ XVI~ E PH E S. I, q, 14. In whom alfo, after that ye believed, ye werefoaled with that Holy Spirit of Promifo. Which is the Earneft of our Inheritance, &c. TH·E Coherence of thefe words with the former, (as I have lhewcd you) is eafie and natural. He had fpoken of an Inheritance, (he had fpoken of it in the II th verfe, and he fpeaks of it likewife in the I 4th verfe,) an Inheritance unto \Vhich _they were predcftinated by God's eternal ptirpofo, fo verfe u, Whtch lnhemance they had· by fazth and by betuvtng, (as I !hewed) obtained an intereft; wt o6tai11ed all Inheritance, who firfl trufled i11 Chrifl, verf.II .Jt. New then having been thus appointed to it, having ob· tained an intereft in it, and the thing it felf being made thus fure, and this by Faitf1: now faith he, Afterye believedyt wtre feattd with that Ho{y Spirit of Promije. This Inheritance, as it was made furc in ir felf, fo you had the Inhe. ritance made good to you by a work of fealing; y e were foaled with that Ho{y Spirit of Promi(e. I !hewed the hft !ime in openiAg of the work of Sealing ; firft what it was ndr, which fame Interpreters would have it to be meant in this place. It is not lirfl: the gift of the Spirit only, ab!lractedly conlidered, for it im. porteth a work of tile Spirit upon the heart, (which jMtitJg always mufl: needs do) and Impreffion likewife. Indeed, the gift of the Spirit may be the Eartuft of the l11herJt.mce, meerly and alone confidered, ( as I lhalllhew you anon;) but the fea!itJg of the Spirit importeth an impreffion a work upon the heart. It is not Secondly a work of Faith, as fome would have it: for befides that he doth not fay, Betiwi11g_ye wertfeated, (as elfewhere he fpeaks; fo the Apo!lle Pete>·fpeaks, 1 Ptt, I. 8. mnllovn<, Betievit~gye rtjf!Yce, in the prelent Tenfe ;) but it is ,«J:w.rn", havi11g 6etiwul, or (as our Trantlation well rendreth it,) after J '' believed; which (at lea!\) implieth, it is a di!linct thing from Faith. Then Thirdly, I !hewed it was not Sa>Jctification or Regeturation, which thoughit bean image, yetthcufeof the Metaphor of Seatmg (though it im– plietll an Image,) it is taken principally from the ufe of a Seat, which prima· rily is not fo much to !lamp an Image (though it doth that,) as it is to alfure. I !hewed by this what it was not. I !hewed Secondly, what I conceived it to be. You mufl fetch the Notion of it from the ufe of a Seal among!\ men, and you mull confine it likewife to the ufe of a Seal in matters of Inheritance, for that is properly the Apo!lle's [cope, he followeth that Metaphor; therefore though there be many ufes of a Seal, (for fervice, and propriety, and the like,) yet I take it, they are not the proper fcope here. T he ufe of a Seal in point of Inheritance, is firfl to make the thing fure, to convey an Inheritance, that the Inheritance tl10uld be thereby conveyed, and made fure in it fell: Now though that is not excluded, (for every work of the Spirit doth make the thing over and over fure,!lill engageth God more and more) yet that is not the proper and primary fcopc of fratmg here! Why? Becaufe t here
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