An Expofttion of the Epiftle ----c-~::-----:----:----:: .. --------- --~-~ in the Second pla·ce,This immediate Seal,it muft have an Imprefs that it ftampJ'er, XVI. eth upon the heart. No:v I told you, that the Mot~o., or the Impre!J!o~ that ~ this bcareth, (to follow ft1ll the Metaphor of a Seal,) lt 1s the Imprefs, 1t 1s the Copy of that great Seal in Heaven, which G<'ld did ~et to our Salvation before all Worlds, Now what was that great Seal, that ongmal Seal of all God's heart~ Saith the Apofile, The fotmdatio1l of the Lord rem111i11rth fitre, havi1zg this feat, The Lord k11oweth wbo art hu; that is, he choofeth them cut of love. Now . then this immediate Seal of the Holy Ghoft beareth the Imprefs of this Original Seal, ftampeth this upon the heart, The Lord knoweth thee to be hu? and he bath kttoWil thee fo from everlajlmg. And as God choofeth us, not look111g to works or any thing in us, fo this ligl1t cometh in without reference to Graces, or any thingelfe, Then in the Third place, As in a Seal, the Wax (you know) is pallive unto the ftamp of the Seal ; fo is the Heart; the Underftanding, and the Will and Affecti– ons to this work of fealing. That is a Third thing I add now, ftill keeping to the Metaphor of (eali11g, as being proper to the Text. It is a lif,!;ht that doth not leave you to think :his may be my own thoughts, but an over-powring light ; for when the holy Ghoft will fpeak as a Sealer, he will do his office, and there– fore a man's own Spirit is not active in it; he is active in it in the effect indeed, but in the light it felf, and in_the receiving of it, he is pallive, as at the firft con– verlion. Having opened what the work is, I lhewed in the Second place the order of it, it is after believi11g. I gave you that one Inftance in the Apoftles them– felves, which I lhall repeat, becaufe I lhould have ufe of it afterward. You may read, 'Johll '4· and the firft fourVerfes. that they believed i11 Chrzjl; yea at the 17thverfe, they had the Ho(y Ghojl in them: yet at ihe 16th verfe, h~ promifeth them, when be was afcended he would give them the Comforter; and ver,20.Atthatday(faithhe)yejhallk11owthat I am in you, and ) 'Otl in me. The Apoftles had not this(eal of the Spirit till Chrift afcended, they had the Holy Gholt afore, they had fome A[urance before; for you know Peter ap– pealethtoChrilt,Matt.I8. Lord(faithhe) thouknowtflthat I /,pve thee, and Chrift telleth Peter, that-he did believe fo as flejh and blood had 11ot rcveahd to him. He had the witnefs both of Bloodand Water, yet the Holy Ghoft was to comedown as a Comforter. A11d in that dt1JI (faithhe) yt jba/1 knowyout immediate Union with me, that I am in ;-ou, mtdyotl in me. The Third thing concerning this [eating in the Text, is the Perfon in whom we are fealed. There is firft the work of jtali11g, that bath been opened. Se– condly, There is the order of it, it is after 6elievi11g. Then Thirdly, the Perfon in whom, orthe virrualcaufe in whom we are fealed. It is in Chrift; !11 whom; after ) 't 6elieved,ye wereJealed. · . · The words tranllated here, I11 whom, lvt; they are exceeding ambiguous in their reference, as in the Greek they are. They may refer unto the Gofpel,fpoken off juft before, and fo Pt(c,,tor would have it; that is, by which GofPelye be– lieved, that lv o/ is put Ior J'i ;, Or Secondly,they may refer to C!Jrifi, I11 whom, as our Tranllation readeth it; and fo they have a double reference: Either that the meaning is, I11 whom, after ye believed, and fo it referretl1 to Faith, to be– lieving in Chrift. Or Secondly, they may refer to fealing, I11 whom, after; ·t believed,;•ewereJealed, fealed in him after believing. My Brethren, Thcte is not a Verfe but there are fuch Ambiguities as thefe are; fo comprehcnfive and vaft a writer in his [cope and aim, is the Holy Ghoft, yet /till aiming at fomething peculiar. There is no Book written fo am• biguoully, in that comprehenlive way, as the Scripture, If you ask now, to which I refer I11 whom? Plainly I fay, unto Sealil;g · and my reafon is this, For he mentioneth jeali11g here as a new benefit diftind from Faith. And as he had faid of all other benefits, that they were in Chrift; we are Elffledi11 Chrifl, Adoptedthrough ht1n,Redermtdthrmtgh 'him, I11 whom God a6otmded in grace to tts; ftill mark it, to every benefit, /11 Chrifl, is added. Now fpeoking of a new benefit of fealing, this phrafe, l1z whom, referreth to {eali11g; fo that this is the meaning of it, ·that the work of jrali11g is performed io Clmjl. Now,.
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