to the E P H E S I A N S. And fir(\ to fpeak a l;ttle to that of bargaining, It is true, my Brethren, that~ H ven is a free gift and there is RO buywg and felling betweeh us and God Ser.XVLI. ab~~t itin·a prop~r fenfe. Yet let me tdl you of this firll,that J~fus Chrill bought~ it, it is his pttrchafedpoffi./ftM tor us. Now as we tinned, Jelus Chnll p<!Id the debt, and he purchafcd the pofldlion, and we have the Earne(\ of the bar' ga~~d it was ex~eeding proper it fhould be fo; why? Becaufe we are Chrifl's, we are one wirh him. It is my purc!J~fed polfellion, farth Chnfl, gtv~ them the . EmJej/ of it, for whom I purchafed It, and .It Is all one as If you gwe It -me. So now though in a contrary way to bargawmg, (for there the Buyer uferh to <>ive th~ Earnell of the M<1oy, not the Seller of the commodity; but here God dorh accept of Chrifl's Mony, and giveth us an Earnell, part of the Comma" dity in hand;) yet, if you wi!l take it in refpect of bargaining, It is an E~rnefl: between us and God; the Scnpture IS not abhorrent from that '\1etaphor. You fl 13 11 find in M.ztt. I1·44,41· The kmgdom of HeaveJZ (f01th Chnll) u !Jke to a Trra{im hid in the (ieJd, which a Mercha11t mrw efpieth, feUeth:zll thatbe bath mzd btl)•eth thef e!d: It IS nor a proper buymg Indeed, but Jt IS a buymg what in him heth, it is aparting with all hehath; God can have no more, He giverh up all his lufrs,. all the inr~refr he hath inthis world, and all the comforts of it, he giveth up IJ1m!elf; It IS a buy10g wzthout Mony, as the phrafe IS, ]{;J. 1 '•,. Now then, when we have g1ven up our fdves thus to God ; fold our [elves to him to work righteorzfi~eff, as Aha6 fold himfelf to work wicked11efi: Then cloth God come, there is an Earttefl for you (faith he;) . he giveth lis an< Earncfr of rhe commod;ty which we give up our felvesfor. That is the firfl: ufe of it, it is in refpect of bargaining; how it is in refpect of Inheritances,- I fl1all fhew afterward. . Obferve now how properly and pertinently the Holy Ghofl: foUoweth thefe two Similitudes or Metaphors of Sealing and Eamefl, he placeth his words mofr fitly. When he (peaks of Heaven as a thing promifed, then he menrion– dth the Seal of the Spirit; Te werefoaled, (faith he) with the Spirit of Pro– mife. When he fpeaks of Heaven asa thing to be polfefl: and enjoyed, he ufeth the Metaphor of an Earne[f, or part in hand, that doth give a kind of polfellion before hand. So much now for opening the phrafe, and the correfpondency that one phrafe bath to another, which giveth much light to the whole. TheSecondthing,(as I told you) to be done is this; to fhewhow the Holy Ghofr is an Earnell. The great quefrion I had with my felf a long while was this, Whether the Holy Ghofl is faid there to be an Eame[f only in refp>'ct of working alfurance of falvation in the hearts of men; fo as the meaning lhould be, that whereas before the Apofrle had exprell the work of Alfurance by{ealing,now he cloth do it by a new Metaphor of being an Earne[f, importing only the fame thing: fo as thls Similitude fhould be Iimitted to the fame thing only that fealhzg is, namely to working Alfurance. But when I had fully contidered it, the upfhot of my thoughts is this; It is true indeed, he ment~oneth this of th~ Spirit being anEarndf in a fpecial manner, m refpect of aifur10g us of SalvatiOn; for the fcope of an Earnefl is to aifure as well as-a Seal: yet fo, as it is not to be limitted only to the work of Alfurance, though he hath that efpecially in his eye ; bur it is fpoken in a large and more general fenfe, (as \~hen I fhewed the fcope of the words I mentio– ned) he fpeaks of the Spltlt 10 refpeCI: of all he is to us, and all the work in us. Io a word, He is not only an Earnefl in refeect of W?rking an Alfurance in our hearts, (though fo and more particularly;) but ,he Is an Earnefl: in his Perfon given unto us, in his Graces wrought in us. An Earnefl takes in all thefe. It is a general Propofition, b_rought in indeed upon'an occation of the mention of the Holy Ghof\ as a Sealer 10 the words before; and it doth fecond that phrafe , and dorh more l'e~uliarly ~uit and comply with it, (for an Earnefl: is ordained to a(fur.,) yet It" taken m a larger fenfe. Therefore, now I am to do two things in opening how the Holy Gholl is an Eamejl. I am
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=