~ Ser.XXI. ~ An Expofition of the Epifile SERMON XXI. E PH E S. I. 18. -And what the riches of the glory of his Inheritance i1z the Saints. AS I told you, this is one of the Apofile's Prayers, as he hath many other fcauered up and down in his Epifiles. In this Prayer of his you have thefe two parts: · firll," the Perfon ihat he prayeth to, The God of ottr Lord Jt[us Chrifl, th~ Father of Glory. He doth _let him forth under fuch con• fiderations as were fmtable unto the matter of hts Prayer, as I fhall fhew you in the clofure of this Sermon. Then, Secondly, you have the matter of his Prayer, which is ;for Kt~owledge. '· Intimato knowledge of God, intimate >€ornmunion with him, (as I have opened to you ;) That he may give .JOU the Spirit of wi{dom· a11d revelatio11, i11 the /wow/edge (or acknowledgmmt) of him. ~. He prayeth God to g1ve themEyes etJlJgbttud, Eyes of t!Nw tmdtr• jlanditJg. That which is tranflated the Eyes of your underjla11ding IJei11gen. lighttutl; if you will read it according to the Original, (as many Interpreters go) it referretf1 to the word Give, That he wotdd give you eyes Of your und<r· fi<mding etJ!tghtnd, enlightned to /wow what is tht hope of h"i< Cafii11~; that is "the fecondpart of his Prayer. And then Thirdly, What the ricbes of theglory of his Jnherita11a -;, the Saints, is. And Fourthly, What id the exceeding great11e{s of hi& power to tu-ward who /;e/ieve. I am yctin the 18thVerfe. It bath two parts: It hath firll a defcription of Spiritual knowledge. It is a givi11g of m!ightned ryts of the mrderflandiHg, that JOU may /mow ; \\ hich I handled the lall time, There arc Secondly -two feveral Objects, which thefe Eyes of the Underllaoding being enlightneddo ferve to know; The firll is,IWhat i> the hope of his Cafiittg. The fecond is,What i< theriches of the glory of hi(lnberitanr"l ilt"the Saints. · I opened to you tl]e lafi time, what was meant by the knowing of the hope <f his Callit~g. I told you, that by Hope (as I underUood it) was meant, not the thing hoped for,(for that is exprefi afterward;) but the grace of Hope, the grace of Affur"ance, ~nd the grounds of that Affurance, the grounds ol Hope. Hope is taken for the grace of Hope, and it is taken likewife for the grounds of Hope, as well as for•thethin~ hoped for. It is taken forthe grounds of Hope; I gave you one Scripture for it. I wilbrdd buf this, In your ordinary expreifJ- ' <ln, in our Englrfb Dialed,' when y,ou come an·d ask a Phylician concerning a– . dying Friend, or one thaf is fick, you will fay, What hopeis there? that is, what grounds of hope? There is hope i11 Ifrael concer11ing tbis thi11g, that is, there IS grounds of hope. Now then,'lhe ApoUic's meaning is plainly this, He prayeth they may know both what A{furance and Hope God calleth them to have, lfh,zl is 1he hope of his Calli11g, what·bis will, and mind, and command is, you lhould have; he commandcth that r<m fho~ld be alfured, be men full of hope, and of great hcpc; (for by.Callmg IS fomeume.w Scnpture meant his Commmrd, as I · have fhewed you.) Or elfe in the fecond place, and together with ir, (for it is both meant,) he prayetl1 that they may know all the grounds that may give them hope by virtue of God's Calling, for to God's Calling there are a world of grounds of hope annex•d. There is no man that is cJlled of God, but hath all forts of grounds to be affured of his falvation, and that by virtue of his Calling. Now then, this is the fir(!: thing the Apo!lle prayetl1 for, that they may ""'h their Catlmg fu.·e, that is the meaning,to know w b,zt is the hope oj thrir Calli11g, what
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