6 An Expofition of the €pijlle ---:------- ~ of both, thanve may fee the difference ofthis Change, in this refpef!· Firft, He \../"'\.~ defcnbeth Chnfr as a Head, that had PrmCTpa!tty '"'d Power u?der htm, whereby ts meant, the Angels good and bad: But before you were mChnil:, whilil: in your natural Condition, whom were you under then? faith he : Under Satan inil:ead of Chrifr : for tho the Devil was not a Head to you, (he cloth not indeed call him fo,becaufe that is too natural a relation to be given to him) that is proper to Chriil:; yet he was &p~<·, a Prince to you; and, faith he, he is the Priltee of the Power ( he ufeth the f.1me word as he did of Chriil:, Chrifr was over Prin– cipality and Power,) of the Air. And what means he by Prince of the Power ofthe Air ? That great Devil, that Prince, that bath all Devils under him ; all which Devils he calleth Power, in the Singular Number, becaufe they all do fervice unto him ; and ,as.they went.out as one Man, fo they go on with one Power : They are called, EpbeJ 6. PrmCTpalrl1es and Powers. Andfe:ondly; If.You look up to htm, that ts, Jefus Chnfr, your Head, above all 'PtmCTpalrty and Power; he i·s Jet in Heavenly llaces alfo ; fa fatth Verf. 20; of Chap. 1. But where is the Seat of the Devil's Power, that was your Prince ~efore ? _It is but in the Air, (it is brought in on purpofe ( tt ts no-wherealmofr m the Scnpture brought inbut here) to make up the Parallel, by way of contrary Illufrration.) He that is your f!ead now, faith he, he is one that fits in heavenly Places, whither you your !elves fball come, for he fits there in your fl:ead ; here is your Advancement now : But the Devil, . his Power is in the Air, and foi~nearer to\mrt you; and yet but in this Air, the lower Heaven, and therefore all the Happinefs you could have had under him, was but in things aerial, in things worldly, no higher ; and when you had enjoyed a while this his Dominion, this Air to breath in, then you muft have gone to the Fire with this Devil, and his Angels. This was your Condition by Nature. How great a change is there in this refpect ! Thirdly ; Jefus Chrift being your Head, you are his Body now, and fo he cloth fill you. So verf. 23. The Church, which is his Body, the Fulnep of him that jilleth all;,. all. . And as Je– fus Chrifr is ordamed thus to fill you with all Grace and Glory, m thts-efl:ate; fo then, when you were in your unregenerate condition, the Devil filled you ; for he is the Spirit, that work,fth e.fftt1ually ;, the Childrm of Difobedimce; (the Phrafe comes in likewife on purpofe,) he fill"d their Hearts, as Chrifr cloth the other. Why hath Satan jilled thine Heart ? It was, you know, the expreffion ofPeter to Anania<, and it is all one with what is here faid, He wor/;J e.ffttlually ill them; for it is done by filling them with himfel£ And withal he infinuateth this: Did the Devil work effeilually in you then? then how effettaal and mighty was the working of our Lord and Saviour Chrift, when he raifed you up from this Death and Condition, and pluck'd you out of the Snare of Satan, that took you captive at his will. So much now for the fecond thing, that thefe words have an afpett to, as they refer to the 19th Verfe of the firft C/Japter. Then thefe Words, which lay forth our Unworthinefs, and our Vilenefs, come in alfo on purpofe to illufl:rate the Fountain of all the Mercy we receive, and that is the free Grace of God in Chriil:. He beginneth it with a [But] BHt God, who is rich ill Mercy. That ever God, faith he, fhould contrive fueh ways of Mercy, for Creatures fo vile, fo miferable ! And what infinite Mercy was it to pluck fuch Men out of that condition ! Yea, he is fo full of it, you fee, he had run out a large Difcourfe before without Interruption, and he was long be– fore he recovered himfelf; but when once hebegins to talk of the Grace ofGod, there he breaks off, fentence after Sentence, to bring that in abruptly. After he had long difcourfed of the Grace of God 'in Chrift, in the I 9th Ve&, and of Mans Mifery, here in thefe rft, 2d,& 3d Verfes; when he makes a reddition ofthe Grace of God towards us, he brings it in, BHt God, 2vho is·rich;, Mercy: Well, he fbould have gone on here, but he brings this in •bruptly, By Grace you are fi'ved. And then he goes <ln again: And hath raifed wup together, and made 111 Jit togethel' i~t heavwly Places in C";1ff. And then he comes m With the. Grace of Cod a!!ain, and again, a fourth ume. So that the great Scope of laymg open the mtfcrab\e condition ofMan by Nature, It was to fet off the nch Mercy, the Grace, the Love of God, in our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrifl:. And let me . add
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