to the EPHESIANS. add thjs, to make up this compleat, Having mentioned free Grace as the Fountain ~"{"' of all, when he had thus humbled them, layed them m the dul1, he then ~ brings upon them the weight ofall the Benefits m the former Chapter : You that were thus dead i" Sins and Trejpajfi:s, you were chofe1Z .m Chrifl befora the World wa< 11nto Adoption, &c. And Mans Mifery here by Nature comes in to illul1rate all 'thofe Benefits too. ElcCiion to Holinefl, verf. 4· 'Predejlination to Adoptio"' and Glo>)', v. 5· The Fountain ofall thefe is faid to be the Glory ofhis Grace, v. 6. Then Rcdcntption and Forgivencp, v. 7. Then EjfiC111al CaUing, v. 8. The 'Power of it, v. 19. Then Heaven, and Glory, v. II. The Riches of which he fpeaks of, v. 18. The Earnejl of that He•vm, the.Spirit,_ v. 13· And then, !all: of all, Cbrifl the Head. And for whom, fatth he, Is all thts? For you that were dead in Sins and Trejpojfes, and who before walk.!d according to the COitrfe of this World according to the 'Prince.of the 'Power of the Air. And thus, I fay, men· tioning the free Grace of God, he brings upon them the weight of all the Benefits in the former Chapter, to break their HeartS in pieces. And this is the wonder· ful Artifice of the Holy·Ghol1 in the Apoflle, in the Order and Station of thefe Words, which are the Centcr both of all before, and of all that follow after; for having defcribed all thefe Benefits, fee how thefe words do b-y a contrary Pa· rallel anfwer to them too. He told them firl1, that they had a being in Chril1, (for fo when I opened the words in tlie 4th Verfe, I !hewed, tha~ was the mean• ing of it.) We were in Chri11, had a being in him: In him ;e are, faith the Apoi1Ie, I Cor. 4And their Being was to Holinefs, they were ordained to it, when firll: they were ordained to being. But now on the contrary, faith he, your very Being is a Death in Sin, it is the Ejfe, it is the Con11itution of it. However, Spiritual Death is that Being which a Man bath, being fallen. Again, anfiverable to Adoption ofChildren, which you are predel1inated unto, faith he in thefe words, You were before Chil.lren of Difobedience. In ll:ead of ha· ving an Inheritance in Glory, faith he, you were Children of Wrath, and that by Nature, and that was all your Portion. And inl1ead of having" the Holy Spirit, the Earnell: of that Inheritance, you had a Spirit that wrought effeCtually in you, the Earne11 of Hell, the Devil himfelf, and his wicked Angels. This was your Condition before, and thus it an!\vereth the Benefits before. _And you were fo faft !hut up in this condition, tllat no Power in Heaven atltl Earth, but only that of God·s, and of Chn!l:"s, could deliver you. You were internally dead, and how could dead M'en rife? externally environed with the Power of the World, of Hell, and of your own Lulls. This, my Brethren, is the Coherence of thefe Words, wliich I thought meet in the entrance of this Exercife t'o be more large in, efpecially bccaufe of fo ar· tificial an Elegancy, which certainly the Holy-Ghofl: aimeth at here. Xnd fo I lhalJ.come'to the particulal" Application of them. The Mifery of Man by Nature, ( as I !aid) is the Sum of thefe three firll: Verfes; and it is his-natural Condition that is here·!aid open, as the Clofure of all !hews: A,nd.were by Nature the Children of Wrath, even 11< others. And fo i> all this intended to !hew what we are by Nature, and whil!l: we are in that natu· ral Con~ition. It is fet out to us: Firl1, in refpel.l: of Sins; they, you know; are mentioned, Sins and TreJPaifes. Secondly, Punilhrrient'; that is mentioned in th~ Term here cxprefly, and both included irt the Wbtd, Dead id Sins. For tho he mentioneth the Courfe of the World; and the 'Prince' of the ''Power of the .Air, and the like ; yet being dead-i11 Sins, is the' eniinent thing, the depth of our Mifery: therefore in the Reddition, verf. 5· he only mehtioneth that again, Even when we were dead in Sins, bath h'e quick._n(d- m : The Mercy lay in that refpel.l:. You may divide the Words in particular thus: I. Here is their internal, habitual Eftate and,Condition; or the elfe!ltial Confti. tutton th\:feof,. as I may fo call it : they are dead in Sins and Trejpajfes. You know, that Death and Life are two feveral ftates and conditions of Mankind; when a Man is·dead, he is put eternally into another 11ate and conditton,than he was in whi1111iving. I!. Here
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