to the E P H E S I AN S. and he is the great Qllickner, and the Foundation of all Life. Rom. 8. when he ~ had defcribed the fpiritually-m_ind~~ Man, and faid that he w~s L!fe, TheJPiritual ~ Mind i1 Life; whence doth thiS fptr.ttual Mancome to hav~ thts Ltfe? Verj 9,ro. faith he, Ye are not zn the Flejb, but m the Spmt, ifthe Spzrrt of God dwell m you : And if any Mall httVe not the Spirit ofChriff, he i< none of hi< : And if the Spirit of Chrift dwell in _Jotl, he that ratfe~ Chrift from the dead, fba/1 ~lfo raife your 11:ortal Bu- · diu, by hi< Spmt that dwe/leth m yo11.. What wt!L be the Ltfe of our Bodtes at the lafr Day ? The Holy-Ghofr; not only our own Souls, but the Holy-Ghofr fhall po!fels us more than ou~ ~wnSouls; he that fhall_~ the L~fe of o_ur Bodies then, he is the Root of our fptrttual Ltfe now. The fptrttual Mmd ts Ltfe, becaufe the Spirit dwelleth in you. Let me add this, All ailings of the Holy-Ghofr, the fiirrings of the Alfell:ions, the enlightning of the Mind, fpiritually to know God, and Chrifi, and a Man;s felf, all growings up, all are quicknings; in all the Otdinances, all the Life you receive not only at the firfr, all are quicknings with Chrifr: You come to Ser• mons, and your Hearts are quickned, fpiritual Alfetl:ions are frirred, and you mortify the Deeds of the Flefh, and aim at God, all this is quickning, it is being quickned with Jefus Chrifr ; all the fpiritual Life that you have, and is encreafed in you, it is called, the Light of Life, John 8. All your walking in the Spirit, and your acting that proceeds from the Spirit, in Gal. 3· If ye live in the Spirit, walk_ in t!JC Spirit ; all thofe Walkings come from the habitual indwelling of the Holy-Ghofr. So much for the opening of that Life, We are tptichped. The next thing I am to fhew to you, is this, which I will make an end of: We are quick_ned Together with Chrift. •· There are fome Interpreters, that would extenuate and enervate that which is our infinite great Comfort; for they tefer the word [Together, J that is, we Jews and Gentiles, whereas in truth the fcope ofthe Holy-Ghofr is, We are quick_ned to– gether with Chrift : In all our quickning he quickens us together with Chrill:; fo our Tranllation rightly reads it. ' Belides, it is all reafon, that Chrifr being made our Head, chap. I. God bath quickned him, and raifcd him firfr; and fo us ; and that he faith after, We areJet in hettVenly PlaceJ with Chrift, and are now in Chriff. Belides thofe Argu– ments, this makes it clear and plain, in the Co/offianJ ; thefe two Epifrles are as two Evangelifrs, the one explains the other: Col. 2. 13. he faith, He hathquick_– ned UJ together with him; namely, with our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrifr; not only as Jews and Gentiles are quickned, but we are quickned with Chrifr. Thi~ being laid for the fcope of the Words, l will in a word open, how we are faid to be quickned with him. You mufr know, Brethren, God the Father, \vho is the great Qllickner; he is the Author, the great Fountain of Life ; and Jefus Chrifr, as God-Man, bath Life given from the Father to him, that he might raife us. You have tWo places, 'John 5· 24, 25. At the 26th Verfe, As the Father hatb Life in himftlf, fo he hath given to the Son to have Life in himfelf. The Father bath Life in himfelf, he is the Original of Life only; tho the Son have Life in himfelf, yet he hath not this Life of himfelf, but from the Father, the Father is the fountain of Life. And in John 6. 57· AI the living Father bath fent me, and ]live by the Fatber: So, faith he, he that eats my Flefb, fba/1/ive by lite. . So that now it is plain, that God having infinite Happinefs and Life ; for what Is the Ltfe of God, but his own Holinefs and Happinefs, and the Entirenefs of his own Nature, for his own Ble!fcdnefs, for his own Pleafure ? God bath ordain– ed, and laid up eternal Life in his Decree ; but Jefus ChrUl: is to be eternal Life, ~ A a 2 tl!
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=