to the E P H E.S I AN S. this Klnd':efs, and of all this Grace, h~w wo~derfullywill ibis affect our Souls ! S~ And to tl\is purpofe, to comfort and ratfe thetr Hearts, doth the Apoflle )lere ~ britlg in this, In his J,indncji ttra>ards 111. And in that they are Examples to all Believen; that follow ; for the [ '" J here, is not the Epheftans alone, but all the Saints and Eletl: ; even as when he !hewed that we were dead in Sins and Trefpajfes, he fpeaks in the Perfon of the Ephe(ians, but he would have all Mankind to apply it to themfelves. . So that indee4 they need not be Examples in t~is, blit it being the common condtuon of all Behevers, tt tscarrted fully enough m them. And the meaning in a word is this, that God will not only !hew forth Riches of Glory in Heaven indefinitely, but he bath chofen out you; you, out ofa fpecial Kindnefs which he bath born towards you, out of which he will glorify you ; and you are the VefTels of that Mercy,. upon which he will !hew forth·the Riches of his Grace. Therefore now he brmgs m [ tiJWards 111 J agam, tho, he had -.memioued it before to affetl: their Hearts the more. · But why is this word [in Chrifl Jefos J added, which he had ufed fo often before, again and again ? Not only becaufe he would have us never 10 leave Jefus Chrift out. I do not know who can fet up without Chrift, or continue without Chrift, for I am fi~re the Apoftle never leaves him out, no, not in Eletl:ion and Adoption, nor in any thing, fo not now, when becomes to Heaven; but !till whatloever he fpeaksof, Chrift cometh in. But I fay, this is not all, his meaning is this likewife, that all the Glory that the Saints !hall have from the exceeding Riches of his Grace in Heaven, it !hall all be in Chrift. He had told them, chap. 1. v. 3, 4· That God had bi•Jfod them with aU heavenly Blejfings in Chrifl. l~ as heaven!y; and all fuch that then we have upon Earth, we have them all in Chrift; much more then, the rtiote heavenly, they are more in Chrift. Indeed out of Chrift God could not love any Creature, not would love any Creature, ll!uch lefs would fuffer any Creature to be fo near him, but that be bath bleffed them, and will continue kind to them in Chrift. But then in the 2d place, it comes in to a greater, I mean, to a more emphatical purpofe, (for a greater cannot be than this mentioned,) and that is, to !hew that all that God will beftow upon us in Heaven, it !hall be out of the fame Kindnefs which he beareth to Jefus Chrift himfel£ He will ufe you kindly when you come thither. Do but think how kindly.he ufed his Son, how welcom he made him when he came to Heaven, when he faid, Sit thmt here, tiUI makg thine Enemies ti')' Fo•tftool: Why, the fame Kindnefs he bears to Chrift, he bears to us, and out of that Kindnefs he bears to Chrift he will entertain us there for evermore, and hear– tily and freely fpend his utmoft Riches upon us; for he will glorify the Head and Members with the fame Glory. Therefore the Apoftle !hewed in the firfl: Chapter, that he let up Jefus Chrift as the Head, and that the fame Power that wrought in him, and railed him up, and fet him in Heaven, works in us, and !hall accomplifh it in us. Here he !hews that it is the fame Kindnefs; the fame Kindnefs wherewith he embraced Jefus Chrill: as the Head, he embraceth the whole Body alfo, and out of that Kindnefs will entertain them everlaftingly, as he bath done Jefus Chrift. As we and Chri~ make but one Body, fo God's Love to Chrill: and us is but one Love: There ts one Father, one Spirit, and one Love, and indeed one Chrift; for both Body and Head make one Chrift. I need not ftand upon this, you have it in John 17. 23. Tho11 h'!ft loved them, as thllU h'!ft lovedme; and, v. 22. The Glory w/iich thou gavefl me, I have given them. And what s.an be faid more to !hew us what great Glory that in Heaven will be, whenas Jefus Cl)rift is not only a Pattern and Example of it, but when it proceeds out of the fame Kindne!S, that God's Heart is let upon towards Jefus Chrift himfelf? And thus, my Brethren, I have opened to you this Text, and indeed every word in it, and that to two Sences, of as great moment as can · be found in any place ; fo great, and fo comprehenfive, that they are well worthy to be the con– clufion of fo glorious a Difcourfe as the Apoftle had proCecuted, (even himCelf out of breath) ifwe may fo fpeak, from the 18th _Yerfe of the firft Chapter, · unril
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