Part II (continued, part 3)
life ; Christ doth not so dwell here in our hearts, neither are we so rooted
in love against all doubts and diffidences of the love of God towards us. And this that is the last, to be filled with all the fulness of God; there is
a forerunner of what is in heaven in the hearts of believers here.
Fourthly, Observe that they are the highest things attainable by Chris
tians. Paul prays here according to the utmost latitude he would have
( hristains attain untOj when he prays here that they may comprehend with
KM [Ki ii. 1 1 1. i
all saints the height. A.V. His inraninis not that all saints did attain it, but he prays that they may attain it; to enjoy all the fulness of C.id tin
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. It is the highest thing in heaven, ^ln i *
shall be all in all; it is a thing beyond the love of God and ti;
Christ, it comes after all; it is the highest thing he prays for, yet attaii And because it is the highest he could ask, therefore it is he conclud
* Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above
prayer thus:
all that we are able to ask or think, according to the power/ &c. Tip
meaning I take to be this. He here asks such high things for you, as are
beyond the thoughts, the ordinary thoughts of Christians; he doth not in tend to ask heaven now, but to ask what is in this world to be given, and
they are so great things as you need go to a God that is able to do above what you are able to ask or think, in the abundancy of his grace; above all
you are able to think by what experiences you yet have had and ordinarily have attained unto. It is as if he had said, There are things attainable com
prehended in what I have prayed for beyond what you think, and beyond what I have asked, and yet they are attainable.
Fifthly, They are attainable by all saints, though not attained. There
fore he prays that they may comprehend with all saints ; not that they do, but that they may
: and therefore they are attainable.
The use of these animadversions or observations.
First, It is matter of comfort. Most saints will say, I have not the
experience of these things in that height he speaks of. But thou mayest be a saint notwithstanding.
Secondly, Another is a nse of provocation, that we would set ourselves
to seek God for these things. In respect of spiritual attainments that we never thought of, we content ourselves, and think it a great matter to be in a state of grace, and to have an interest in Christ ; but be not so content, but ask for things that are above what you are able to ask or think : so doth the Apostle here. I have done with the general. I come to the second petition, ver. 1 7, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. This I would open as my present task and work ; I shall do it by degrees ; attend from one step to another. There may be these questions made upon it :
Quest. 1. Why doth (he mentions the three persons, as you heard) why doth he not say, That the Spirit may dwell in you by faith ? that God the Father may dwell in you by faith ? He ascribes that as more proper to the
Spirit, that he strengthens them in the inner man ; but when he comes to
Christ s part, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith : why are
iaith and Christ thus coupled ?
The answer is easy. It is because Christ is appointed between us and
the Father as the means by whom and through whom he conveys all to u>. and that through faith. Horn. iii. 25,
* Whom God hath set forth to
propitiation through faith in his blood, <kc. He hath set him forth, and
there he is for you to exercise your faith upon. As he hath ordained Jesus
Christ to be the great medium or means betwixt us and himself, so he hath
ordained faith as the principal instrument in us to treat with ( hrist. Look
in Acts xr. 21: Testifying repentance toward God, and iaith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. You see that conversion, or turnin t is
attributed to God, to him as the object of it, especially ; but Iaith is poi to Jesus Christ Repentance toward
< iaith toward our Lord
Christ
EPH. III. 16-21.] THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS.
I will not enlarge farther upon this than thus. Brethren, when the soul
turns to God, the orderly method is that it should go to Jesus Christ, im
mediately and first to him, and through him to God, and in him to God, for
pardon, and all else. John xiv. 6, No man comes to the Father, but by me , they are places well enough known to you, therefore in John vi 45,
* They shall be all taught of God to come to me, says our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. The Father, when he means to save a soul, directs that soul
to his Son ; the soul comes humbly before God the Father, and God the
Father says, Go to my Son ; he secretly teacheth the soul. No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him. It is
written in the prophets, They shall be all taught of God. Every one there
fore that hath heard, and learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
Brethren, it is certain that of all things else, we in our own natural dis
positions are most remote in going to Christ. We go to the Father, and to
God; that all nations do by a natural instinct; they have in their hearts some
knowledge of a God, and will run to their own performances, and they will
turn to God, and leave their sins, and set up duties that God requires, which
they have omitted, but still they will not go to Christ till the Father put an
instinct into them. Why did the beasts go into the ark? God put an
instinct into them, that they should go by couples ; so God puts an instinct
into the soul to go to Christ : and hence, he that hath heard and learned of
the Father, comes to me, says he. And therefore faith and Christ are
coupled, as you see, and yoked in this place. And when the soul hath come
to Christ, by observing and seeing, as Joseph s brethren did the countenance
of Joseph, what his countenance is, what his entertainment is, how he looks
* the glory of God, in the face of
upon them : 2 Cor. iv. 7, therein we see
Jesus Christ.
That is the answer to the first question, Why faith and Christ are thus
coupled together in a more immediate conjunction, that when he would pray, that he say, that Christ may dwell in the heart by faith V Another question is, How Christ is said to dwell by faith, and how the
Holy Ghost is said to dwell 1
But a second thing I would speak to, is this : What is this same dwelling
in Christ by faith, and the extent of it 1
Truly, brethren, I shall answer it at last more fully. In the meantime,
it is not justifying faith only ; when we hear of Christ and faith, presently we think it is putting forth an act of justifying faith. No, brethren, it is
not so here, Christ doth not dwell in us only, nor most properly, by faith
justifying. It is called justifying faith because it justifies ; but this is a
dwelling, Christ dwelling. Christ justifying us is but one act, or one benefit
which he bestows ; but here is a dwelling, and this extends further. The
Apostle supposeth the soul justified, but that he may dwell. John xv. 3, 4, Now are ye clean through the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in
me, and I in you. Abiding here in John, and Christ dwelling in Paul, are
all one. Says he, You are clean ; that is, You are now, through my grace and Spirit put upon you, purified by faith, you are regenerated, and it hath
been wrought much by my word that I have spoken to you. What remains?
All the rest of your lives to dwell in me, and I to dwell in you. Abide in
me, and I in you. Now that you are thus made clean, that is the next
thing you are called upon to do
My brethren, you must know there is a twofold union with Christ, and
Christ with us :
1. A relative union; that is, whereby he takes upon him the relation of
BHH B KM [Ki H. 111. 1
being a husband, and to !>.> oofl with us all sorts of ways, Y.hu-h tinrelations of unity do express. And this union is fully and completely d-.mi first we are turned to God, and when Christ first takes us. ; shall In-. Your relation doth not increase, it hath not degrees; your union with Christ, that he is one with you, and you with him, in respect of tinrelation to him, is complete. As in marriage, you know that persons, bcf. in come to communion one with the other, are as much man and wife as they shall be, for the relation ; but then he takes her home to his own house, and dwells with her, forsakes father and mother and cleaves to his wife, and, as the apostle Peter says, they dwell together. Just so it is IUMV ; the relative union whereby Christ is one with us, and we with him, s man and wife, as all relations else that speak oneness, is full and complete at first. When you are in heaven, you are not more in Christ than when first turned.
. But after he hath taken you, there is both a substantial union and a cominnicatire union, which is expressed here by indwelling, whereby he com municates to you all those things which the relative union serves for. A man is married but once, but they do communicate one with the other all their lives, dwelling together, being helps one to the other, being one flesh, A-c. This gives some light to John xvii. 22, 23, The glory thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be perfect in one. Perfect in one ! not till they are in glory. So then the communication of holiness, and the communication of glory, are but still consummating that union which the
relation first brought in. So then, you may understand what it is for Christ to dwell in the heart. Take the first, it is for liini to communicate all good things that the Father hath appointed him to bestow upon us; but then, secondly, it imports that we receive them by faith, and by faith fetch them from him. This is the ground why it is called an indwelling, and what i.> meant by it. The next question will be, What faith is towards Christ, by which he dwells in us, as the apostle here prays?
Brethren, it is not faith justifying only ; I do not find that Christ is said to dwell in us by that, though it is part of it ; but it is that faith wherewith we any way deal with Christ, for anything whatsoever. Faith in Christ is not only faith justifying; faith hath to do with Christ for a multitude of things to be communicated to the soul besides justification. I use to say there are three things adequate one to the other. There is God the Father s grace bestowing, Jesus Christ s redemption meriting and bestowing, and there is faith in us to apprehend and apply all these. These three are adequate, that is to say, of like extent in the subordination of the one to the other. For example, all that was in God s heart to bestow, all grace, of what kind soever, that Jesus Christ was made the instrument of purchasing; there is not anything which God the Father means to bestow, but God the 6
is adequate to all God s purposes whatsoever. Then come we to ourselves. There is a little principle called faith, which goes out of itself both unto God and unto Christ; and mark what I say all that ev r Jesus (In
chased, and that Jesus Christ shall bestow on us, faith is th in.-tniineiitthat
.shall receive it, and go to Christ for it. Thenis not that thinin the
li-. vrt .,! <;.,d 1 hath piuvlia.-.-d
; thenis not that thing Christ hath purchased
. w, but faith i< tiiin>tr; iin-nt to appre-
. III. 1G-2L] TI1E EPISTLE TO TIIK EPHESIANS. 411
hcnd and apply it. Now justification is but one piece, but there are many
things, I know not how many things else, which Christ hath to bestow upon us besides justifying us; and we have a principle, namely, faith, in us, that
serves not only for justifying, but sanctifying, for strength, obedience, every
thing. Hence then it is not only faith justifying, but faith upon Christ all
sorts of ways ; faith answers to the whole of Christ, and it is not only faith
justifying, but faith in the whole extent of it, wherein we do receive, or may
receive, anything from Christ, and thereby he dwells.
The next question is, What is it to have Christ thus dwell in the heart by
faith?
Supposing faith taken in this large sense, I shall answer two ways
1. By the reality of the thing.
2. By the metaphor of dwelling.
First, By the reality of the thing. Take it as the Apostle prays for it, and he prays for the highest, it is to have a spiritual sight and knowledge of Christ, which makes him present to the soul, whole Christ, and especially
his person, and with him all that we know of him, or hear of him, as occasion
is to make use of it; which sight and knowledge doth withal let Christ down into the heart, and affects all there, takes possession of the heart, and
doth this in a constancy; this, as Paul prays for it, is the indwelling of
Christ by faith. I shall speak to every one of these.
First, It is to have Jesus Christ continually in one s eye, an habitual
sight of him. I call it so, because a man actually thinks not always of
Christ ; but as a man doth not look up to the sun continually, yet he sees
the light of it, so here faith, in John vi. 40, is called the seeing of Christ :
Every one that seeth the Son, and belicveth on him. And our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, speaking of himself, says, Psalm xvi., I Lave set the Lord always before me. So therein ye should carry along, and bear along
in your eye, the sight and knowledge of Christ, so as still there is at least a
presence of him accompanies you which faith makes.
Secondly, It is a spiritual sight of him, it is to know him as the truth is
in Jesus, really, that makes faith to differ from all the faith that is in the
world.
Thirdly, It is whole Christ to dwell, and the whole of him, to dwell in you by faith ; it is Christ in the text, not Christ as justifying or dying only, but
the whole of him ; for there is that in faith that is capable to take in the
whole of him, and for him to affect the heart accordingly. There is a parallel
* When it pleased God to reveal his Son to me. For Christ the Son to reveal himself to a man, it is for the whole of himself
scripture to this, Gal. i. 16,
to dwell in the heart by faith. It is not only revealing Christ to me, but it
is revealing Christ in me. Oh, it hath been a vain and wicked imagination, that every man hath a Christ within him, only it is not revealed, and the work of salvation is but revealing what is in the heart already
: whereas for
Christ to be revealed in us, is for Christ to be so revealed as to be in the
midst of us, and for Jesus Christ to dwell in the heart continually, receiving in abundance of him ; and to have the image and representation of all he is, and that I know by him, in my heart ; and it is whole Christ, not one piece of
Christ. Brethren, the whole of Christ, and not one piece of him only, all
his words, and all his speeches, is Christ dwelling in you by faith ; you receive all them, it is whole Christ.
Fourthly, It is all of Christ, all about him. You read of a great many
things of Christ, of his dying, rising, how he walked, what he is to his people in Ms relations, in his dealings. If faith hath Christ present with the soul,
EM or VARIOUS PORTION -
l H. HI. 1
>r |l-
and knows but any one thin- , more and more of Christ, thereby is Christ
said to dwell in the soul, by letting him into the soul and into the h and affecting the heart with him. Saith the Apostle, Gal. iv. 19, I am in
travail with you till Christ be formed in you. He speaks it of the point of
justification. Christ justifies by restoring their faith to that again, and
drawing their hearts to seek it in Christ : this is Christ formed in them, for
that thing to take my heart and possess my soul, is for Christ in and by that
particular tiling to dwell in me. John xv., If you abide in me, and my words abide in you/ *fcc, ; abiding is dwelling. Let him dwell and have a
power upon my soul, this is for Christ to abide ; every beam of Christ is
Christ dwelling himself, being present by faith to the soul.
Fifthly, When Christ, and all of Christ, every beam of him, is not only known, but takes and affects my heart. You see the heart is made the sub
ject of Christ s dwelling ; it is not to dwell in the notion, in your brains. You have no more of Christ dwelling than as your hearts are affected. This
is express, 2 Cor. iii. 18, We all, beholding with open face the glory of the
Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, by the Spirit of
the Lord. First, there is spiritual beholding ; he speaks of Christ : and of what of Christ ? Not only of his person, but of all that is to be known of
Christ. Adam s graces had not glory, but all of Christ hath. It is such a
beholding as, letting Christ and his glory into the soul, doth change it, turn
it, leave the impressions upon a man ; and this is done by the Spirit of the
Lord. By the Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Ghost is not meant ; for he said
* The Lord is that Spirit. Christ himself is, and he by his force and power, when he comes into the soul, doth change it, fill it,
in the words before,
quicken, strengthen it, and leaves impressions upon it. As the burning-
glass contracts all the beams of the sun to a point, but it is the beams of the sun that sets on fire the cloth, so it is the Spirit of the Lord that fires our
hearts. Thus to know Christ is to dwell in him.
Lastly, I said in a constancy ; that is it Paul prays for, the very word
dwelling imports so much. What ! by faith as sleepy, idle ? No, it is by faith as acting. What ! to possess him by fits ? No, to enjoy him, and to have the heart taken with him, for some constancy. The expressions for
dwelling in Scripture are plain. Abide in me, says he ; do not stir out
of doors from me, for I dwell in you ; do you abide in me, and I in you. Jesus Christ is ordained to be if we had faith enough to keep him in our
* We will come and make our abode with him, says he, John xiv. 23. By this you have
hearts a constant dweller by faith, and he dwells actually.
explained what it is for Christ to dwell in the heart by faith.
To give you some particulars
First, Take the person of Christ, to have a sight of his person, to have
that along in the preciousness of it, in the valuation of it. I have seen the
King of Glory, saith Isaiah, He speaks it of Christ. To have Christ dying, and Christ rising, and Christ ascending, and not only so, but Christ him
Brethren, the intercourse between this indweller and our souls is betv
persons, those that dwell in the same house, the familiarity is between per sons ; therefore our eyes are to him.
* To you he is precious, saith he; John
* I will manifest myself to him. That is one particular. This is attainable, nay, it is the strength of the import of Christ s dwrllii;-.
xiv.,
by faith, as you heard out of the 16th Psalm, I will a! tinLord
before me. This should so take the heart, \ . rail slmul-1 .1 have the impn
. . his meek]
. -i-.n, tiniiu.
: in nndmftMidiBg, discerning what
holin.-s. biLonL
EPH. III. 16-21.J THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 413
was the will of God, and what not ; he had the fear of God upon him, he was aiming and seeking the glory of God continually. These were the graces of his person. To have the impressions of these graces left upon the soul, this is for Christ to dwell in you by faith. You shall not need to be told
Christ was meek and lowly; no, this is more than a sermon concerning Christ.
Again, It is to know Christ in all his work of mediation, what he did :
that he was circumcised, that he was derided, crucified, died, rose again, ascended, sits in heaven ; faith taking all these things of Christ, if it be high,
raised, spiritual faith, such as Paul here prays for, it will leave the image of
all these acts upon your hearts.
Brethren, though we content ourselves with an inner man, which inner man is a conformity to the law of God and his grace, such as Adam had, and such as saints under the Old Testament had ; and that it is true, and
perfect, and good grace, I acknowledge ; and it is a piece of Christ, for Jesus Christ had the law written in his heart, hating sin, loving righteous
ness, as well as we, as Ps. xl. shews. But there comes upon the holiest
conformity to the law in us, which is the new creature, a new tincture. The substance was, the conformity to the law, the holiness that is agreeable to the law ; but faith comes and reveals Christ, and God by faith reveals his Son in us; and what then? Whereas I had hatred to sin before, I looking upon Christ crucified, I die to sin, upon the faith and consideration of it. Here hatred of sin is now dying with Christ after the similitude of his death. Here what Christ did by way of mediation for us leaves impressions and frames the heart accordingly. Faith should be so powerful that we should no sooner think of Christ s dying but lusts should die : in like manner, that Jesus Christ rose, that when I consider that Jesus Christ rose again for me,
Christ is risen alive, as the primitive Christians used to say, that there
fore the soul should be moved to live in newness of life, finding a virtue to come from the thoughts thereof. Here faith brings in by spiritual sight the
resurrection of Christ, leaves impressions suitable ; and the image of these
things are wrought in the soul, and become motives to a man to die to sin and rise to holiness.
O brethren, that all of Christ were but turned into our hearts, still as we know him, and think of him ; no sooner to think of his death, but to die withal to the world ; no sooner to think of his being crucified, but to find
lusts tortured and shrinking
: so no sooner to think of Christ circumcised, but to cast off the foreskin of yoift heart, which is self-love. So as not only a conformity to the law may appear in it, but that Christ should come over
again with a new image of his, in all things whereby we may be affected of him.
Further, if you grow up to assurance, for here he prays for such as are rooted and grounded in the love of God, let assurance of these things come
in, that Christ did all this for me ; and then let the soul deal with Christ about every particular of him, in their kind, as done for it. And, oh, how
powerfully will every particular affect the heart, with suitable reflections
answering thereunto ! The love of Christ shewn in every particular, will constrain us into affections correspondent thereunto. Such a faith, working by love, will work, directly and naturally, dispositions towards Christ in the
heart.
Now faith of assurance will be able to apply all that ever Christ hath
done, as done for itself. Such a one will run over all the Scriptures again and again ; and when there he finds Jesus Christ died for sinners, This is for
-1 U 08RI09 Of 7ABIOCT8 POB i . I. 1 1-lM.
me, siith he; God hid the iniquities of us all upon
( hri.-t, ami I :uu one of
the number; he bore my iniquities, find laid them all upon him. Ji
Christ is risen, this he did for me, that I should rise in newness of life In and in the meantime he is gone to heaven, and there he keeps a place for
ine. And this way of application I understand to take up much of Paul s.
* He revealed his Son in me; T know all he did was
sense in that Gal. i.,
for me. And this application of Christ you find in Gal. ii., I live, yet not
J, but Christ in me, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
And if you obtain this kind of application of Christ by way of assurance,
it will cause Christ to dwell in you, and yourselves to dwell upon Christ to
purpose. You shall not need to force your thoughts into the meditation of
him, but it will cause your thoughts to dwell upon Christ to purpose, that hath done thus and thus for you
: and that continually your whole life in
the flesh, as Paul there, will be your living by faith on the Son of God. Thus I have instanced in some particulars how far off are we Christians
in this age from what was in the hearts of those times, and was in this great saint s experience, who prayed for all saints after this rate, to the end of the
world.
Although we have not attained all this, yet let us seek after these things, to attain them. Let us not content ourselves that Christ is ours, as to our
>tate ; but let us seek that he may operativcly dwell in us thus by faith. This we should pray for, this we should contend after. It is in this life to be had, and that in some constancy, else he would never have prayed for it
thus. Do not content yourselves that Christ hath a relation to you, but
seek this completive communicative oneness, which is the filling up of that
relation.
Ern. V. 30-32.] THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 415
A SERMON OX EPHESIANS V. 30-32.
For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For thU
cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto
his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery : but
I speak concerning Christ and the church.
THE doctrine of the gospel liath been the subject which I have designed to
handle ; and, in the first place, to shew that it was God s intention that
the story of Adam which you read of in the beginning of his book, in the
volume of his book, as he saith, Heb. iii., in the beginning of Genesis-
should hold forth a shadow and type of the most fundamental truths of the
: so that, as it was said of old that the whole creation was but Dem
gospel
ejrplanatus, so we may truly say that the story of Adam is nothing else but
Christus explanatus, Christ explained.
First, I might shew that in Adam s creation, in the union of his soul to
his body, the dwelling of a reasonable soul in a body of clay, there was a
shadow of the dwelling of the divine nature in the human nature of Christ, out of 1 Cor. xv. 45, where the Apostle quotes the very words, when Adam
was made and created, to be a type or a forerunning prophecy of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is true, saith he, the first man Adam was made a living soul ; the last Adam/ typified out hereby,
* is a quickening
Spirit.
Secondly, Take the condition of Adam s soul as it had the image of God
in it, either for knowledge or else for holiness, it fell infinitely short of the
state of believers under the gospel, if their holiness were made complete as
his was. The image of God and the knowledge of God in Adam was natu
ral ; it was but in a natural way, suited to the nature of man as he is reason
able and as he is man ; it was merely but what was due to such a creature,
if God would make him such. But the knowledge of God, and the image of God that follows thereupon under* the gospel, is every way supernatural, so
as eye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard, as the Apostle speaks in 1 Cor. ii. 9 ;
nor, as it is quoted out of Isa. Ixiv., man from the beginning of the world,
no, not even Adam himself, hath known the things that thou hast pre
pared, under the gospel, for them that love thee. How it fell short, I
cannot now stand to declare.
Adam was made according to the image of God ; the image of God in him was but a shadow of that image of God which shines in Christ the
second Adam, and wluch he stampeth upon the hearts of believers, they
being translated and transformed into Ms image.
As Adam in his creation was a type of Christ and his church, so when God said, Gen. i. 26, Let us make man after our image, after ^our likeness, and he speaks this of male and female when he said it, he intended it of
Christ and his church, whom then he had in his eye, and had set up as the
pattern of all. So as indeed our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was the
urcat pattern which God had set up, and man made at first was but as a little
vs OF [Krn. V. :;0-32.
picture taken thereby. Then-fore you shall find, in HeK i., that as A. Inn was the image of God, so our Lord and Saviour Chi id to be th
press image of his person, ver. 3, and the brightness of hi^ -Im-y. So that look now how the image of a king in his son, or how the image of a man in a statue of brass, from head to foot, doth differ from his image in a little tablet which you carry upon your breast ; so doth the image of God in Christ differ from that image which he stamped upon the heart of man even in
innoccncy.
There was a threefold image of God in the person of Jesus Christ, which exceeded that image of God in the heart of Adam : There was, first, that essential image, as he is the second Person in the
Trinity, which is as invisible as God himself.
I? tit then, secondly, in Christ, as he is God-man, in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells, there is an image of God exceeds all the image of God in the angels, or in man at first ; and why doth it exceed it ? Do but you consider with your selves, if you were to draw the picture, the image of a man, is there not more in the face, in the head, than there is in all the body ? So there is more in our head, Christ, than there is in all saints and angels, than there is in the church itself, much more than was in Adam. If Jesus
Christ, as I then said, had but only been set up in heaven, for us to gaze upon his person, and upon all the excellences of God that do shine in him, there is yet such a brightness of glory shines therein as doth not in all the
creatures, nor could do, though God had made never so many. You shall sec what David saith, in Ps. xvii. 15, foretelling of his seeing Christ after the resurrection. As for me, saith he, I will behold thy face in righteous ness : I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thine image. His meaning is this I comfort myself that when I shall awake, that is, when I shall rise
again, for you know that death is compared to a sleep, and therefore he
expresseth rising again by being awakened, I shall be satisfied with thine image, that is, with thy Son Christ.
Thirdly, Besides the image of God which shines in the person of Christ, which we shall see in heaven when we awake, as David shall do, there is an image of God which shines in the works of Jesus Christ, which he did here below ; there is an image of all the attributes of God which breaks forth in the works of Christ s mediation, and in all his offices. As there is the glory of the sun, and the glory of the beams of the sun, so there is the glory that
is in the person of Christ, and the image of God that is there ; and there is the image of God that shines in his beams, in the works of mediation which he hath done, and the fruits and benefits of it, in the truths that have been told of him in the gospel. And as Jesus Christ is a middle person between God and us, so the story of his works of mediation put together presents us with a middle image of God, between that in his person, and what is in the creatures besides. So as indeed God did set him up as an image by which he made the little picture of Adam. Let us make man, saith he, accord
ing to our image ; and so Adam was but a shadow and type of what was in Christ. There is a new edition of all the attributes of God which ari out of the story of Christ. And though as God s person is more excellent than his works, so the image of God in Christ s person is m<>n ,-\( 11. nt than that image of God which shines in his works; yet ev-n in the works of Christ there is such an image of God as excels the im,i_
r ,f Cod in an
all the creatures besides. Go, take a holy man. thenis th. in
. and there is th.- imaL e of(;,,d in his works of n-liteous-
fche prineij.l.-s in his heart, and of God s law
Em. V. 30-32.] THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 417
written there. Therefore the new man, which is created after the image of God, is not only said to consist in an inward renewing of the Spirit, but in putting on works of holiness, and putting away lying and the like sins. For the image of God lies in works, as well as in a man s heart. Answerably now, there is the image of God shining in the works of Christ : and there fore when you read that Christ is called the wisdom of God, there is one
attribute, and the power of God, there is another, it is not spoken simply of
what is inherent in his person, but of what appeareth in his works, what appcarcth in what he hath done and the fruits of it ; and he is called the wisdom of God and the power of God in the abstract. Adam might be said to be wise, and he might be said to be holy, but he could not becalled the wisdom of God, nor could he be called the holiness of God, but so Jesus Christ is. And he is not so called either in respect of that essential image, that is, as he is second Person, or of that image of God which shines in his person as he is God-man, but of what shines in the works that he hath done ; as he is made unto us righteousness and sanctification and redemption, as it follows there in 1 Cor. i. 30. So he is called the wisdom of God and the power of God, &c.
So as now if you take the infinite wisdom of God, that ariseth out of the story of the life and death of Christ, out of his resurrection, ascension into heaven, <fcc., and the fruits and ends of all these, there is a higher wisdom of God appears even in these works of Christ, than appears in all the creation besides.
And so of the power of God too. It is not only that he, being God and man, hath power to do what he will, that is proper to his person, but go take the works that he hath done, that he hath overcome sin, and hell, and death, and the wrath of God, that he was manifested to be the Son of God with power in rising again, as Horn. i. 4 ; in this respect he is called the power of God. And so likewise, in the third place, as he hath ratified and made good all the truths of God, as all the promises of God are yea and amen in him, so he
may in that respect be called the truth of God.
And so also he may be called the justice of God, because God in him hath manifested such a righteousness as never else would have been mani fested. He hath not only manifested in his person that he is righteous, but in his works, in that he hath satisfied the wrath of his Father.
And so likewise he may be called the love of God ; for the highest mani festation of love that ever God shewed lies in what Christ hath clone for us, in that God gave his Son, and his Son gave himself. Herein lies the height, and depth, and length, and breadth of the love of God, which passeth knowledge, as the Apostle speaks, Eph. iii. 18, 19. And, lastly, to instance in no more, by the same reason that he is called the wisdom and the power of God, he may also be called the patience and the long-suffering of God ; for by reason of the blood of Christ, and by an overplus of it into the bargain, as it were, it is that he is patient with all wicked men, suffers them to live, lets the world stand to this day. Now go, take this image of God that thus shines in Jesus Christ, not in his person only, but in his works, which is yet a lower image than what is in his
person, and that is a lower thing too than what is in him as he is second Person ; and, I say, Adam was but a mere empty shadow in comparison of this substance which God had in his eye when he said, Let us make man according to our image.
Having thus shewn you that Adam in all these respects was but an empty image in comparison of the man to come ; having spoken somewhat of his VOL. ii. 2 D
: VARIOUS -OF [K
: (!ul in him, I williu.w
i W, and IT 1 at of the
to speak concerning his marriage: for all that 1 h;i\v nmv said is l>ut an
introduction to what the text which I ha\v ivad holds forth; it is but to
connect what I have formerly delivered with what I shall now do.
In these words, then, the Holy Ghost doth make Adam to be a type a:
shadow of Jesus Christ, in his marriage with Eve. As he was held t n !.
type in his creation at first, as he was held forth his type in that lu- \\
shadow of the image of God in him so take his marriage with Eve his -wife, and the Apostle tells us that therein he was also but a shadow. For this
cause, saith he, shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery
: but I
speak concerning Christ and the church. Where are these words ? Look
in Gen. ii. 23, and there you shall find them. Adam said, This is now
bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh. Therefore shall a man leave his
father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife : and they shall be one
flesh. The Apostle, you sec, takes the same expressions, and tells us this is
: there was in these words of Adam, saith he, a mystery held
a great mystery
forth, which I interpret of Christ and the church.
Now, then, for the making this good, will you consider what the Apostle exhorts to in the words before? He exhorts husbands to love their wives, and wives to be subject to their husbands, as Christ hath loved his church, and as the church is subject unto Christ; and to enforce this argument, he
brings this pattern. For, saith he, will you know what was the mystery of
marriage at the first, in the state of innocency ? The marriage of Adam and
his wife Eve was intended as a type and shadow of Christ and his church ; and from the example of Christ s love to the church he enforceth the duty of the love of the husband to the wife ; and from the example of the subjec tion of the church to Christ, enforceth the duty of subjection of wives to
their husbands. He boldly quoteth what is said in Gen. ii. of the marriage of Adam and Eve. There saith Adam, She is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh ; saith Paul here, "We are of his flesh, and of his bone. For this
cause, saith Adam, shall a man leave father and mother. For this cause,
saith the Apostle also, shall a man leave father and mother. And this is a
great mystery, saith he : but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
There are some that say that this is only spoken by way of allusion, as when it is said in 2 Cor. iv. 6, that God created light out of darkness, the
Apostle there in the new creation alludeth to the old. But, my brethren, it
is not only by way of allusion, but by way of type, and a prophecy intended
by God therein. And the reasons are clearly these :
1. Because the Apostle doth found his argument of the duties of husbands and wives upon it; now allusions may illustrate, but they do not afford
arguments to duty. Mark how the Apostle speaks
: Wives, saith he, ver.
* submit yourselves to your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
22,
l Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church; and
25,
why? Because, saith he, that in marriage, and marriage at the first, the
marriage of Christ and the church was intended as the great example. It was not therefore a bare similitude, but a pattern ; and unless tin man
of Christ had been intended as a pattern in the marriage of Adam, this had
been a weak argument
2. Therefore, in the close of all, be gives us an account why he had pro duced the example of Christ and his church ; and his a< -count is this. Be-
OHUe, aaith In-, this was tinmystery that was intended by it. even in the
of Adam. To that end consider how, first of all, he calls this inter-
EPH. V. 30-32.] THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 419
prctation of his of the story of Adam s marriage, applying it to Christ and his church, a mystery. Now what is a mystery ? A mystery is that which hath one thing signifying, and another thing signified; as in Rev. i. 20, The mystery of the seven stars, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches; and the seven candlesticks are the seven churches. Mark how he explaineth what a mystery is ; it is a thing signifying, and a thing signified. So when the Apostle here had quoted the words of Adam s marriage in Gen. ii., as you have heard, and said of it,
< This is a great mystery ; he adds,
< I speak concerning Christ and his church : which is all one with that John saith in the Kevelation, as if the Apostle should have said, The mystery of Adam s marriage is the marriage of Christ and the church ; that is, this is that which is intended by it, and which God had in his eye. A parable is called a mystery in the Scripture, as in Luke viii. 10. Why? Because it holds forth a similitude, and a thing signified thereby. So in Dan. ii. 28, Nebuchadnezzar s dream is called a mystery. There is a God in heaven, saith Daniel there, which revealeth mysteries ; so it is in the original ; because he dreamed one thing, and another thing was intended by it. So Adam s marriage is called a mystery. Why? Because the story of it is one thing, it is the story of the marriage of the first man and his wife ; but the secret, the thing intended by it, is another. I speak, saith he, concerning Christ and his church. And so now the meaning of the words which the Apostle useth is briefly this. I say, saith he, that is, I make this interpretation of it, and he was the first that did open the mystery of it ; I tell you a mystery, as elsewhere he saith, that which you have not known, I now hold forth to you. You read the story of Genesis merely of Adam and Eve, but there was a further mystery in it. This that I have said of leaving father and mother, of being bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, so you read the wife is of the hus? band, in Gen. ii. this, I say, saith he, belongeth /g X^CTOV, (so it is in the
original,) it is to be applied only to Christ. I speak it of him, and I apply it unto him, as the matter signified thereby. And then, if you mark it, in the last verse of this Eph. v., he saith, Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. His meaning is this : I would have you take the place literally notwithstanding, do not think this is all the meaning of it ; there still lies a literal duty upon you, though there is a mystical sense in the thing.
And so much now for the opening of the text itself. I shall now come to shew wherein this type lay, and compare Adam s marriage with the marriage of Jesus Christ and his church mystically intended by it.
There is a great question among interpreters, whether every marriage, as well as that of Adam s, was intended as a type of Christ. I will not stand to decide that, I will only handle and shew how Adam s marriage was; that
this is a great mystery pointeth to him, to that marriage of his. Adam did not understand it, when he said, This is bone of my bone, &c., and for this cause, &c. ; as Caiaphas, in John xi. 51, did not understand when he prophesied that Christ should be put to death. Those words in Gen. ii., Tor this cause shall a man leave father and mother, &c., are made the words of God, and not of Adam; for God intended Jesus Christ by it, as the Apostle here doth. But to come to the particulars wherein the type holds, I shall resolve it into four heads :
I. Let us consider tfte counsel that God had about Adam s mamage with Eve, and it was the type of the counsel of God about Christ s marriage with
420 I:\POSITION c: ; PORTIONS OF [::
his church; and ti 1 that <| (
>d held in his eternal decrees concerning Christ and his chiuvh, shadowed out by A he here speaks of the marrying of Eve to Adam.
1. The Lord made Adam before he thought of a wife for him; and so in order of God s decrees, Christ was set up first, who therefore is called the
first-born of every creature/ Col. L 15, and the first-born among many brethren, Rom. viiL 29; who is called the head, and therefore was set up first Now when God had made Adam, and made him first, what is the counsel of God about him ? Read Gen. ii IS, And the Lord said, It is not good that the man should be alone ; I will make him an helpmeet for him. So did God say of the man Christ Jesus, when he had ordained him in his eternal purpose, It is not good for him to be alone; he shall have
fellows, as the saints are called in Ps. xlv. 7. God intended, and said with
himself, he shall not be in heaven alone. You have the Scripture speaking in the very same language in John xii. 24, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground, and die, Christ there speaks this of himself, it abideth alone. I must not be alone, saith he, I must have company with me. And though he speaks this in relation to his death, yet it was God s primitive decree that Christ should not be alone : and because it was so, therefore because man
fell, and could not otherwise be saved and brought to heaven but by Christ s
death, therefore, saith he, I must die, that I may not be in heaven alone; otherwise I must be reduced to what Adam was at first reduced to; that was to be alone, and that is not meet.
2. The next counsel God held about Adam was this. He went and viewed
all the creatures that he had made, and amongst them all, saith Gen. ii 20, * there was not found an helpmeet for him. So when God was in consul tation who should be the wife and spouse of Jesus Christ, he views the
angels first, but he refuseth them; he in no wise took on him the nature of
angels, Heb. ii. 1 G. Why ? Because he would not be a husband to them, and he is nowhere called so. There was none else, none was found to be a match fit for him, but the sous of men, whose nature he meant to assume; r.nd not all of them neither, he viewed all the sons of men, and he took but
remnant out of them, The election hath obtained it, and the rest were
hardened, saith he, Rom. XL 7. He viewed all that he could have made, that is more, and out of all he chose those whom he hath elected. Herein God did but act his own eternal purposes and counsels concerning his church, pitching upon a few creatures whom he chose out of all those whom he cither had or coidd have made, to be a meet help for his Son Jesus Christ.
You will say, Is the church a helper to Jesus Christ? Wherein is the woman a helper to the man? She is pleasant to him; she is a companion for him. The like is said of the church ; she is a helper to him in two re-
Rj>ccts. First, she is his glory, as in 2 Cor. viiL 23; they are, saith he, *thc glory of Chrst; even as the wife is said to be the glory of the hus
band, in 1 Cor. xi. 7. And then, secondly, she is a comfort to him. You
will wonder that the church should be BO to Christ; but you shall see it in Psalm xlv., where, speaking of the church and Christ, saith he, ver. 10,
* Forget thine own people, and thy father s house, he speaks in the K
language that he doth here, so shall the king greatly delight in thy beauty. Therefore in this very chapter, Eph. v. 27, he .saith that JCM;
present to himself a glorious church; that, as Xanehy well says, in In MM n he will set her up full of beauty and glory, Behold, here is she that I have made to <! li-lit in. and the glory he will put upon her he continually pre-
I to hims- . !it in. Therefore you shall find, in John xv., that his
EFII. V. 30-32.] THE EPISTLE TO THE EPIIESIANS. 421
joy is said to be in his clmrcli : Keep my commandments, saith he, so shall my Joy be in you. And in Eph. i. 23, the church is called his fulness; * which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. He ascribes as much to Christ as can be; he saith he filleth her and all things else, and yet in a sense she is his fulness too. She is a helper to him. 3. When Adam was alone, before God made the woman, he blessed Adam, and in him blessed her afterwards to be made. This you may find in Gen.
ii. He gave all the world unto Adam, and in giving it to him he gave it to his wife, and to his seed that should come of her. So was it here, when Jesus Christ and God were alone in heaven before the world was, he under taking to be a husband, God considering the church in him, he did bless us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in him. He gave all to Christ, and in Christ gave all to her, and to all her seed, and to all that should come of her. All is yours, saith the Apostle because you are Christ s, and Christ is God s, 1 Cor. iii. 22. Here you see the counsel that God held concerning Adam and Eve in their marriage, it holds with God s eternal counsel con cerning the marriage of Christ and his church.
II. Let us come to the creation of the woman out of the mem, and you shall see still that the mystery runs on.
1. Eve was made out of Adam, so was the church out of Christ. God could have raised up seed to Abraham out of stones, out of nothing. No, but as he did take something out of Adam and made the woman of it, so he took of Christ, and made the church; as you have it, John xvi. 14. There fore it is mightily observable in the text that we are not said to be os ossis, in the genitive case, but ex ossiuus ejus, as noting out the subject-matter out of which we were taken. All were made out of one, so saith the Apostle, speaking of Adam; and all are made out of one, so saith the Apostle also, speaking Of Christ and his church, Heb. ii. 11. We are all seminally in Jesus Christ, and we are os ex ossibus ejus, bone out of his bone, and flesh out of his flesh. If you read Gen. ii. 23, you shall see the reason given why the woman is said to be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. The text tells us it is because she was taken out of man. The Holy Ghost in the Greek follows the same emphasis. We are, saith he, ex ossibus, bone out of his bone, taken out of him. Which is true in two respects. For, first, consider the church mystically, as she is a church, as she is holy, and as she is glorious ; and whatsoever she hath, as she is such, it is wholly out of Christ, she is bone out of his bones in that respect. Of him ye are in Christ Jesus, saith the Apostle, 1 Cor. i. 30. And, We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, and out of Christ Jesus, Eph. ii. 10, That look what bones Adam had, the same bones the woman had when she was made ; look what flesh he had, she had likewise. So it is true of Jesus Christ and his church by way of analogy, in a spiritual and mystical sense : as Eve received bone for bone, and flesh for flesh, and eye for eye, and hand for hand ; so look what graces Christ hath, the church take her qua church, as she is beautified with graces and glory in heaven has grace for grace. There is nothing that Christ hath but she hath also, and so wo are bone of his bones, and we have it out of him too, that is, from him. And therefore in the 26th verse of this chapter it is said that he sanctifieth and cleanscth the church, that he might present it to himself a glorious church. Look what holiness and what glory she hath, it is all from him. But I think, secondly, that when he saith we are bone out of his bones, and flesh out of his flesh, there is a further thing meant. The church is not bo only, if you take her in respect of her graces, and qualifications of glory
. hto *ami L racvs that Christ hath, making an B&MIOD to
and grac
. members >f tinmind.
bones and to flesh, members of tho bod;
That is not all the Apostle s scope ; but I t;ike it farther tinincaninis this,
that Jesus Christ having a human nature, ordained first to be his. uv. t
the substance of that nature, have also the same. There is one scripture that MOBS to contradict it, that is Heb. ii 14, where it is said,
* Forasmuch ;>s th>
children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part
of the same. It is easily answered ; for flesh and blood there, is meant the
frailties of man s nature : and so the Apostle s meaning is this, that whereas
we, through sin, had subjected ourselves to the frailties of flesh and blood, he took part of the same. It is clearly his scope there. But yet, because Jesus Christ was ordained to the substance of a human
nature, therefore were we so too ; and we are chosen in him, and so we are IK
rij; aasxb; aurou, xai ex rw ctfriwv airoD, flesh of his flesh, and bone of his
bones/for the substance of our nature. It is an excellent distinction one
hath : Christ is og oww, bone of our bone, in the genitive case ; but we are
ex o,w, bone of his bone, taken out of him. How came Christ to be the
< He is the head of the
Saviour of the church ? What saith he, ver. 23 ]
church, and he is the Saviour of the body. First a head, then a Saviour. Why was Christ ordained, to die ? Was that God s primitive decree
concerning him 1 Or did he not think of sending Christ to be a head till
such time as he thought of sending him to die 1 No, he thought first of
sending him to be a head. How do you prove that ? Because he therefore
left father and mother, for this cause, because he was a head. The text
is express in ver. 31. He having first made him a head to us, we are
members of his body, he having ordained us to be of the same nature, of his
* For this cause,
flesh and of his bones, therefore it was that he died.
* shall a man leave his father and mother ; the Apostle applies this
gaith he,
to Christ, I speak concerning Christ and his church, saith he. He left his
Father in heaven, and his mother on earth, to give himself for his church.
And that is the first thing wherein Adam was a type of Christ, in respect
of Eve s creation ; she was taken out of him.
2. Out of what part of Adam was she taken ? The text saith, in Gen.
il 21, that the Lord cast him into a deep sleep, and then opened his
and took Eve out of it It was indeed, in the letter of it, to shew the equality
of the wife to the husband ; she was not taken out of his foot, but out of
his side, because she is to be a companion to him. In this also was Adam
a type of Christ, the church was taken out of his side ; and the apostle
John, chap. xix. 34, you shall see, makes a great matter of it. One of the
soldiers, saith he, with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there
out blood and water. And he that saw it bear record, and Ms record is
true : and he knows that he says true, that ye might believe. It is a strange
thing that in the midst of a story the Apostle should come and put such an
emphasis upon this passage. This, saith he, I observed above all else, and
this I bear record of. Why 1 It was not in respect of the miracle of it ;
for in the pericardium, the purse that a man s heart lies in, theni- v
for the cooling of the heart, and if you pierce that, water will luvs.-ntly
out. It was not therefore, I say, in respect of the miracle of it t hat ln. takes
inch special notice of this passage, that upon the oju-nin.ir
<>t hi.- came forth blood and water, but in respect of the mystery of it. Th<
!1 tlir aposth 3, in 1 .I.hn v. <!. saith.
1 sus ( hri.-t. " I that
the .is the Messiah, because out <>t 1
Em. V. 30-32.] THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESI A 423
and blood, water to sanctify his church ; so saith Paul here in this Eph. v.
26, He sanctifieth and cleanseth his church by the washing of water. She
is taken out of his side, and water cometh out of his side to cleanse her ; and blood also. Water to sanctify and purify her; and blood to justify her, and to make her, and to present her, a glorious church to himself, as the
text hath it also.
3. When was all this done to Adam ? It was when Adam was asleep. When was it that Christ s side was opened ? It was when he was asleep, when he was dead : 1 Cor. xv. 20, He is the first-fruits of them that sleep, for so death is often called in the Scriptures. Isa. liii. 10, He shall see his
seed, because he died, and offered up his soul for sin ; and he shall see of
the travail of his soul, and be satisfied.
4. If you look the story in Genesis, the text saith that of the rib that the Lord had taken from the man, he made the woman. Head your margin, He builded the woman, for she is a more curious frame than the man, he built her, shewed a great deal of art in making her. Now you shall find
in the Scripture that Jesus Christ is called the foundation ; and what is his church 1 It is his building, built up for him with a great deal of art and
* Ye
architect. In Eph. ii, 20, the Apostle useth the very same expression,
are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief corner stone ; in whom all the building fitly framed
or, as the word is, artificially framed, harmoniously, with all the art and
curiosity that can be groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord : in whom
ye also are built together for an habitation of God.
5. When he had taken the woman out of the man, what doth God do 1 He closeth up the flesh again ; here is no hurt clone, the man is as sound, lived as long, yea, would have lived to eternity, if he had not sinned, for all
his loss. And what hath Jesus Christ lost by his death? Nothing; he hath got a church by the means. He was made, saith the Apostle, Heb.
ii. 9, a little lower, or, for a little while lower, than the angels, that he
might bring many sons unto glory. He endured pain upon the cross, he endured to have his side pierced, and his soul wounded, to have his church taken out ; all is closed up again, and the man Christ Jesus is in heaven for
ever, and his church shall be for ever with Mm. This is all that is lost. And so much now for the second head wherein this type holdeth. The
first I told you was God s eternal counsel about Christ and the church, which answereth to the counsel that was about Adam and Eve, when she was made ; the second was about the creating of her out of him.
III. The marriage itself. And concerning that the text saith
1. That God did bring the woman unto Adam, Gen. ii. 22. So God, when he had chosen his elect, did present them unto Jesus Christ. He did
this in his eternal purposes ; and he doth do it when he calls them home unto him. He did it in his everlasting purposes ; he shewed Jesus Christ what a glorious church he would give him for him to delight in for ever ; and Jesus Christ was so taken with her beauty that he never leaves till he hath made her as glorious as she first rose up to him in God s eternal pre sentation of her to him. Therefore saith the text here, in Eph. v., he presenteth to himself a glorious church ; it is an allusion unto that in Gen. ii. 2 2. A disease was befallen her, but Christ doth never leave till he hath restored
her to her primitive beauty in which she was presented to him. So that
Jesus Christ did not choose his church, she was brought unto him. Thine
they were, and thou gavest them to me. As in God s everlasting purposes he brought them first to Christ, so when Christ hath died, when he hath
SITION 01 I uKTIONSOF [! 1^.
shed the water and blood out of hi> H.li. who is it that still brings every soul unto Christ I It is the i hn \i. 11, ! , X<> man ran com
me, except the Fither which hath scut me draw him. It is written in t)u>
prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man thrnTniv that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. God
sj> to the heart of every soul who cometh unto Christ; he speaks as a father-
in-law doth to a daughter whom he would have to many his son, speaks to
4 Daughter, saith he, Ps. xlv.,
her heart, puts an instinct into it.
* forget thy people and thy father s house. He speaks in Adam s language in thi>
second of Genesis, giveth that counsel to his church, and so she cometh to
Christ.
2. When she was brought unto Adam, he consentcth and owneth her. So doth Christ ; those whom his Father hath given him, and whom he hath
brought unto him, he owneth ; insomuch as he will not pray for a soul but them : I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me. None other comes to him but whom God thus bringcth ; and when they arc
brought he owns them, he knows them all by their names ; so the expression
* All that the Father giveth me shall come to me ; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For when a poor soul that God from everlasting hath given him comes to him, he instantly owneth that soul, as Adam did Eve. This is that soul I died
is, John x. Therefore, in John vi. 37,
for ; this is the soul that water and blood came out of my side for, with an
intention to wash. This is the soul I took a view of among all the rest, and
this soul pleased me, and there was a beauty put upon it then ; therefore I