Sermon V
Among whom alto ire aU had our conversation in times past in the lust* nf our Jlesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind , and icere
by nature the children of wrath, even as others. VER. 3.
THE Apostle, in this and the two former verses, doth set himself to give an
exact description of all men unrcgenerate ; and as he is comprehensive in the
doctrine about it, so he is as comprehensive also in the application. He had shewn two of the causes, that were external, of all that sinfulness that is in
unregcnerate men : the world, in the 2d verse, and the devil. And no^y he cometh to that third, which is the flesh, or natural corruption. There were but two sort of persons in the world, that shared the world between them, and
they were the Jews and the Gentiles : and the Apostle doth apply all the
doctrine of man s unregencrate condition by nature to both these. And as men that read lectures of anatomy do not only give the doctrine of the parts
<-f a man s body, but they exemplify it in having a body cut up before them; so the Apostle here doth not simply lay down the corrupt estate of man s
heart by nature, but he applies it, exemplifies it, and that both unto the Jew and the Gentile, he shares this common condition between them : wherein
in time past ye walked, speaking of the Gentiles, vcr. 2 ; among whom
also we all had our conversation, speaking of the Jews, in this 3d verse. These words I have read unto you, which concern that third and last
cause of all sin in men, namely, their natural corruption, which is called
flesh, divide themselves generally into two parts
1. The persons that he speaks this of; we all.
2. The description he gives of the state of nature, in respect of inbred
corruption, and the fruits of it in these Ephesians.
I will begin first with the persons: Our holy Apostle had a care in the application of this doctrine to wind in
the Jews as well as the Gentiles. He named the Gentiles twice in the for mer verses, you hath he quickened, that were dead, ver. 1 ;
* wherein in
times past past ye walked, ver. 2. And he nameth the Jews as often in
this 3d verse, among whom we had our conversation; and were bjr. nature the children of wrath, even as others. He had still carried alonu
r in
this epistle what God doth both unto Jews and Gentiles : he carries the
state of both along with him in everything he handles. When he had
spoken in the first chapter of the great benefits of redemption, he npp" both to the Jews and also to the Gentiles. To the Jews, ver. 1 1,, In wh u ; we have obtained an inheritance, that we should be to the prai that first trusted in Christ/ He applies it to the Gentiles, ver. 13, In whom
ye also trusted, after that ye beard the word of truth,
: ! "t ymir salvation: in whom also after yc believed, ye were sealed with that h<]y Spirit romise. n the matter of redemption, and all the b-n. -tits .f it, unto U th : so he Ukefl tinlike and OOUe in the mat natural e<Hliti<m.
t reason whirl n give why he doth so,
EPH. II. 3.] TO THE EPHESTANS. 71
namely, because he would not seem to upbraid the Gentiles, as the Jews were wont to do, who called them sinners of the Gentiles/ Gal. ii 15, but that he and his countrymen were as bad as they, I say that is not the only reason, but it was to shew the frceness of God s grace to save the Jews as well as the Gentiles. For his scope, why he doth mention the state of nature so exactly, and apply it thus to both these sorts of persons, is to illus
trate the free grace of God. Saith he, in the next verse, But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great mercy wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us; by grace ye are saved. So that he would shew that all, both Jews and Gentiles, needed it. You shall find likewise he takes the same course in his epistle to the Romans. In the first
chapter he proves that the Gentiles were all corrupted ; and in the second
chapter he convinceth them, and proveth, that the Jews were so also. In the third chapter he concludeth that all were sinners : there is no difference, saith he, all have come short of the glory of God ; and, there is none
righteous, no, not one. And to what end was all this ? It was to glorify the grace of God, as it follows, ver. 24,
i Being justified freely by his grace/ &c. And then again he doth apply it to the Jews, and he speaks as hard
words, and harder of them than he doth of the Gentiles, and of both in
respect of their conversations. The poor Gentiles, they were led away, he
saith, by the world and by the devil ; he applies that part of man s misery unto them. But when he comes to the Jews, Ye were by nature the chil dren of wrath/ saith he ; and, Ye have had your conversation in the lusts of the flesh. He shews the internal cause of corruption when he applies it unto them. And what is the reason? You must know this, that first, for their
conversations, the Jews would not so much as converse with the Gentiles; they called them sinners of the Gentiles/ Gal. ii. They would not so much as eat with them, as you read in Acts x. that Peter would not, and accord
ing to the ceremonial law he ought not. And so in John iv., when Christ conversed with the Samaritan woman, there was a wonder at it. But saith the Apostle here, you Jews that stand so much upon this privilege, and therefore think yourselves holier, look to your natural estate, and you are of the same number with the Gentiles ;
f among whom we also all had our con versation in times past. They stood likewise upon their privilege that they were a holy seed, and that they were the children of God, and that all of them were so by birth ; you know, they said they were of the seed of Abraham, and we have Abraham to our father. He batters down that too ; We were by nature/ saith he, the children of wrath, even as others. And therefore now he applies it thus to the persons of the Jews.
Now, all the controversy is this, and it is a thing that interpreters differ
in, that seeing the word here which we translate, among whom/ may be also interpreted as well, in which/ whether of these two should be here intended? The question then is, whether among whom refer to the per sons, that is, We Jews walked among you Gentiles, had our conversations like to you ? or whether the meaning be that we Jews walk in the same sins T In which we also had our conversation/ as referring unto sins and
trespasses, wherein in times past ye walked, ver. 1, 2. I for my part think the Holy Ghost writes the Scripture so as to take in a comprehensive meaning ; and it hath been a rule that I have observed all
along in interpreting this, and shall in all other Scriptures. I think he in tended both. For to say both of these Jews, that as for their persons they are to be reckoned among the Gentiles, among the same number, among whom we also ; and to say they walked in the same sins and in the same lusts;
7AN IMPOSITION OF Till! DO [Si:i:\1
.\ A .
it makes the scope and the sense more full, it makes up the likeness of tlu-ir
condition the more and the greater. Hi-* s.-npe was to humble tin Jewfl
in both respects, that though they stood upon it that they were a privi!
people, yet, saith he, you are to be reckoned among the Gentiles, union-- whom we also walked. And he would prove that they were to be reckoned among them, because they walked in the same sins;
* in which we also walki-d
as well as they.
* among whom/ note out two
So that now these words that are translated
things
1. The manner of their conversation, that they walked ad eundem modum ;
or, as the Vulgar translation hath it, ad quern modum, in the same sins. Quemadmodum vos, itit ft nos. Look, as they Gentiles walked, so did ye Jews.
2. It imports also that their persons are to be reckoned in the same num
ej" eodem n umero, they are in the same number ; and are to be put in
ber ;
eodein a/60, in the same rank and catalogue with the Gentiles.
Now, there is an objection or two against either interpretation ; for I take
in both, therefore I must remove the objections against both.
* in which sins, is
The first objection, that by iv cl; should not be meant,
this. For, say they that are of another mind, then it should have been in
the feminine gender, tv aJ*, since raf; aaa^r/a/; was the last word mentioned
in the first verse ; therefore if it referred to sins, it should have been in the
feminine gender.
But that receiveth an easy answer ; for as there is a.ace^r/a/?, so there is
Tasacruj.aaff/, namely, trespasses, in the neuter gender. But the answer
that Estius gives is this, that it refers to both, though the one be the neuter and the other the feminine gender ; yet when he makes the participle, he
saith it refers unto both ; therefore that interpretation, in which, will stand. Then again, as for that other, among whom, as our translation renders
it, that that is more especially meant is clear, because the nearest connexion doth carry it, the other is a more remote connexion. For if it be, in which
sins, it must refer to the first verse, and there comes in between the whole
second verse ; but if it refer to the persons, among whom, then it referreth
in the next coherence : among whom namely, which children of disobedi
ence we all had our conversation, which are the words just before. But there is this objection against that, say they that arc of another mind.
All the Jews were not children of disobedience; for children of disobedience
doth imply persons eminently wicked in a more special manner, as chil
dren of Belial did. Now, the apostle saith, among whom all we had our
conversation ; now, say they, all the Jews had not their conversation among children of disobedience ; there were some more eminently children of dis
obedience amongst the Jews, as well as amongst the Gentiles. This is the
objection against that interpretation.
But the answer is easy ; for, in the first place, children of disobedience* doth not only note out men eminently wicked, but it is the common expres sion given unto unregenerate men. In chap. v. G, For which things, .saith
* the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience.
he,
Neither, secondly, will it follow in the connexion that all tin- .lews should have been children of disobedience ; but indeed this will follow, that they am to be reckoned of the same rank with them ; all nnn neratfl men shall
< mi-
belong; and do belong, unto the same kingdom with th .-md
nentest sinners that are. Therefore, saith he, n yourselves ; it
be children of disobedience, if you walked an . you were of that
any, of that di
EFH. II. 3.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 73
And indeed and in truth, thirdly, the Jews were in a more peculiar man ner the children of disobedience than the Gentiles were. What is the reason? Because they had the law they are still called a stiff-necked people, which
is not applied to the Gentiles. Disobedience is in a more special manner attributed unto them, because they had the means, especially when the gos pel came upon them.
So now, the interpretation being fully cleared, that among whom referreth to both, and the reason also why it referreth to in which, for I must
give you a reason of it, that in which sins ye walked is also meant, the reason of it is this, because that in Col. iii. 7, which is a parallel epistle to
this, there it is, in which ye walked, whilst ye lived in them/ referring unto
sins. And so the Syriac also renders it; in which, viz., in which sins ye also walked. And it makes the likeness between the Jews and Gentiles to be more full ; for then his meaning is plainly this : we that are Jews had a
like condition with the Gentiles, first, in respect of conversation ; we all walked in the same sins, we had a like condition in respect of the lusts of the ilesh : in which also we all had our conversation, in the lusts of the
flesh. And we had a likeness of condition in respect of natural corrup
* and were by nature the children of wrath, as well as others. And so now, having cleared this interpretation, that it
tion, which is the ground of all ;
refers to both, yet especially to the latter, I come to the observations out of it.
There is one great observation which I will not now insist on, but refer it
till we come to those words, were by nature children of wrath, even as
others, namely this, that original corruption is universal to all mankind, both Jew and Gentile. That observation is proper to those words, therefore I omit it here.
But here he speaks of the likeness of the Jew to the Gentile, and that
they are to be reckoned among them, the Jews all one with the Gentiles, in
respect of their conversation ; that is the thing that these first words hold
forth, among whom we also had our conversation.
First, then, if the interpretation be that they are to be reckoned of the same number with the Gentiles, then I make these two observations upon it : Obs. 1. First, Though there be several sizes of unregenerate men, several sorts of them, yet they that are the best of them are to be reckoned, and they are to reckon themselves, and Jesus Christ at the latter day will reckon them, even among the worst. He had spoken of the highest children of dis obedience in the verses before, that were more eminently such, for I take that interpretation also in, and it foliowetli, among whom we all had our conversation. There may, I say, be several sizes of unregenerate men, yet all shall be reckoned of one sort. It is a consideration may mightily strike us. Let men be never so civil, let men be temporary believers and
profess religion with never so much strictness, if they be unregenerate they will be reckoned among the children of disobedience. Among whom we/ saith Paul, putting in himself, who had his
< conversation according to the-
law, blameless. No man could say black was his eye. He professed that he walked according to his conscience all his days ; yet I am to be reckoned, saith he, and had my conversation among, and shall be accounted of that number, with the highest children of disobedience. It is an excellent obser vation that a late critic hath made : that in the Old Testament, especially in the book of Proverbs, where hell is mentioned or spoken of, as it is often, the word in the Hebrew signifies the Place of the Giants.
( They shall go down into hell/ that is, to the place of the giants. That was the term that the Jews did anciently give to lielL What is the meaning of that I You know
71 AN EPISTLE [SERMON V.
that the giants of the old world A\ "linnit. -rand wirkrd men. ( fen. vi 5, The wickedness of man w. upon earth. And ): saith tin-re were giants that did corrupt their ways lrf..iv liim ; and th-- rarth was tilled with violence. Now, the flood came and swept all these giants away, and carried them all to hell. And because such a cluster of them v nt thenall at once, hell had its name from thence ; and whoever went to hell, though he were a Jew, though he were never so strict, if unregenerate he went to the place of the giants, he went among wicked men ; and so they are to be reckoned here. Nay, the gospel speaks higher words of hell, as in relation to whom wicked men shall be gathered, Matt xxv. 41. He speaks to all
unregencrate men, that shall be found so at the latter day, that died in that
estate, though there be never so many sizes of them, Go into the fire, pre pared for the devil and his angels. They are not only gathered to the giants, but they are gathered to their great prince, Satan. They walked according to the prince of the air, and they shall go to hell, where the prince of the
fire is, when lie is there a poor prince, when he is there. And God will
briiii; forth men so, though they walk among the drove of his children in
profession now, yet if they walk in by-lanes, God will rank them at the lat
ter day, yea, often in this world, with the workers of iniquity. In Ps. cxxv.
5, As to such as turn aside to their crooked ways, that walk in by-lanes of
.sin, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity. They do walk after thorn here before God, and God will manifest so much before he hath done. The Lord, saith he, shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity.
And the reason, my brethren, why they are to be reckoned among them, and as walkers among them, though they sever themselves from them in re
spect of external conversation, is, because they agree in the same internal
principle of sin. They walk in lusts, every unrcgenerate man doth ; refine him how you will, it is certain he doth. Now, the fellowship that men have with other wicked men, lies not so much in keeping company personally with them, as it lies in walking in the same lusts and in the same sins, smaller or greater. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of dark
ness. Fellowship lies in the works more than in the persons ; it lies in the
consent, as Ps. 1. 18. And then, again, there is this observation, but you need not make a dis
tinct one of it, that those, even among Christians, for there is the same
reason, that live in the same lusts that the Gentiles do, they shall all be reckoned a Gentiles before God. Among whom, saith he, we all had our conversation in the lusts of the flesh/ If they live in lusts, they are said to
live as Gentiles ; for lusts are called in a more peculiar manner the lusts of the Gentiles. My brethren, in Rev. xi. 2 you find that the holy city is to be given up to the Gentiles, to tread down for a certain time. Whom doth he mean there by Gentiles? Why, he meaneth indeed and in truth the
Popish Christians ; for it is a preparation! to the killing of the witnesses, which is in th.it chapter, which is clear shall be done by the beast ; and you know who the beast is. He saith, ver. 7, that the beast that MMndetb out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome
them, and kill them. Now he caUeth them, though tln-y profess Chris
tianity, Gentiles ; and the prophets of old used the same language, .l-r. ir. 2G. There is but this difference, saith he, between you .lews that are wicked and the Gentiles : they are uncircumcised in the llrsh, and y an i:n< -in -11111-
cised in the heart. And 1 t be fulfilled, ai t. tuple
EPH. II. 3.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 75
of God is measured, and the reed is in men s hands, doing it now, and hath been a good while, and the altar of worship, and the worshippers, them that worship therein, as it is Rev. xi. 1 ; that then this temple will be given up to these Gentiles to be trodden down ; and why 1 Because there is so
great an outward court laid to this temple. The temple should consist of those that are priests and saints ; but the reformed churches have laid too
great an outward court, which are as bad as Gentiles : therefore, saith he,
seeing they stand upon Gentile ground, the Gentiles shall re-enter again. He saith that the court that was without the temple was not to be measured; for they are not fit to be worshippers, though they be Christians ; for it is
given to the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they tread under foot. And therefore now, as Musculus well observeth, for us to boast against the Papists, We are the reformed churches ; yet, for the multitude and shoal of Christians to walk in the same lusts, they are, saith he, to be accounted to live even
Popishly j as these Jews are reckoned to live heathenishly, whilst they walk in the same lusts the Gentiles did. And though men are not idolaters, as the Papists are ; yet, notwithstanding, whilst they walk in their lusts, they are idolaters still. For you shall find, in Col. iii. 5, the Apostle, speaking there of covetousness, and uncleanness, and the like, saith he, which are
idolatry. Some indeed read it, which is idolatry, and so refer it only to covetousness ; and covetousness, which is idolatry. But other copies are, which are idolatry, referring to fornication, and uncleanness, and evil con
cupiscence, and covetousness, which are idolatry ; because indeed they do set up idols in their hearts which they worship ; for every lust setteth up another thing beside God ; and it is as truly Gentilism, as truly idolatry, as
Popish or heathenish idolatry is ; only this devil of idolatry takes a shape, and appears visibly to them and in them, but it is invisibly in the hearts of others. And so much now for that first observation from those words, among whom we also walked.
Obs. 2. I will give you a second, and that is this : That there is no light or means ivill do corrupt nature good. Are the Jews born under the light of the law ? Had they the light of the gospel come upon them also by John
Baptist, and by Christ, and by the apostles, and do they remain still and walk in their lusts ? I say, no means will do corrupt nature good. And in liom. viii. you have a place for it. The law, saith he, was weak through the flesh, ver. 3. Go and inform men never so much with the law, and though it seem to be a strong thing to work upon a man, to tell him of
hell, &c., yet, saith he, it is weak through the flesh. That natural corrup tion that is in a man will never be wrought upon by it, it will hinder the working of the physic, be it never so strong ; flesh will, corruption will. Isa. xxvi. 10, let them live in a land of uprightness, they will deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord. The Jews here had all these means, yet they remained still in the same unregenerate condition. Men may restrain indeed, the gospel may do so, and the law may do so, re strain corruption in men, yet they will please the lusts of the flesh still, they will walk in them ; and if not in the grosser lusts of the flesh, yet they will walk in the lusts of the mind. There are other spiritual lusts in the under
standing, that, let corrupt nature be cooped up never so much, let the gospel, let the law, all grapple with it, it will be corrupt nature still. Among whom also we we Jews, that had all those means had our conversation in the lusts of the flesh.
Obs. 3. I will add a third observation, and that is this : That no privi
leges whatsoever men can have ivill save them from an unregenerate condition.
AN BCfOOflOll OF TIII: KI-:-TI.I: [SHIMON V.
The law, and having the privileges thereof, \\ill not do it ; neither will tin
d<> it. The privileges of the law would not do it, you see by this text, and you may have it more clear in Horn, ii,
gospel, and all the privileges thereof,
25, and so to the end. Circumcision, saith he,
* verily proliteth, if thou keep the law : but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made um-ircumcision. For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circum
cision which is outward in the flesh ; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose
praise is of God, and not of men. The law, you sec, will not do it And the gospel will not do it, though the gospel uncaseth men much more. There was a kind of ceremonial typical holiness under the law, whereby all the seed of Abraham were holy unto God; but when the gospel came, it uncased them. What saith John Baptist, when he began first to preach the gospel? Think not, saith he, to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our
father. And it was prophesied of Christ, when his day should come to
preach the gospel, that he should do it much more: Mai. iii. 1, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, that is, John Bap
tist, for so it is applied, Matt. xi. 10, even the messenger of my covenant, whom ye delight in ; behold, he shall come. But who may abide the day of
his coming ? for he is like a refiner s fire, and like fullers soap ; and he shall
sit in his shop, saith he, in his church, as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi. He came and purified the church more and more ; tells them, except their righteousness exceed the righteous ness of the scribes and Pharisees, they shall not enter into the kingdom of God. And, my brethren, this you shall find, that still the higher and purer the gospel riscth in the light of it, the more unregcneratc men will be dis
covered, and their privileges which they possess in the church of God be taken from them. Not only ignorance and profaneness, but civility ; yea, in the end it will rise so high that all temporary believers shall be discovered
in that glorious new Jerusalem. There shall not be a man there that inakcth a lie ; not only not a man that tclleth a lie, but not a man that inaketh a lie ; that is, not a man whose heart is not changed, not a man that is in the least degree a Gentile ; and all unbelievers shall be without.
>Still as the gospel goes higher, it uncases men the more, and discovers the
vanity of such outward privileges as these are, and will thrust them out. So much now for the first thing in the text, Among whom we. Among whom ux all. I must speak a little to that word all, and it shall be but a little ; that is, all we Jews, or more especially, all we that are be
* we all, all we apostles, we were once unregenerate men, and we lived in that state and condition, and in the same lusts that ye Gentiles did ; and all the converts among the Jews they did so too.
lievers, converted of the Jews ; saith he,
Xow you will say unto me, Were there none of these that were holy even from their infancy ?
Yes, my brethren, it may be there were some, but there were but few. You know John Baptist was; but all, that is, the generality,
f<>r tinmost part even all the believers that lived among us, they were for some time
in a natural and unregenerate condition.
But there is a special reason why it was spoken of the J,-ws in the
time, we all; for the truth is this, in the old IVstam.-nt ynt find very few conversions ; you do not read wh -n Isaae was converted : YOU r-.-t.i. in.lood. that Abraham had a rail, tor tlit-xt saith he waa an
t<-r: but tak Joseph, and Moses, and yon dull
Em. II. 3.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 77
rend nowhere of their conversion; whereas ye have abundance of stories of conversions in the New Testament : but in the Old Testament, the truth is, God wrought much even from their infancy ; although that speaks of con version too ; for the prophet saith that Levi turned many from their iniquity whilst he kept the covenant, Mai. ii. G ; and in Ps. li., David saith, sinners shall be converted unto thee. But yet before the times of the gospel, before the time of John Baptist s preaching, the truth is, there was then such a cor
ruption generally among the Jews, that they were in a manner, as it were, all
left in their natural condition, there were very few godly among them, that so the fruit of the gospel might the more appear. I will give you but one text for it, Luke i. 17. It is said there of John that when he should come to preach, he should turn the hearts of the children to their fathers ; that
is, whereas Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all those holy and godly fathers, had been for justification by grace, they had rested upon the Messiah, the
promise of God, and had turned to God, and served him truly ; these Jews were so generally corrupted, that the whole nation needed a new conversion, to be of the old fathers religion ; therefore it is said he should turn the hearts of the children to their fathers.
But then, again, there is a third answer. "We all ; he shews not so much, de facto, what all were, or in a strict word, or in strict terms that all the Jews had been unregenerate for a long while before they were turned ; but his scope is to shew what the generality of them were, and what all would have been ; the same nature would have wrought the same effect, had not the grace of God come and put the difference.
I should likewise speak a little to these words, in times past ; but I shall meet with it so often, as in ver. 11, Remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh ; and in the next words likewise, and were the chil dren of wrath : and the observation I have upon it I will not now insist
upon, but rather come to what followeth. And so now I come to these other words
We all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfill ing the desires of the flesh and of the mind ; and were by nature the children
of ivrath, even as others.
Here is an exceeding exact description of the corruption of man s heart and conversation by nature. And the Apostle hath a double scope in it. His scope is
First, to shew the pedigree of causes of all that corruption that is in men while they are unregenerate ; as he had shewn the world to be a cause, and the devil to be a cause, so here the flesh, the cause of causes, he putting this difference between the causes, that Satan and the world are but external
* We walk according to the course of the world, and according to the prince of the power of the air ; but when he speaks of the lusts of the
causes.
flesh, he speaks of that as the internal cause : We walk in the lusts of the
flesh, itc. You have here, my brethren, all the causes of sin in men s lives. You have sin in the heraldry of the causes of it. We have it emblazoned here as fully as can be desired. For
1. Here is flesh, corrupt nature, which sticks in us, which is as the root and fountain.
2. Here are lusts, which are the first-born of that flesh, of that corruption, that are the immediate ebullitions, the boilings, the springings up from that fountain.
3. Here is a division of the several sorts of lusts ; he doth not only call them lusts, in the plural, because they are many, but he gives us their several
78 AN DUE UCOa V.
sorts. There are lusts of tiniL-sh. or {lie body, tin-
> iiMiai par;. \\\i the soul partaketh with the body ; and there are the lust mind, the
* Then tin i. is the outward conversation. The flesh begets lusts, and the lusts In MIL: forth a corrupt conversation ; we had our conversation in the lusts of the fit
superior part, whose actings are abstracted from the body.
they are as the streams, or the springings that lusts from the fountain make. And the conversation, the badness of that, he setteth forth two ways. (1.) By the constancy of it ; that all an unregenerate man s courses are not hi 114 else but sin they walked in it, had their whole conversation in it. (2.) That
it is nothing else but a fulfilling of some lust or other ; fulfilling, saith he, *the desires of the flesh and of the mind.
4. Because it will be said, man is a reasonable creature, and hath an un
derstanding and a will, and is not led to an action as beasts are, by brutish and unreasonable passions, can lusts carry a reasonable man on alone in a brutish way, as beasts are led? therefore he tells you that the truth is, that these lusts have all of them, before they come to act, the consent of the will ; and therefore what he calleth lusts in the first part of the dis
course, had our conversation in the lusts of the flesh, he varies the phrase in the next, doing the wills of the flesh, so it is in the Greek, ra SgXjj/z-ara
rr,; easxbt. But doth the will move without the understanding? No, there
is the will of the mind too, ruv d/awv, it is in the plural too. Take all the
intellectual powers in a man, they are all corrupt, they have all their lusts, and they all concur through their corruption to dictate to the will to yield to all these lusts. But then
~). The question will be, how do we come to be thus corrupt ? What is
* flesh, which is the cause of lusts, and which is seated thus in the will and understanding, and which causeth all men s sins in their
the cause of all this
lives t If you ask me how you come by it, I will tell you, saith the
Apostle ; you had it by nature. \Ve were all the children of wrath by nature, therefore we were sinful by nature ; for the object of God s wrath and anger
is only sin. That is one scope. But a second scope the Apostle hath is, as to shew the causality of sin
in tliis its pedigree, that flesh is the original of lusts, those lusts are the
original of all the wicked conversation in us, to which the will consents, and
the understanding also ; so likewise his scope is to afford matter of humilia
tion to those Ephesian Gentiles and the Jews also, and so to all mankind, and to magnify the free grace of God the more ; and therefore he doth set
forth corrupt nature in the full and most exact manner that we find in all the book of God ; as, when I open the particulars, will appear. I thought to have done it now by way of analysis, but I shall not be able then to come
* had our conversation in the
to the particular exposition of these words,
lusts of our flesh/ which I would make an end of; therefore I will reserve it
till the last of all, where it will come in as well I am to open three tilings
1. What is meant byfleth. What is meant Ly lusts of the flak. 3. What this importeth, to have our conversation in the lusts of the flesh.
First, what is meant by flesh t I must do two things in that :
1. What the thing itself is that is meant by flesh, namely, that corrup tion of nature original
i< >\\\ IM flesh. hall do both these, as briefly as possibly I can. And
2. The reason of the phrase, why this original corrupt
ike thin i will give you but this bri M
: <\\ or
definition of it, and giv the chief
Kl H. II. 3.] TO THE EPHESIANB. 79
branclics of it. It is a sinful disposition in man s nature, that is become his
nature, whereby it is empty of all good, yea, opposite to it, to all good that
is towards God, and containeth in it the seeds and principles of all sins whatsoever. This in a word is meant by flesh. Now to make this out
1. I say it is a corrupt disposition, or bias, as I may so call it, in the nature of man, in the whole nature of man. It is not the substance of man s nature ; for then, when it was said, The Word was made flesh, the meaning were, that the Word was made sin, if that flesh and corruption had been the substance of man s nature, and Jesus Christ and we had not been of the same nature as he was man. In John iii. G, saith Christ, That which is born of the flesh is flesh. He evidently meant here by flesh a distinct
( that which is born of the flesh is flesh, even as he saith that that which is born of the Spirit is
thing from the nature of man ; for he saith that
spirit. By spirit in the last words, he meaneth a differing thing from
Spirit in the first words ; so when he saith, is flesh, he meaneth a differing thing from that which is born of flesh. The one notes out the substance ; the
other, the adjunct disposition of it.
Which disposition is yet now become man s nature, that is, as natural
dispositions are, and all this emptiness of good, and seeds of all evil : there fore the next words tell us, that he is by nature, as I shall open it afterwards in part, the child of wrath. And as there is a divine nature, that hath the seeds of all good in it, all things belonging to life and godliness, 2 Peter i.
3, 4, compare but the verses together; it is called the divine nature, and it is said to have all things belonging to life and godliness, so this corrupt nature of ours, on the contrary, is a disposition to all evil. I say, a disposi tion. And therefore, although this corrupt nature of man is sometimes called flesh ; yet you shall find in other scriptures it is said to be fleshly, and said to be carnal. Though it be called flesh in the abstract, for some reasons, yet to shew it is but a disposition in man s nature, not the substance of his nature, therefore he is said to be fleshly; as in Rom. vii. 14, I am
carnal, it is the same word, but only there is an adjective; he saith not, I am flesh, but, I am carnal, sold under sin. As that spirit which is born of the Spirit is called the spiritual man in Scripture ; so that which is born of the flesh, and called flesh, is called the carnal man in Scripture. 1 Cor.
^ Are ye not carnal V And, 1 Peter ii. 11, they are called
iii. 3,
<
fleshly lusts ; because this flesh is but an adjunct, it is but a corrupt quality, or coiTupt disposition, that clingeth to man s nature. And so much now for the first part of the definition.
2. It makes man s nature empty of all good dispositions whatsoever; it importeth an emptiness, a vacuity of all good. What saith the Apostle, Rom. vii. ? In my flesh dwelleth no good thing. And yet if ever in any man s
flesh, in his unregenerate part, there had reason to have been some good thing, there was as much reason it should have been in Paul s unregenerate part as ever in any one s. Why ? Because there was so much grace mingled with it. Yet all that grace could never kill it, never work good in it, so long as it remained; it might destroy it, but it could never teach the unregenerate part good, or work the least good in it. Nay, it is not only an empti ness of all good, but it is an enmity to all good; as you have it, Rom. viii. 7. He saith that the fleshly mind, or pcowjaa, the least stirrings of the flesh in any act, is enmity against God. And 3. It containeth in it the mass, it is the seed, the seminary of all sort of sin whatsoever. For that I will give you that place in Col. ii. 11, The body of the sins of the flesh. It is a whole body of sin. What is the mean-
30 AN r\rosiTI"X ol -ILK [Sl.i;
> V.
g<> take a rhild s body, an.l it hath all the
ing of that? In a word thus:
parts; though they are not so big as a man s that is grown up. yet it hath
all the parts of a man. So go, take that corruption that lies in the la ait <>i
every child, it is a whole body of sin, it is perfect for parts, indeed the limbs
may grow greater and greater, as men grow wickeder; for this original cor
ruption, I mean, this vicious disposition, is increased in men ; but yet, not
withstanding, it is not increased by adding new parts of corruption to it,
but the seeds of all were at the first, and it still groweth greater and greater. So you see here, as briefly as I can, what./Wt is.
That which hath exercised my thoughts most is why it is called flesh.
I find that the Old Testament did use it from the very first, Gen. vi. 3.
"When God gives the reason there why he would destroy man, and indeed the
very sons of God, they that professed themselves to be the sons of God, but
were all generally unrcgenerate, but Noah, and one or two more that be
* The
longed to his family, he gives this reason for it, expresseth it thus :
Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is
flc-sk By flesh here he doth not mean that man is a frail creature ; but
he speaks of him as he is sinful, as he is corrupt, and his meaning is this : I
see, saith he, that man is nothing but flesh, that his whole nature is nothing but a resisting and an opposing of my Spirit; and therefore my Spirit shall
not always strive with him for that he is flesh. Yet, his days shall be a
hundred and twenty years, notwithstanding they were so generally corrupt. And that he meaneth by
* flesh the corrupt nature of man, I have much to make plain, but I shall in a word manifest it. It is not only because it is
alleged as a cause of the flood, and because it is brought in as opposite to
* flesh. God
the^Spirit ; but in the 5th verse he sheweth the fruits of this
.saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every ima
gination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And then
compare with it chap. viiL 21. He had given a reason here in this Gth
chapter why he would bring the flood ; and, mark it, the reason must be general,
for the flood destroyed infants as well as those of riper years, and therefore he
uivcs a reason that shall reach infants, and all : and he saith, they were flesh. Now in the 8th chapter, ver. 21, he giveth a reason why he would not any more bring the flood ; and what is it i The Lord said in his heart, I will
not curse the ground any more for man s sake ; for the imagination of man s
heart is evil from his youth, or infancy. There are some interpreters that
read it thus : I will not destroy it, although the imagination of man s heart
is evil ; before, indeed, I destroyed the world because man is flesh, and be
cause the imagination of his heart is continually evil from his youth ; yet,
although I did it once, I will not do it again. It comes all to one, the
meaning is this : I have now received a sacrifice, I smell the savour of the
blood of Christ in Noah s sacrifice ; therefore for his sacrifice sake I will !
patient with man; for he is corrupt, and I must bring I know not how many
.floods to wash away his corruption, therefore I will be patient. I only
it for this, to shew that the word flesh is used for original sin. J mL-ht
be large in this.
Only, by the way, let me observe this one thing upon it : that the old
world, you see, was well instructed in the doctrine of original corruption, God reveals it plainly to Noah, gives it for a reason of the flood. And th -n WM good reason why it should be then well known, because that the w..rld
lad fallen not many hundred years before in Adam, ind Adam liv.-d nine
hui. 11 the Mthat indman s corruption was pcrh,
. and quick in fchOM times, than in
EPH. II. 3.] TO THE EPHESIAXS. $1
after-times it was unto the very Jews themselves. Now then, the Old Testament haying used the word flesh/ our Saviour Christ continues it ; and in John iii. 6, giving the reason why that every man must be born again, or he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven, he tells them, because every man by his first birth is nothing but flesh, that is, nothing but corruption, nothing but sin, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, therefore of
necessity men must be born again. And the apostles after Christ did use it, and the New Testament in the epistles commonly useth it, and puttcth it for
corruption.
But now to give you the reasons of this appellation in a word or two :
First, it is called flesh in distinction from, and in opposition to spirit. The Jews did call things flesh that were not spirit. Hence therefore now, if it were a substantial spirit that flesh was distinguished from, look what kind of spirit that any thing was differenced from,^in that sense we are to understand flesh in distinction from it. I shall give you but one instance, though I could give you a great many. You know that God is a Spirit and that Jesus Christ had in his person both a human and a divine nature : the divine nature, that is called Spirit ; and the human nature, that is called iiesh. There is a multitude of instances for it : It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. That is, it is his Godhead putteth all the influence into his humanity; if he had been man alone, it would not have done it. He was put to death in the flesh, and quickened in the Spirit. But the most express place is in Rom. i. 3, 4. He saith he came of the seed of David according to the flesh, but ho was raised by the Spirit of holiness, that is, by his Godhead. Man himself hath a spirit in him, his soul : hence therefore his body is, in opposition to the soul, called flesh, 2 Cor. vii. 1, Let us cleanse ourselves from all pollution of flesh, that is, of bodily lusts. and of spirit, that is, of the soul, which the soul exerciseth without depend ence upon the_ body. So in Ps. Ixxix. 2, the bodies of the saints are called the iiesh of the saints. Yea, the very gospel itself, because it hath a spiritualness in it, is called spirit, and the law is called flesh. The gospel, in 2 Cor.
iii. 8, is called the ministration of the Spirit. And, Gal. iii. 3, Did you begin in the Spirit, and will you end in the flesh ? or, will you be per fected in the flesh? That is, by adding the law to the gospel, which was the thing they endeavoured. Now then the word flesh being still used in opposition to and in distinction from spirit, whether taken in a substantial sense, or otherwise, hence, because that the new creature, which is begot by the Holy Ghost, is called spirit, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, hence therefore the contrary quality, that corrupt nature that lusteth against this spirit, and is opposite unto it, is called flesh. And as that
spirit is the bundle of all graces, so this flesh is the bundle of folly that is bound up in the heart of man, a whole bundle of it, a mass of corruption. The law, saith Paul, is spiritual, but I am carnal, Rom. vii 14. All cor ruption opposite to the law is called carnality or flesh, because the holy law is spiritual.
But, secondly, there is another reason why it is called flesh ; and that is, because this corrupt nature of ours doth confine us to things fleshly, as to our objects ; that is, that all the powers and faculties of soul and body shall only mind the things of the flesh but I do not mean things of the body when I say so, whereas spirit, the new creature, hath for its object all sort of spiritual things. I do found this upon Rom. viii. 5 ; saith he there, They that are after the flesh do mind the tilings of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit do mind the things of the Spirit. It is a savin? in VOL. II. p
AX EXPOSITION OF THE EP1TLE [SKKV.t N V.
philosophy, and it is a true one, that
fii< ltates distinyuuntttr per act
objtcta, all natural faculties are distinguished by their objects. So is tloli and spirit, grace and corruption. And because corrupt nature hath t lutilings of the flesh for its object, hence it is called flesh; and because that there are
spiritual things which are the object of grace and holiness, which are spiri tual things, hence that is called a spirit.
Now, my brethren, let ine tell you that by the things of the flesh is not meant only things of the body, or belonging to the body, or the object
bodily lusts, but all outward things whatsoever, all creature-comforts ; yea, I may say, all creatures, take God and Christ out of them, and they are all the things of the flesh. The Apostle expresseth it there, in Col. iii. 2, when he calleth them
* earthly things, which our earthly members are set upon ; for corrupt nature confines us to things on earth, confines us to things of
this world : spiritual things, that are of another world, the natural man hath no suitableness to them. And by
* things of the flesh is not meant only
* the works of the flesh, Gal. v. 1 9 ; but all creaturecomforts whatsoever, all dignities, all excellencies, honours, riches, all the
gross sins, which are called
glories of the world, that do so much take up the minds of men, are called the things of the flesh ; and to these doth corrupt nature suit us and carry us on. 2 Cor. v. 16, Henceforth know we no man after the flesh.
* After the flesh, referreth both unto the things known, and to the manner of know
ing them. To the tkinys known, which is that which is to our purpose, that
is, we value no man by his outward privileges and dignities; we value no man by honours, riches, or greatness, or by what he is in this world. So
likewise, in Horn. xv. 27, when they had sent a contribution to them at Je
rusalem, saith Paul, they did partake of your carnal things, that is, of your
fleshly things; he calleth their riches and estates things that are fleshly. So
in 1 Cor. ix. 11. And you have the like in another place, I will not glory in the flesh. And there is a phrase in Gal. vi. 12, of making a fair show in the flesh, that is, in fleshly things, in anything but in God and in Christ. The Jews did call whatsoever was outward, flesh and fleshly. The very ceremonial law therefore the Apostle calls a carnal commandment, a fleshly commandment, Heb. vii. 1C. And so he calls the duties of it the works of the flesh, though they were the institutions of God ; yet because they had an outwardness in them, in regard of the gospel, he calleth them flesh. I allege it for this, that all things that were outward were called flesh among the Jews; yea, the works of the moral law, if a man would affect to be never so holy, if he take away aiming at God as the principal, and if he
will go and trust in them when they are done, they are all flesh, they are
things of the flesh. What saith the apostle, Phil, iii 4 ? If any have reason to be confident in the flesh, much more I. I had cause to trust in the flesh. He had relation to that speech in Jer. xvii 5, Cursed is the man that maketh flesh his arm ; which is, not only to make man Ms confi
dence, but anything; for Paul interpreteth it here, my own righteousness, and whatsoever I did, all the works of the law, it is all but flesh, all the privi
leges, if you go and sever Christ from them.
Now, my brethren, consider what I say: corrupt nature then hath for
its object all the things of the flesh. Take spiritual out of the law and the duties of it, take the new creature out of it, and take Jesus Christ out of it, and it is all flesh, and corrupt nature will suit with them all ; it may be wound up to the works of the law, to a seeking and an at! . ( tiuir of Ham. 1, -
<kc. The very works of the gospel, if you will let them be carried on for
self-ends, they are all the work* .f the t k-sh, and tilings of the fle.sh ; if you
EPH. II. 3.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 83
will trust in what you do, they become things of the flesh. Take a man that is a temporary believer, and he may be wound up to the ways and things of the gospel, yet he turns them all to the things of the flesh, and corrupt nature remaining, flesh will suit with all these.
And then again, a third reason why it is called flesh is this : because it is propagated by natural generation; John iii. 6, That which is born of the flesh is flesh, the thing that is born or begotten hath the name of the beetter, that which is bora of the Spirit is spirit. That which is born ofthe flesh that is, by a fleshly way of generation is flesh, is corruption. And let me make this observation of it. Sin, you know, is the work of Satan : Ye are of your father the devil, saith he. Why ? Because he is the remote cause. Original sin hath not its denomination from him, for he hath not that influence into sin which the Holy Ghost hath in work ing grace in us ; therefore he would not say, that which is of Satan in you is corruption; but because that generation is the next and immediate or proximate cause, therefore it beareth the name flesh/ because it is born of flesh, and flesh is the immediate cause of it. And hence it was that circumcision was in the foreskin of the flesh ; and it is called flesh pecu liarly in Rom. ii. 28. And I could give you other scriptures, as Lev xv 2 and Ezek. xxiii. 20.
_ Then again, in the fourth place, it is called flesh in respect of the more visible seat and subject of corrupt nature, in which it is most seen ; visibly it is in the flesh, it is in the lusts of the body of all sorts and kinds. The Scripture doth give you denominations not always from the more principal part, but it gives the denomination from what is visible, as speaking ad vulgus, to the people ; as, for example, the nature of man consists of body and soul. The soul is a spirit, you know, but the body is flesh. Usually in Scripture the name that is given to man is flesh. The Word was made 1 In his sight shall no flesh be justified; that is, no man. Here you see the body carries away the denomination. It is not that man hath not a soul, and that that is not the more principal part, but because the flesh is the more visible part, that which we behold, in which the soul dwelleth. Hence therefore the Scripture calleth man flesh. Answerably, though sin is as much, and much more in our will and understanding than it is in sensual lusts; yet, notwithstanding, because that original sin is seen most in sensual lusts which have their seat in the flesh, hence it is called flesh ; the denomi nation of the whole ariseth from thence. And let me give you this observa tion by the way : that the devils, though they have the same corruption in their understanding and will that we have, and we the same that they have for, saith he, Ye are of your father the devil, and his lusts ye will do -yet they are not called/%, neither are they called/esA; but they are called, in Eph. vi. 12,
spiritual wickednesses. Why 1 Because they have no bodily no sensual lusts in them, which in a visible way should carry away the de nomination. But because in man s nature there is another part in which 3 more visibly seen, which eminently is called lust, which is original cor ruption, therefore it is in a more peculiar manner called flesh. And so much now for the reasons of the denomination. I will give you an obser vation or two :
<
06s. -In the first place, my brethren, we may from hence take a direc- -oryfor the humbling of ourselves. Here you see, in those words
< having our conversation in the lusts of the flesh, there are three things the Apostle holds forth to every man to consider, when he would humble himself before od. In the first place, he discovers to him his flesh ; that is, his corrupt
, SITION OK Till: El I>TLE [SERMON V.
nature, having the sleds of all sin in him. Which corrupt nature, he tolls
him, in the second place, is an active principle in him, it is the cause of all
the lusts in his heart, and all the evil in his conversation. It is an active
principle that is never idle ; for though itself is indeed but a mere privation,
yet because it is a privation in an active subject, as man s soul is, hence there
fore it is never quiet. In Horn, vii. 5, he saith, that when he was in the
flesh, the motions of sin wrought, they had force in liis members to carry him on to evil; and in ver. 8 he giveth the name of sin above all el
l wrought
this original corruption by way of cminency. Sin, saith he,
in me all concupiscence. What doth he mean by sin? Most plainly
original sin. Why? Because that which works concupiscence, which
brings forth lusts, that must needs be original corruption. Sin wrought,
saith he. I speak it for this, it is an active principle, therefore he
calleth that the great sin of all the rest ; he giveth it the name of sin above
all the rest, not only because it hath the seeds of all sin in it, but because it
is the worker, the great mother of all the abominations. As Babylon is
called the mother of all the abominations in Europe, all idolatries come from
thence ; so this is the great mother of all the abominations in man s heart.
< sin above measure, though
Therefore, in the same Horn. vii. 13, he calleth it
he means sin in the general, and actual sin too ; but yet original sin he
especially speaks of, and carrieth along in that discourse ; it is, saith he,
above measure sinful, for it is the mother of all abominations, and works
all concupiscence ; and therefore this humbled Paul more, and so it should
do us.
i i And, my brethren, it is a predominant principle too ; that is clear in tl
text also : for all our lusts, and all our sins, they are not so much called the
lusts of the man, as the lusts of the flesh ; because that flesh, that corruption,
is now the predominant principle in every man s nature : therefore all sins
are called the fruits of the flesh, so in Gal. v. They are called the deeds
?> in I!"m. viii. And we are said to be in thejlesh, Rom. vn.
of the flesh,
5. And
or in love, And indeed, reasonable
I would define a man, I would define him to be a fleshly creature, as
totle defined him a rational creature ; therefore, in 1 Cor. iii. 3, saith
Apostle, Ye walk as men; are ye not carnal ? And to be carnal and fleshly
is all one. When thou hast seen, therefore, corrupt flesh as the root of all,
then go and look to thy lusts, all the corruption that is in thy life, it is from
the stirring of lusts in thee ; all the corruption in the world is said to be
through lusts, 2 Peter i. 4 ; therefore go and look especially to them.
And, lastly, then go to thy actions ; or, if you will, begin at your and so go to your lusts, and next to the flesh : for, indeed, there is the pi li-
gree of sin. If a man would be humbled, let him view his actions, Ut tun
look into his heart, see all his luste and all the engines that act them ; and
when he hath done, let him go down to the spawn of all, and then to that
birth which was the means of conveying it.
EPH. IL 3.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 85