Sermon XXI
And what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.VsR. 18.
As I told you, this is one of the Apostle s prayers, as he hath many other
scattered up and down in his Epistles. In this prayer of his you have these two parts
: First, the person that he prayeth to ; the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory. He doth set him forth under such considera
tions as were suitable unto the matter of his prayer, as I shall shew you in the closure of this sermon. Then, secondly, you have the matter of his
prayer, which is for knowledge. 1. Intimate knowledge of God, intimate communion with him, as I have opened to you; that he may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge (or acknowledgment) * of him. 2. He prayeth God to give them eyes enlightened, eyes of their
understanding. That which is translated the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, if you will read it according to the original, as many in
terpreters go, it referreth to the word give ; that he would give you eyes of
your understanding enlightened, enlightened to know what is the hope of his
calling; that is the second part of his prayer. And then, thirdly, what the
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints are. And, fourthly, what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe.
I am yet in the 18th verse. It hath two parts. It hath first a de
scription of spiritual knowledge. It is a giving of enlightened eyes of the
understanding, that you may know; which I handled the last time. There
are, secondly, two several objects which these eyes of the understanding being enlightened do serve to know. The first is, What is the hope of his
calling. The second is, What are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.
I opened to you the last time what was meant by the knowing of the
hope of his calling. I told you, that by hope, as I understood it, was meant, not the thing hoped for, for that is expressed afterward, but the grace of
hope, the grace of assurance, and the grounds of that assurance, the grounds of hope. Hope is taken for the grace of hope, and it is taken likewise for the grounds of hope, as well as for the thing hoped for. It is taken for the
grounds of hope ; I gave you one scripture for it. I will add but this : in
your ordinary expression in our English dialect, when you come and ask a
physician concerning a dying friend, or one that is sick, you will say, What
hope is there ? that is, what grounds of hope ? There is hope in Israel concern
ing this thing ; that is, there are grounds of hope. Now then, the Apostle s
meaning is plainly this : he prayeth they may know both what assurance and hope God calleth them to have ; what is the hope of his calling, what
his will, and mind, and command is, you should have ; he commandeth that you should be assured, be men full of hope, and of great hope ; for by calling is sometimes in Scripture meant his command, as I have shewed you. Or
else, in the second place, and together with it, for it is both meant, he prayeth that they may know all the grounds that may give them hope by virtue of
310 AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE [SERMON XXI.
God s calling, for to God s calling there are a world of grounds of hope an
nexed. There is no man that is called of God but hath all sorts of grounds to be assured of his salvation, and that by virtue of his calling. Now, then, this is the first thing the Apostle prayeth for, that they may make their calling sure ; that is the meaning, to know what is the hope of their calling, what
grounds their calling affordeth them, that are annexed to their calling, to-
being in the state of grace, what hope is annexed to their calling, of their
interest in salvation. So that this is the first petition, that they may know
their own interest for themselves, a peculiar one, a particular interest in those
great things to come.
Having prayed for this, he doth in the second place pray, that they may know what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints are ; that
they may know what the greatness of that glory in heaven is, of which they have an interest, and for which they have grounds to hope.
: let a man s eyes be but enlightened to see all those grounds that God, by virtue of his calling, Lath given him to hope for salvation by ; to see his own interest clear, to have those grounds fresh in his eye. And then, let him have a light to see, a glorious light to see what the riches of that glory are ; what mighty, strong, and glorious Christians would this make men ! Now for both these doth
Now, then, put but these two things together, I appeal
the Apostle here pray.
Having then handled this first part, what is the hope of his calling,* I now come to the second, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance
in the saints are. I come to these words, and so on. As the Apostle would have them know their own interest, and all the grounds of it, that they might be comforted, so he would have them know the thing. How happy would Christians be, if they knew their own happiness ; if they knew both
their own interest, and likewise if they knew what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints are ! There are two things that are to be opened in the handling of these words. The FIRST is, to lay open to you, so far as the word openeth it, and doth give you a sight of it, What the glory of heaven is by the description here that the
Apostle makes of it ; he calleth it the riches of the glory of his inheritance
in the saints.
The word here, 6 c/.oSroc, the article that is put to riches, is not only to know what it is for the substance, but how great it is. That you may know, saith he, xai ri$ 6 cXoDror, how great the riches are, that is the
Apostle s meaning. I was in heaven, saith the Apostle, so he might have
said to them, and I saw things, saith he, that I am not able to utter. When
tie came down again, he could tell no news of it ; so you may read 2 Cor.
.di. ; they were too big for his mouth to utter. Therefore here the Apostle is as it were in travail, he bringeth forth great words, riches, and glory, and
inheritance, and knoweth not how to express it, heapeth up one word upon another.
And then the SECOND thing that is to be considered in the text is, Of what
use tltf knowledge of the glory of his inheritance is to saints; for he would not pray for it unless it were of mighty use. There are these two things to be handled in the words. And
FIEST, For the description, for that the Apostle doth ; as he doth pray that
they may know it, so he doth interlace in his prayer such descriptions of it
whereby they may know it. Now, concerning the description he giveth of
it, I divide that into two parts
: Here is, first, The state itself that the saints shall be in.
. L IS.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 311
Here are, secondly, The pei-sons to whom it belongeth.
First, The state itself, set forth to us by these three things :
1. An inheritance.
2. A rich inheritance.
3. A glorious inheritance : the riches of the glory of his inheritance.
Secondly, here are the persons whom it belongeth unto. Here is, first, the
Person whose it is more properly and most eminently, it is his inheritance.
Secondly, here is the subject in whom this inheritance is. He is the great inheritor ; but who come in as heirs too under him ? It is
* his inheritance
in the saints. And so now you have the division of the words.
First, To begin with the first, an inheritance.
1 Inheritance doth note out the substance of this glory, which is the
subject of which the other two are predicated or attributed to. There are two attributes of this inheritance, rich and glorious; but an inheritance is
the substance of it ; therefore he saith, the riches of the glory of his in
heritance. fiiches is attributed to glory ; but both are attributed to in
heritance.
In the first place, because we have a title to it, being saints, as sons have
to their natural inheritance ; in respect of our title to it therefore, it is called an inheritance. My brethren, God, to make heaven sure, and that his
children might have mighty hope of their calling, hath made heaven sure by
all sorts of ways that are found amongst men to make a thing sure. He
hath made it sure by a purchase of the blood of Christ ; so saith ver. 14, he
* the purchased possession. He hath made it sure by an inherit
calleth it
ance too ; not only by a way of sale, it was sold to Christ, and it is his
inheritance too, but it is an inheritance to us though he purchased it ; so
saith the text too. It is likewise by way of gift, that is the third way of
conveying of it ; for the gift of God is eternal life, Rom. vi 23. Lastly,
it is given by will of a man that dieth, Heb. ix. 15. You read there that
Jesus Christ died, and made his will, that all those that believe in him
should have eternal life. For this cause, saith he, he is the Mediator of
the new covenant, or testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are
called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. As it is an inherit
ance, and purchased by Christ, and given by God, so bequeathed by Christ
at his death. Read the next verses : For where a testament is, of necessity there must be the death of the testator; for a testament is of force after men are dead ; otherwise it is of no strength at all whilst the testator liveth. So that Jesus Christ died, and left it to us by will. We have it by all ways ;
you cannot have God made over to you more surely than by way of gift, than by way of inheritance, (if a man make no will, yet the heir succeedeth
Mm,) than by way of purchase, than by way of will. All these ways is
heaven conveyed to us.
In the second place, an inheritance noteth out a perpetuity. You know
* to a man and his heirs for ever. So
your style of inheritance runs thus,
doth heaven ; and therefore in the same place I even now quoted, Heb. ix.
15, it is called an eternal inheritance. In the third place, an inheritance noteth out a whole possession ; it doth
not note out a part, it doth not note out a portion. Abraham, you know,
gave portions to his youngest children ; but an inheritance he gave to his
eldest son Isaac, to his first-born. Now read Heb. xii. 23 ; he caileth the
saints there the first-born of them whose names are written in heaven. They have all inheritances as first-born.
312 AN EXPOSITION OP THE EPISTLE [SERMON XXL
You will say, how is that possible ? For if one saint inherit all, how do the rest do so too ?
Yes, my brethren. Look Col. i. 12, it is called an inheritance in light. Now those that are sons of Adam born into this world, one man doth not
inherit part of the light of the sun and another man another ; but all men
are heirs alike of the light of the sun. If God be the inheritance, if he be
the light of it, as you shall hear anon in Rev. xxi. 23, then all may be
heirs ; for God/ saith he, is all in all. He can be whole happiness to one man and whole happiness to another, and no man shall complain ; every man possesseth whole God to himself. An inheritance is of the whole, it is
not a portion.
So much now for the word inheritance. I have touched upon such things as are most material for the opening of it.
I come now to the attributes of it. First, it is a rich inheritance.
Secondly, it is a glorious inheritance. Thirdly, there are riches of glory in
it : for the word riches may either be attributed to inheritance (and so
glory ) apart; or you may join both together, riches of glory of our
inheritance. In the general, my brethren, the Apostle speaks here per
tinently, after the manner of men ; for all inheritances here below consist
either of riches or glory* We see that men inherit both ; the children of rich men inherit their riches, if they be noble men they inherit their honour ; both honour and riches go by descent, he joineth them both here, you see ; and where both these meet there is fulness. When the glory of the greatest monarch upon earth is described, Esth. i. 4, it is done both by riches and
( Ahasuerus made a feast, when he shewed the riches of
by glory ; he saith,
his glorious kingdom, and the honour of his excellent majesty. There are but these two things which the world pursueth, riches and glory; riches
will compass all sorts of pleasures ; and if you have these two you want
nothing. Read but Eccles. vi. 2 j he makes a supposition of a man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that, saith he, he wanteth
nothing if he have these he wanteth nothing that his soul can desire in
this life. Hence, therefore, because these two are things inherited, and
because these two put together do fully make up a satisfaction to a man s
desires, he describeth heaven to us both by riches and by glory; what are
the riches of the glory, saith he, of his inheritance. And therefore you shall find that the reward of heaven is set forth to us by these two, by our Saviour Christ, and these two alone, Matt. xiii. 43, 44. At ver. 43, he
layeth forth there the glory of that kingdom, Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father ; there he mentioneth
( the kingdom of heaven is like to a treasure hid in a field ; there are riches. Therefore, Prov. viii. 18, Wisdom is said to have in her left hand riches and honour ; for these are the great things the world desireth. You have both here.
their glory. Again, saith he,
First, to begin with richesy and secondly with glory, apart ; and then, why riches of glory.
It is, first, a rich inheritance. The Holy Ghost in this doth descend ; he
speaks as to children, he expresseth heaven by riches and by glory, because
they are the great things, the only things we are capable of to understand heaven s glory by, and the abundance of good things there. First, for riches. You shall read in Rev. xxi. a description of the new Jerusalem. Whether
it be an estate of glory of the Church here on earth yet to come, which is but the forerunner, is but the harbinger to that great glory after the day of judgment, which I rather incline to, or whether it be the glory of the
EPH. L 18.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 313
saints in happiness hereafter, I will not dispute that now, however it will
serve my purpose. For if it be meant of the estate of the Church on earth in her perfect glory and beauty yet to come, it will argue much more what
is in heaven ; therefore it is all one for my purpose whether you understand
it of the one or the other. Do but read out that chapter, and you shall find
there that he rakes all the bowels of the earth, he fetcheth up all the pre cious stones out of it, and gold and crystal, all those things that the world hath turned up trump, as I may so express it, to commend all things else, wherein riches lie, he hath reckoned them up all as you shall find there ; to what end 1 He mentioneth gold to pave the streets of that city, for men to tread upon, so you have it ver. 21. Nay, he is not only profuse in his ex
pressions, lavish, as I may so express it, to have a street paved with gold, but he doth feign as if he were a poet, he saith it was such gold as did shine
as crystal, such gold as the chymics say they can make ; they can make gold, they say, to have the very transparency of crystal. But the Holy Ghost aimeth not at this art, for it was not in the world j but if gold had a re
splendency in it, if it were as transparent as crystal, for to that he compareth
it, it had a perfection in it. What a glorious creature gold were, if together with the weight it had a transparency as crystal, whereas gold hath a dark ness in it. In Solomon s time, which was a time of riches, 1 Kings x. 27, he saith silver was in Jerusalem as stones in the street ; here is the type now, but it is but of silver, it is not of gold ; but here the streets of the new Jerusalem are paved with gold.
Well, the wall of that city, if you read ver. 18, he saith it was all of
jasper-stone ; there was never such jasper in the world to make one wall :
still he feigneth ; he is fain, as we say, to compound, to make golden moun
tains to express the riches of the new Jerusalem. And you shall find, ver.
21, that every gate of the city was a pearL A pearl as big as a mails
thumb, what a mighty value is it of ! Here are city gates, broad gates, open
gates, for he saith they were never shut at all by day, for there was no night there. They are every one of one pearl, each gate is but one pearl. Here
are the strangest fictions that ever were ; you see what visions the Holy Ghost makes to set out the riches of the new Jerusalem. And he saith that all
the nations shall bring their glory and honour into it, so at ver. 26, that is, they shall bring their riches into it, that is the meaning of glory there ; for in Scripture we find often that glory is put for riches : Gen. xxxi. 1, we read there that Jacob heard the words of Laban s sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father s; and of that which was our father s hath he gotten all this glory ; that is, all this riches. The allusion here is
to Isa. Ixi. 6 ; there you -shall find it is called the glory of riches which the
nations shall bring in ; and so the Septuagint translateth it. The like you have in Isa. Ix. 9. It is a manifest allusion, this in the Revelation, to those
places. Now, my brethren, that which is the head city of a kingdom, as London ; that which is the head city of the world, as Some once was, all the nations of the world bring their riches thither. Heaven is the head
city, it is the city of the living God, all riches are come thither ; it is there
fore a rich inheritance.
And let me but add one thing to you
: all these same riches of which the
Holy Ghost, condescending to our capacities, if we may speak so with rever-
. ence, is fain to make fictions, for mountains of gold, and gates of one pearl,
is a thing that never was, nor ever will be in this world, but he doth it to
set things forth to us ; all these descriptions, what are they but false riches ? Luke xvi. 11, he calleth only the riches of grace and glory the true riches,
314 AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE [SERMON
and lie calleth the other the mammon r 5/xw. It is translated of un
righteousness, but the Hebrew word the Septuagint oftentimes translates it
for falsehood; as now in English we say a thing is right when it is true, and it is wrong when it is false, so the riches of unrighteousness or of wrong, in the Hebrew dialect, oftentimes is put for falsehood. All the riches here
are but false riches, these only are the true riches, the other are but shadows of it.
To speak a little more home to it. It is a rich inheritance ; rich, why ? Because that God layeth forth all his riches in making the saints happy. In; Phil. iv. 19, it is a place I shall afterwards quote to a further purpose, saith he,
c My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in
glory by Jesus Christ. You know God is said to be rich in mercy, and rich in grace, and rich in love, and rich in power ; all his attributes are
called riches in Scripture. Now mark, wouldst thou know what heaven is ? Thou shalt have all God s riches ; not in bullion, for that cannot be, they are incommunicable, thou canst not have them in species ; but thou shalt have them in use, in comfort ; thou shalt have all God s riches turned into comfort. The attributes themselves are incommunicable, thou canst not have
it in money paid thee down, it is proper to God ; but all the riches in God
shall be to make thee happy. God shall supply all your need according to
his riches, saith the text ; and if God s riches undertake to supply you, cer
tainly you will be full.
In the second place, to describe these riches more full unto you, I will
give you one place of Scripture ; the other place that I mentioned is applied to God, that all his riches shall be turned into comforts; this place I now give is of Christ s riches, it is 2 Cor. viii. 9, Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became
poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. He doth not mean riches in this world, for the saints are the poorest in this world ; you see your
calling, saith the Apostle, how that not many rich, not many noble, are
called ; therefore the riches he meaneth are the riches of glory hereafter. Now see, for I argue, as from God before, so now from this that Christ
did, an infinite mass of riches are laid up for us in the world to come. To.
raise up your considerations, consider this, saith he ; Jesus Christ that was rich became poor, to that end that you might be rich. Jesus Christ was
rich, he was the heir of all things, he had all glory; he left himself not worth one groat, my brethren. The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have
nests, but the Son of man hath not where to hide his head. He became poor, the word is a beggar; not that Christ was a beggar, or lived by begging, for there was to be no beggar in Israel, he had not fulfilled the law if he had ; therefore the Papists have but an ill ground from this place to justify the call
ing of their mendicant friars ; but he was in the estate of a beggar, he was ministered unto, he left himself worth nothing. If that this Christ who, saith
he, was rich it is crAou ff/oc o)v, he did exist rich before he was poor laid all
aside, emptied himself to nothing ; if he will put all the riches he was worth out to use, that you might be rich, saith he, and you shall have all the use of it; what will this come to ? My brethren, the Apostle, in Eph. iii. 8, call-i eth them the unsearchable riches of Christ ; you cannot tell them over to
all eternity, for if Christ will put forth all his riches, and become poor on
purpose to make men rich, what riches will that be 2 So that you see it is a rich inheritance.
And let me add this too, which is a good meditation of Austin s upon this place, saith he, quid facturi sunt, &c. ; How rich will his riches make
EPH. I. 18.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 315
us when we shall meet with him in glory, when his poverty makes us thiss
rich ! As the Apostle, I remember, expresseth, Horn. xi. 12, speaking of the
Jews, If the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, what will their fulness be V And so much now for this first attribute, that it is a rich inheritance. We come to glory; the riches, saith he, of the glory of his inheritance. To open you the word glory. Glory importeth always an excellency of
things ; and it importeth a superexcellency too. It importeth an excellency, as it is said, Matt. iv. 8, that Satan shewed him the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, that is, all the excellency of them. And it im
porteth a height of excellency, rqv d6%av, so is the expression, 2 Peter L 17, the excellent glory. Always glory hath an excellency, yea, and an excelling
excellency too, or else it is not glory, saith he, 2 Cor. iii. 9, 10 : This glory,
speaking of the law, is no glory by reason of the glory that excelleth, and
if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministra
tion of righteousness exceed in glory.
The word that is used for glory signifieth in the Hebrew and the Chaldee
both, a weight, and the Apostle hath an allusion to the meaning of the word
according to the Hebrew phrase in his expression, 2 Cor. iv. 17, where he
calleth it a weight of glory. Very well, now to make use of this to set
forth to you the glory of heaven.
First, it noteth out all excellency in man. The glory of men, he calleth
it, 1 Peter i. 17, the flower of the grass, that is the excellency of men ; all
sorts of excellencies are meant by glory. And it is an exceeding weight of
those excellencies too, or else it is not glory. To instance in some. As
First, for beauty ; it is an excellency of man ; when his beauty doth arise
to a brightness, to a splendour, it is called glory, when it riseth to such a
glory as dazzleth the eyes. Therefore, 2 Cor. iii. 7, you may read that Moses face did shine that they could not behold the glory of his coun
tenance. It is not an ordinary beauty that is called glory, but when it
ariseth to such a height as it dazzleth the eyes that they cannot behold it, it hath a weight in it ; it oppresseth the eyes. So likewise Acts xxii. 1 1 ; it
is said there that Paul could not see by reason of the glory of the light ;
it is not an ordinary light, but that light that dazzleth the eyes that a man
cannot see it; that is superexcellency of light, that is called glory. So-
likewise if you come to pomp ; if it riseth, if it be such a pomp as is trans
cendent, which all men fall down before as they do before a king, then it is-
glory ; it is not only pomp, but it is a superexcellency, a transcendency, beyond what is ordinary. You read of the queen of Sheba, 1 Kings x. 5, when she saw all the riches of Solomon, his glory, as it is described there, that there was no more spirit in her; yet she herself was a queen, she came into the city with a great train and with much riches, yet when she saw Solomon exceeded her, he did so exceed her that she had no spirit in
her. Now what saith Christ of the state, of the pomp of Solomon, Matt,
vi. 29? Solomon in all his glory, it is in the original in all his royalty/
it was a glory such as no king else had, it was not only pomp, but it was a pomp that made her even swoon again, when she saw it she had no spirit i. her ; this was glory. So if you take it for power and strength; ordinary
strength is nothing, but if you come to a superexcellency of strength, it is
called glory; therefore, in 2 Thess. i. 9, it is called the glory of Christ s
power ; when he hath such strength as is not in all creatures again, this is not power only, but the glory of power. The word glory noteth out the
superexcellency of every good thing. So likewise, take joy and pleasure;
316 AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE [SEEMON XXL
if it come to joy which hath a superexcellency in it, which the mind of man cannot imagine how great it is, nor cannot utter, then it is called glorious : 1 Peter i. 8, With joy unspeakable and glorious/ or full of glory. So now, whatsoever doth exceed the expectation of the creature, that is admired, that is called glory. In 2 Thess. i. 10, speaking of Christ, saith he, When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be made wonderful/ or
admired, in all them that believe ; when it cometh to wonderment, then it
is glory.
So that now you have a complete definition of glory. It signifieth first
all excellences whatsoever; and all excellences in the height, and such a
weight as they do oppress, that the ordinary understanding of. man cannot bear. So strength, in the glory of it, is superexcellency of strength ; and
joy, when it excelleth, is called joy full of glory. So much for the opening of the phrase.
Now, if you would know the glory of heaven, you are to do two things. You are first to fancy all sorts of excellences, of beauty, of strength, of joy, of holiness ; take what you will, and when you have done, it is a superexcelling excellency; there is that glory in it beyond all what you can
imagine in all these.
To exemplify it a little. First, in the body; for indeed the Scripture doth not hold forth the glory of the soul, nor are the words of men able to express it ; but the Scripture sets forth the glory of the body. The world hath but one thing, that is a creature, that truly deserveth the name of being glorious, and that is the sun. Now, saith he, Matt. xiii. 43, The righteous shall shine as the sun. And our Saviour Christ giveth them an instance of it, Matt. xvii. 2 ; there he transfigured himself before them, and it is said, His face did shine as the sun, and his garments were as white as the light, so white as no fuller could white them.
Now, my brethren, to what end doth the Scripture give us one instance of what glory there is in the body, but thereby to raise up our minds to think what the glory of the soul will be in all sorts of perfection ? For con
sider with yourselves ; the sun, you do not call it a beautiful creature, as you call a woman ; but it is a superexcellency of beauty, it is glorious. Saith he of the Church, Ps. xlv. 13, she is all glorious within; what is the meaning of that 1 It is not a painted beauty, it is not extrinsical ; it is
innate, it is within. I take that to be the meaning. He instanceth only in the glory of the body, because from that you may argue the glory of the
soul. The body shall shine as the sun, which is the most glorious thing the world hath ; what will the soul be then ? The body, that is but the sheath of the soul. Look Dan. vii. 15, I was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, so it is translated. Look in your margins, and it is in the midst of my sheath ; he calleth his body but the sheath of his soul, but the gar ment. Now in the transfiguration of Christ there is mention made that his
garments were white, so white as no fuller could white them ; and, Luke ix.
29, it is said they were white and shining. Now, if his body shining as the sun made his garments white ; and the body is but as the garment of the soul ; and if the body shineth as the sun, how will the soul be then ? Here
: his body did shine as the sun, his garments were
lieth the comparison
white, and they were glittering too ; the body is but the garment of the soul ; if that shine as the sun, what will the soul do 1 Riches of glory/ saith the
Apostle here. My brethren, the soul is the glory of man. Gen. xlix. 6, 1 My soul/ saith he, come not into their secret, nor my glory into their counsel. Now, if the soul be the glory of man, and the body, which is but
EPH. I. 18.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 317
a vile thing, ( our vile bodies/ so lie calleth them, Phil. iii. 21 ;) if they shall
shine as the sun, how will the soul, that is the glory of man, in all sorts of
perfection ? Therefore the Apostle here saith riches of glory. I will name but one place, and so leave it ; it is 2 Cor. iv. 1 7. That word there, which is translated exceeding, is x0 ftftgOX^n tig twegGoX^, one
hyperbole upon another; that is, one hyperbole of speech will not express it;
as when you say, a wall up to heaven, or a high wall. Saith the Apostle,
express heaven by hyperboles, and when you have done, tumble one hyper bole upon another hyperbole, and it will not express it. This he saith of
the glory there; it is exceeding, it is hyperbolical, it is hyperbole upon
hyperbole. I remember he speaks of sin, and saith it is xaff SffigCoM"
a/Ac^rwXo g, above measure sinful, Rom. vii. 13; the sinfulness of it hath
an hyperbole in it, man s wit cannot reach it. When he cometh to speak of
the glory of heaven, it hath one hyperbole upon another; it is an exceeding
hyperbolical glory.
So much now for the opening of that.
I told you likewise, that as it is a rich inheritance, and a glorious inherit
ance, so it is riches of glory; you may join both together if you will. For
riches, you know, are external things ; but the saints in heaven, omnia sua
secum portant, their riches are within, inherent riches, therefore glorious
riches; the which glory importeth excellency and a superexcellency of all
good things. And then to add riches to this glory, which noteth abundance,
this overwhelmeth the mind of man; how can he look further ? What are
the riches of the glory of his inheritance ? So I have done with that.
Secondly, Now I come to the persons ivhom this belongeth to. Here are two persons mentioned.
First, it is said to be his inheritance ; namely, God s, Christ s.
But, secondly, in the saints. This little pronoun here, aurou, is put in, one would think, against the
hair; for look elsewhere and he calleth it our inheritance; so ver. 4, the
earnest of our inheritance ; but when he would set out heaven to the utter
most, it is, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance, not of the
saints inheritance so much, it is but in them ; but his inheritance in the
saints.
I have read over all the comments that I can meet with, and I think I
have almost all, and I do not find them insist at all upon this particle ; but
I may truly say of it, that which they refuse is the head of this corner ; it
argueth the glory of heaven more than all the words besides : that it is his
inheritance, take it either of God the Father, of whom I think it is princi
pally meant here, as I shall shew you by and by, or take it of Christ. To shew you in what senses it may be called his inheritance, and that all
these senses argue to you what an infinite glory it is
First, It is his inheritance, because he is the Father of it ; therefore, if
you mark it, he prayeth to God the Father of glory in the words before. He calleth him the Father of glory, because he, as the Father, doth
give and bestow this inheritance, and therefore it is called his, his that
bestowed it ; for it is his originally, you know, rather than the Son s, that
inheriteth. And you shall see how that must needs argue an infinite glory that saints must have, because it is his inheritance, his gift, and his as the
Father of glory (take that in too.) Men give inheritances according to
their estates ; you shall know whether a man be rich or no when he dieth, by his inheritance he giveth. He is God, the Father of glory, so saith the
17th verse. He is God, the God of glory, so saith Acts vii. 2. He is Christ,
318 AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE [SEEMON XXI.
the Lord of glory, so saith 1 Cor. ii. 8. He is King of glory, so saith Ps.
xxiv. 7. If lie will give an inheritance, he will do it like himself; therefore
it must needs be a glorious inheritance and a rich one, that which God meaneth to give as a Father.
I will give you a scripture for it. It is Phil. iv. 19. I quoted it before, but it cometh in now full for our purpose. My God, saith he, shall supply all your need, or, as the word is, all your desires, the word signifieth both, * according to his riches in glory by Jesus Christ. What is the meaning of
this ? God, saith he, is a rich and a glorious God, and he is a Father of
glory; so the 17th verse calleth him here. Now, saith he, he will not have these riches of glory lie by him. You know Abraham, when he had no son, saith he, Lord, thou hast given me these riches, but behold to me thou hast
given no seed ; I have never a child to inherit it ; therefore God giveth him
Isaac, upon whom he might bestow his riches and inheritance. So God had all these riches of glory lying by, he chooseth him sons to inherit, and when he bestoweth an inheritance upon them, it is according to that glory of his, in
proportion to his riches that lie by him. Here is, you see, riches and glory, and accordingly doth he bestow an inheritance rich and glorious. It is
therefore called his inheritance, and this argueth it to be great. Every man, you know, if he mean to give, will give according to his estate. If the Apostle had said our inheritance, alas ! we are poor creatures, what in
heritance is ours ? But he doth say, his inheritance, he argueth the greatness of it from his gift. I remember, Alexander the Great, when he had given a
city to a mean man that asked it of him, said, I do not give a city away according to the proportion of the man, but as it is fit for me to give. If Alexander will give gifts, he giveth cities ; if God will give gifts, it is accord
ing to the riches of his glory. It is his inheritance.
Secondly, It is called his inheritance, which mightily doth argue this to be a glorious inheritance which the saints shall have, for it is in the saints,
still take that, it all aggravateth the glory of it, I say it is called his, be cause he is in a special manner the possessor of it, and the maker of it.
I will give you Scripture for it: it is Ps. cxv. 15, 16, Ye are blessed of the Lord which made heaven and earth he made both, you see. The
heaven, even the heavens, (or the heaven and the heavens, as most read it,) are the Lord s : but the earth hath he given to the children of men. What do I observe out of this place 1 This : as for the earth, saith he, and all the
good things in it, God doth give that away; let the sons of men take it ; I
will let out that, saith he ; nay, I will give it freely ; let them take it and do what they will with it. But, saith he, the heaven and heavens are the Lord s ; he reserveth that to himself, as his possession, it is his inheritance ; the earth he hath given away to men, that is their inheritance, and let them take it, saith he ; I made them both. Now, if you observe the coherence of these
words, this saying, the heaven and heavens are the Lord s, that is the third
heavens, it is brought in to shew how blessed the saints are ; he argueth it from this, for, saith he, ye are blessed of the Lord which made heaven and
Dearth. Why ? The heaven and the heavens are the Lord s, and the earth he giveth to the sons of men. The meaning is plainly this : how happy must the saints be that must be taken up to heaven, whenas heaven is
reserved for God himself; this world he careth not what becomes of it, he
giveth that away. He argueth the blessedness of the saints from this, that heaven is the Lord s inheritance : The heaven and heavens are the Lord s, the earth is not good enough for him, but the heavens are his. Now, my
brethren, what a mighty glory then must that be which the Lord who made
EPH. I. 18.] TO THE EPHESIANS. 319
both heaven and earth reserveth to himself ! and this glory he takes the
saints up to. Therefore now in that it is his inheritance, he is the possessor
of it, he hath reserved that to himself, blessed must they needs be that ,do
fear the Lord.
I could enlarge this, that God is the maker of it too, out of Heb. xi. 10, where it is said that God is the maker and builder of this city; it is his in
that respect too, he hath shewed all his art upon that ; so the word signi-
fieth. Heaven was the first thing made. In the beginning he created the
heaven and the earth, heaven first. It was that he had in his eye from all
eternity, as the r&oc, the perfection of all, as it is called, Rom. vi. 22, and
therefore, Matt, xxv., it is said to be prepared from the beginning of the
world, from the foundation of the world. The first thing that God ever
made was that glorious state that he reserveth for himself, which is called
his dwelling-place, 1 Kings viii. 39, and his throne, Ps. xi. 4, (I will not
stand upon that ;) it is called likewise his inheritance in that sense too.
That which setteth forth the glory of heaven here is, that it is the inherit
ance, x>.?jsovo,a/ac, of him in the saints ; and so the meaning is this, that God
himself is the inheritance of the saints : what is the riches of the glory of
the inheritance of him by the saints, that is, which the saints have by inherit
ing him. My brethren, will you know what heaven is ? It is the inherit
ing of him, it is the inheriting of God. He that overcometh shall inherit
:ill things ; I will be his God, Rev. xxi. And therefore, in scripture phrase Cod is called heaven; saith the prodigal, I have sinned against heaven
and before thee. And Dan. iv. 26, till thou knowest the heavens rule,
that is, that God ruleth. The saints shall inherit God, they have the pos
session of him; xXTjo&yo.a/as will signify so too.
Now, my brethren, what an infinite argument doth this afford of the
. .1 , , ,1 ___ - /~\ _ _1 I C< i-l, 1, ~ "ATn^-4- , rr O i
phrase that alludeth to an inheritance ; for then we enter into an inherit
ance when we take possession of it ; it implieth the full possession of it ; and it is not to partake of it, but to enter into it, and to take possession of
it, it implieth a fulness, it is not a participation so much.
My brethren, do but think with yourselves now, what heaven must needs
be when a man s soul shall possess God as his inheritance. An inheritance,
you know, is a thing for a man to use freely, and to be one s to the utter
most for his comfort ; you shall have God, and all his attributes, set before
you. Lo, there is your inheritance. Ps. xvi. 5, Thou art the lot of mine
inheritance ; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. A man
hath God set before him ; improve him, be as happy as he can make you.
: Rom xv. 7, we
I have wondered at those expressions in the Scripture
are said to be received to the glory of God ; 1 Thess. ii. 12, we are said to
be called to his kingdom, and to his glory ; Rev. xxi. 11, the city is said to
have the glory of God. Materially, God s glory is the glory of the saints, it
is not the glory of creatures, or created glory, it is the glory of God that
makes them happy. And ver. 22, 23, it is said there that the city hath no
need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it, for it is enlightened by
God. The glory of God doth enlighten it, and the Lamb, saith he, is the
lamp thereof ; so the word signifieth. They shall need no other happiness but
to have God to be all in all, he is their happiness, it is the inheritance of
him.
And let me yet further express this out of the place last mentioned. The
320 AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE [SERMON XXI.
original here in the text, when the Apostle saith it is the riches of the glory of his inheritance, is rri$ d6%r,$ /t1>yoovo{Ala<; aurou. He meaneth God the
Father, or God the Son ; I think God the Father. I will give you my rea
: because he prayeth to God as the Father of glory, that he would
son why
open their eyes to see what are the riches of his inheritance. Now mark the
expression there in that Rev. xxi. 23 ; he saith, God is the light of it, but
ihe Lamb, he saith, is the lamp of it, and in Rev. ii. 28, you shall find him
called the morning star ; Christ is but the lamp, he is but the morning star. Who is the chiefest happiness in heaven now 1 God ; a happiness beyond what Jesus Christ as God-man affordeth ; he is but the lamp, but the morn
ing star ; God is all in all, when he hath given up the kingdom to his Father.
It is his inheritance, it is not the inheriting of Christ only, as possessing him.
I will convince you by this. Who is it that makes Christ as God-man
happy ? It is God ; it is God immediately participated ; God is all in all to
the Lord Christ. Now he that is the happiness of Christ shall immediately be our happiness too j for Christ hath received us to the glory of God, that is the expression, Rom. xv. 7, into the glory that himself hath. So that now there is abundance in this, that it is the inheritance of him, of the Father of glory ; what are the riches of the glory of the inheritance in him, so the word will likewise signify.
I will give you but one meaning more, my brethren, and, I take it, it is the most proper here, and it is as great as any of the former, and it is this ;
1 what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. The
meaning is this : that the glory that the saints shall have, God reckoneth it
to be his inheritance ; his inheritance, saith he, in the saints. The meaning
is plainly this, that that glory that shall arise to God, which he shall for ever
live upon, as upon his inheritance, shall arise out of theirs ; it is not said to be their inheritance, but his inheritance in them. My brethren, there is much in this ; not only are the people of God called God s inheritance, but
the glory of the people of God in heaven is called God s inheritance too. In 2 Thess. i. 10, it is said that he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all that believe. Mark his expression, the saints shall be glori
fied, but how ? So as Jesus shall be admired in them and glorified in them.
And, Rom. ix. 23, What if God, willing, saith he, to make known the riches
of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had before prepared unto
glory ? Bringing vessels of mercy unto glory is but to make known the riches
l his
of his glory ; his glory shall arise out of theirs; therefore it is said to be
inheritance in the saints.
Now think with yourselves this : it is not a small deal of glory that will con
tent God as his inheritance ; for if he mean to manifest himself, he will do it
like God. Ahasuerus, when he made a feast, would do it like a king, to shew forth the riches of his glorious kingdom, and the honour of his excellent
majesty, as Esther i. 4. Now therefore, when God shall set himself to glo
rify himself to the uttermost, and all that glory that he meaneth to glorify himself in shall be in the saints, and their glory shall be his inheritance, what will this rise to ?
To explain this to you in a word ; there is an essential happiness and glory in God, which none can see. Thou canst not see my glory, saith he, Exod. xxxiii. 20. And there is a manifestative glory that ariseth out of Ms works. Now this manifestative glory he counteth his inheritance, as well as the other. My glory I will not give to another. He hath formed all for
his glory, that is, for the manifestation of his glory ; he counteth it Ms, Ms incommunicable ; it is Ms inheritance.
EPH. I. 18.] TO THE EPHES1ANS. 321
Now then, if God will shew how glorious a God he is, by shewing how
glorious a creature he can make, how glorious must those creatures be !
Especially when their glory must come up to be an inheritance to God, that he may say, Lo, I have a goodly heritage. He that is the great God, and hath such vast desires of glory, shall say, I am satisfied, here I will rest ; this is mine inheritance that I will live upon for ever, even the glory that I have bestowed upon these souls in heaven. Think with yourselves what
. these things are what the riches of the glory of his inheritance are in the
saints.
My brethren, it is the last of his works. He takes this world here for none of his inheritance, he will burn it to ashes, consume it, turn it to its old chaos. He takes devils and wicked men, and flingeth them to hell ; they are lost, they are cut off from his hand, they are none of his inheritance. He takes Christ and the saints up to heaven and glorifieth them. Here is mine
inheritance, saith he, here is my rest. As when he had made this world, which was to be but a type of this which is to come, he looks over all that he made, and the text saith he was refreshed/ Exod. xxxi. 17. Now God will fling this world away ; he flings wicked angels and men away ; they are lost, they are gone from him, he hath no more to do with them ; he reckons not of them, he reckons them as refuse things, as lumber which he only layeth by for the fire. Then he takes the saints up to heaven, and there he resteth, keepeth an eternal Sabbath ; therefore it is called
entering into his rest, that is the phrase, Ps. xcv. 11. Oh, my brethren, what is that, think you, what giory must that be that must come up to be an
inheritance for God to rest in for ever ! In all these senses this particle
here, his inheritance, or inheritance of him, what doth it arise to 1 The Lord open the eyes of our understanding, that we may know what the riches of the glory of his inheritance are.
I have but one thing more to handle, and that is, in the saints/ He
meaneth, as Camero hath well observed, saints perfect, for they are the sub
jects of this glory. It is plain he meaneth so by what followeth in the next
verse ; for when he speaks of saints below on earth, he changeth his phrase ; * that you may know, that is, here below, the greatness of his power to usward that believe. So that here may be this cast in likewise to make heaven a glorious condition, that men s spirits, to possess all this, shall be made per
l The spirits of just men, saith he, made perfect. It is an inheritance in the saints. I shall behold, saith he, thy face in righteous
fectly holy.
ness, when I awake, at the resurrection, Ps. xvii. 15. There is nothing but
perfect holiness there.
But that is not the thing I aim at. But let us consider heaven from hence too, what the riches of his glory must needs be that God hath pro vided for saints ; take an argument from them. I will give you an instance of it. You heard before that the earth God hath given to the children of men, but the heaven of heavens he hath reserved for his saints. Well, raise up your thoughts now ; this earth here hath many good things in it, there
is abundance of glory and riches in it, so much as, the truth is, it draweth
all the hearts of the sons of men after it. To whom hath he given this earth ? To the wickedest of men, to the ungodliest of men. He giveth king doms, saith he, to the basest of men ; so it is, Dan. iv. 17. Nay, and the
devil himself is the king of this world, and he hath all the things here. He undertook to give the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them to Christ. He is the prince that ruleth in the air, the god of the world j carrieth all before him.
VOL. i. x
322 AN EXPOSITION OF THE EPISTLE [SEKMON XXI.
Now raise up your thoughts ; hath God given such a world as this is, and
all the glory of it, to his worst enemies, to the very devils themselves, that were worshipped for about four thousand years by all the world, and had all the glory and riches of it ? What hath he reserved then for the saints ? What must be the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, whom God loveth, whom he loveth from everlasting, when they shall be made per
fectly glorious without spot and wrinkle ; glorious so as God can fully delight in them, and they delight in him 1 What will be the riches of the glory of.
his inheritance in the saints ?
And so now I have done with opening this, to shew you from all the argu ments the text affordeth, what the riches of the glory of heaven are. I have
kept merely to what the text saith ; and I have made this vow with my
self, if I meet with heaven in a scripture, I will speak of it so far as that
scripture shall give me scope to do ; for no subject will quicken the heart more than to lay open the riches of God s mercy, and the riches themselves,
glory, and the unsearchable riches of Christ.
EPH. I. 19, 20.] TO THE EPHESIANS.