Truths or at least if they erre of humane frailty and not obstinately or avowedly for the Churches of Galatia had made a grievous revolt even from a fundamental Truth ver 6. and chap. 3. 1. and yet because they were rather through frailty seduced by others than active seducers of others therefore he useth much meeknesse and moderation towards them allowing them the name of Churches and exercising his Apostolick care towards them as a part of his charge and thereby keeping communion with them as with Churches which were sickly and under cure Unto the Churches of Galatia which Truth makes nothing against our separation from the Church of Rome as being after much pains taken in order to their reclaiming and not untill we were driven to it by persecution besides that the Romish Church had erred in the foundation obstinately and avowedly Vers. 3. Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. HEre is the Salutation wherein he wisheth unto them God's gracious favour and good-will whereby He is well-pleased with the Elect in and for Christ Rom. 3. 24. and Peace that is first Peace of conscience and with God Rom. 5. 1. Secondly peace with the creatures as with the Angels Col. 1. 20. with the Godly Isa. 11. 9. with our selves all within us being conform to the rule of the renewed mind Rom. 8. â—1 and in some respect with our enemies Prov. 16. 7. and with the beasts of the field Hos. 2. 18. Thirdly Prosperity and good successe Psal. 122. 7. All which he seeketh from God the Father as the fountain of Grace and from Jesus Christ as the conduit or pipe to convey Grace from the Father unto us Job 1. 16. Doct. 1. God's gracious favour and good-will is to be sought by us in the first place whether for our selves Psal. 4. 6. or others that being a most discriminating mercy betwixt the Godly and the wicked Ephes. 1. 6. and a mercy which of any other bringeth maniest mercies alongst with it Psal. 84. 11. Yea all things are mercy to a man who hath obtained that mercy Rom. 8. 28. for the Apostle wisheth for Grace unto them first Grace and peace 2. Peace also is to be sought even Peace with God Peace with the creatures together with prosperity and good success but withall Peace is to be sought after Grace and not to be expected before it Peace without Grace is no Peace there can be no peace with God no sanctified peace with the creatures nor sanctified prosperity or successe to our undertakings except through Jesus Christ we lay hold on God's favour and grace Yea there is no peace to the wicked saith my God Isa. 57. 21. Thus the Apostle wisheth unto them also Peace but so as it flow from Grace Grace and Peace 3. Grace and Peace are such as we cannot acquire unto our selves by our own industry or pains they come from God are to be sought from Him and His blessing is more to be depended upon for attaining of any thing which cometh under the compasse of Grace and Peace than our own wisdom industry or diligence So Paul seeketh Grace and Peace from God the Father 4. Whatever favour we seek from God we are to seek it also from Jesus Christ as Mediator for He hath purchased it Eph. 1. 7. He is appointed Lord of His own purchase to bestow all Act. 5. 31. and there is no coming to or trysting with the Father but in Him Joh. 14. 6. Thus Paul seeketh Grace and peace from our Lord Jesus Christ. 5. They to whom Grace and Peace belong are such as acknowledge Christ for their Lord to command and rule them and do yeeld subjection to Him in their heart and life for while the Apostle wisheth Grace and Peace to them he doth lead them to thoughts of Christ's Soveraignity he himself taking Him up as Lord and holding Him forth so unto others From our Lord Jesus Christ. Vers. 4. Who gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father THe Apostle having but mentioned Christ ver 3 that he may in the very entry draw the minds of these Galatians from off their errors and superstitions to imbrace Him as one in whom is fulnesse of sufficiency for the redemption and justification of lost sinners doth describe Him from one eminent action of His whereby as the great High-priest over the House of God Heb. 10. 21. He did offer up Himself Soul Isa. 55. 10. and Body Heb. 2. 14. by death upon the Crosse Joh. 19. 17 18. that He might expiate and take away Joh. 1. 29. the sins of the Elect Joh. 17. 9. and that hereby He might deliver them from this present evil world or from the sin misery and cruelty of wicked men in the world who get the name of world 1 Joh. 5. 19. and all this He did in obedience to His Father's will who had fore-ordained this to be the only way of bringing lost sinners to Heaven Heb. 10. 8 9. Doct. 1. The lively impression of Christ's worth and excellency doth ordinarily so fill the hearts of those who know Him and have tasted how gracious He is as there will be a readinesse upon any occasion of mentioning Him to breakforth in His commendation for such is the constraining power of love on Paul's heart that usually he doth not so much as make mention of Him but presently he must extoll and at large commend Him so doth he in this verse Who gave himself c. which his attainment should be our aim and his practice our copie 1 Cor. 11. 1. 2. The well-grounded knowledge of what Christ is to us and hath done for us together with the frequent remembrance of it is a soveraign Antidote against all those Errors and Superstitions which tend to draw us from Christ either in part or in whole and that both to prevent them and to purge us from them He is that Sun of righteousnesse Mal. 4. 2. the arising whereof doth easily dispel and scatter all those fogs and mists Act. 19. 18 19 20. for Paul in order to this end doth in the very entry hold forth what Christ had done for them Who gave himself c. saith he 3. So deep and deadly was the guilt of sin Gal. 13. 10. So exact was the justice of God and so unalterable was His faithfulnesse in executing the judgment which was denounced for sin Gen. 2. 17. that there was no delivery to the Elect from it without the payment of a ransom and satisfaction for the wrong done by sin to the provoked justice of God for Christ gave himself for our sins that is a propitiation for them 1 Joh. 2. 2. and to cleanse us from them 1 Joh. 1. 7. 4. Nothing lesse could be a satisfying ransom to the Father's justice than the offering-up of Jesus Christ the holy harmlesse and spotlesse Lamb of God both in Soul
being by Christ's death joyned in one did enjoy the Promise of the Spirit or the spiritual Promise as being now denuded of these earthly and external Ceremonies wherewith it was vailed formerly and set forth in its native and spiritual beauty and lustre both which fruits of Christ's death he sheweth are conveyed unto and enjoyed by both Jews and Gentiles only by Faith So that the Apostle in these two Verses doth not only prove the main Conclusion That Faith laying hold on Christ is that which delivereth from the Law 's curse and which conveyeth Abraham's blessing together with the Covenant-promise unto us and so doth justifie us but also indirectly and as it were at the by hinteth at two other Truths tending also to clear the main controversie between him and his adversaries which therefore he is to assert more directly afterwards to wit first That now after Christ's death the Gentiles being called by the Gospel were to be joyned in one body with the Jews and both of them to make up one seed to Abraham and equally to partake of Abraham's blessing whereof free Justification through Faith spoken of ver 9. was a main part And secondly that the Covenant-promise that God would be a God to Abraham and to his seed Gen. 17. 7. was now after Christ's death to be held forth more clearly and spiritually the types and shadows of earthly Ceremonies and of that legal Dispensation under which it was formerly hid being laid aside From Vers. 13. Learn 1. The threatnings of the Law denouncing a curse against those who yeeld not personal obedience to it did not exclude or forbid a Surety to come in the sinners room and to undergo the curse due unto Him for though it be clear from ver 10. that the Law doth curse all yet this impeded not but Christ might come to redeem us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us 2. Every man by nature the Elect not excepted Eph. 2. -3. are under the sentence of the Law 's curse whereby in God's justice they are under the power of darknesse Col. 1. 13. slavery and bondage to sin and Satan Eph. 2. -2. so to remain until they be cast in utter darknesse Jude 13. except delivery and redemption do interveen for while it is said Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law it is supposed that by nature we are under it 3. There is no delivery of enslaved man from this wofull bondage but by giving satisfaction and by paying of a price for the wrong done to Divine Justice either by himself or by some surety in his stead God's fidelity Gen. 2. 17. His righteous nature Psal. 11. 6 7. and the inward desert of sin Rom. 1. 32. do call for it for Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law the word signifieth to deliver by giving a price 4. It is not in the power of fallen man to acquire a ransom for himself by any thing he can either do or suffer whereby Justice may be satisfied and he delivered from this state of slavery and bondage The redemption of the soul is precious and ceaseth for ever to wit among men Psal. 49. 8. for if man could redeem himself Christ had not been put to it to redeem us from the curse of the Law 5. Jesus Christ the second Person of the blessed Trinity hath undertaken this great work of redeeming captive-man from his slavery and bondage and accordingly hath accomplished it The work was indeed undertaken at the appointment of all the Persons Luke 1. 68. to whom also the price was paid Eph. 5. 2. only the execution of this work was by that wise design of sending the second Person in the flesh to become man that so he might not only have right as our near kinsman Ruth 3. 12 13. but also be fitted to redeem as having a price to lay down for our ransom Heb. 10. 5. Christ hath redeemed us 1. Our Redeemer Jesus Christ is true God who being man's Creator and having entred a Covenant of friendship with man at the beginning by vertue whereof He had interest in man not only as His creature but as one in state of friendship with Himself from which blessed state man did fall Eccles. 7. 29. and so brought himself and all his posterity 1 Cor. 15. 21 to this state of bondage wherein he now is for so much is imported while Christ is said to redeem Redemption being properly of those things which once were our own but for the time are lost Christ hath redeemed us saith he 7. This work of man's Redemption undertaken and accomplished by Christ was a Redemption properly so called our freedom and delivery being obtained not by power or strong hand meerly nor yet coming from the sole condescension and pity of the injured party without seeking reparation for former injuries but by the payment of a sufficient price and by giving a just satisfaction to a provoked God as appeareth not only from the word rendred redeem which as said is signifieth to buy with a price but also from this that the price is condescended upon to wit Christ's undergoing the curse of the Law due to us and this He did for us that is not only for our good but also in our room and stead for by His undergoing this curse we are freed from it so that although to buy or redeem be sometimes taken improperly and doth signifie to obtain a thing without any price Isa. 52. 3. yet what is presently said and other circumstances do evince that in this work of Redemption performed by Christ the word must be taken properly for a delivery obtained by a payment of a just price Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us 8. The price paid by Christ in order to our redemption was no lesse than His undergoing that curse of the Law which was due to us whence it followeth that Christ's sufferings by way of satisfaction were not only in His body but also in His soul He did not only wrestle with the fear of death Heb. 5. -7. but was also deprived of that joy and comfort or the sense and feeling of God's favour and help which He formerly enjoyed and had His own sad conflicts and agonies arising in His Soul hereupon Mat. 27. 46. which though in us they would necessarily produce sin yet in Christ they did not Heb. 4. -15. because of His most pure nature Heb. 7. 26. for He was made the curse of the Law for us Now the curse of the Law did reach to the terrors of the soul as well as to the pains of the body 9. Though Jesus Christ as considered in His own Person was altogether holy and innocent Isa. 53. -9. and alwayes even when He was made a curse most beloved of the Father Mat. 3. 17. yet being considered as our Surety Heb. 7. 22. and sustaining our person He was the object of sin-pursuing justice
Church of Christ is a thing which ought to be prized by us highly and sought after earnestly and so much as there is nothing in our power which we ought not to bestow upon it and dispense with for the acquiring and maintaining of it for so much was it prized by Christ that He gave his own life to procure it and did beat down all His own Ordinances which stood in the way of it He even abolished in His flesh the Law of Commandments contained in Ordinances for to make of twain one new man 2. There are no divisions more hardly curable than those which are about the Religion and Worship of God in so far as they engage not only the credit but also the consciences of the divided parties hence one party so engaged doth pursue what they maintain as that wherein Gods honour and their own salvation are most nearly concerned and doth look upon the other party as an adversary in so far at least to both of those for the Apostle speaking of Christs uniting the Jew and Gentile in one Church and Religion maketh use of a word which sheweth this was a task of no small difficulty even such that no lesse than creating power was required to it while he saith for to make in Himself the word signifieth to creat in Himself of twain one new man 3. So strict and near is that conjunction and union which is especially among true believers in the Church that all of them how far soever dispersed through the world do yet make up but one man and one body as being all whatever be their other differences most strictly united as members unto one head Christ 1 Cor. 12. 27. and animated as to the inward man by the same Spirit of God residing and acting in them Rom. 8. 9. for the Apostle sheweth that all of them whether Jew or Gentile were made not only one people one nation one family but one new man For to make of twain one new man 4. As the essentiall unity of the invisible Church without which the Church could not be a Church doth of necessity depend upon and flow from that union which every particular member hath with Christ as Head seing the grace of love whereby they are knit one to another Col. 3. 14 doth flow from faith Gal. 5. -6. whereby they are united to Him Eph. 3. 17. So the more our union with Christ is improved unto the keeping of constant communion and fellowship with Him the more will be attained unto of harmonious walking among our selves suitable unto that essentiall union which is in the Church of Christ for the Apostle maketh the conjunction of Jews and Gentiles in one Church to depend upon Christ's uniting of them to himself For to make in Himself of twain one new man saith he 5. The peace which ought to be and which Christ calleth for in His Church is not a simple cessation from open strife which may take place even when there remaineth a root of bitternesse in peoples spirits Psal. 55. 21. but it is such an harmonious walking together in all things as floweth from the nearest conjunction of hearts and the total removal of all former bitternesse of spirits for the peace which Christ did make betwixt Jew and Gentile did follow upon His abolishing the enmity and making them one man so making peace saith he From Vers. 16. Learn 1. Union and peace with men even with good men is to little purpose except there be peace and friendship with God also for the Apostle sheweth that Christ in abolishing the ceremonial Law did design not only the conjunction of the Church among themselves but their reconciliation with God also and the former in subordination to the latter And that He might reconcile both unto God in one body 2. As all mankind have fallen from that state of friendship with God wherein they once were before the fall Eccles. 7. 29. So the repairing of this wofull breach and making up of friendship betwixt God and the Elect was Christ's great businesse in the world for effectuating whereof whatever He did or suffered was in some one way or other subservient for the Apostle sheweth He suffered in the flesh abolished the ceremonial Law united the two Nations that He might reconcile both unto God in one body The word rendred reconcile signifieth the making up of old friendship 3. Though the believing Jews under the Old Testament were reconciled unto God even while the ceremonial Law stood in force Psal. 32. 4. Yet the price by vertue whereof they were reconciled could not be actually payed to wit Christ's death and sufferings except the ceremonial Law had presently evanished See Ver. 15 Doct. 4. neither could Jew and Gentile be united together in one body and so reconciled to God while that Law was in force and binding See Vers. 14. Doct. 5. Therefore and in those respects it was necessary for Christ to abolish the ceremonial Law that He might reconcile both Jew and Gentile unto God for so saith Paul He abolished the Law of Commandments in Ordinances that He might reconcile both unto God in one body 4. There can be no reconciliation betwixt God and us except we be united by faith to Christ and to the body of all Believers in Him So that none can be one with God who are not of the mysticall body of His Church yea and in so far will the sense and sweet effects of reconciliation with God be interrupted and obstructed as persons reconciled do give way unto divisions rents and strifes among themselves for the Gentiles and Jews being in one body with Christ and His Church come to be reconciled unto God That He might reconcile both unto God in one body that is being united among themselves in one body under Christ the head as is affirmed vers 15. 5. As Jesus Christ did interpose as mediator and peace-maker to reconcile God and us So He behoved in order unto this end to bear the chastisment of our peace and to lay down His life by a shamefull painfull and cursed death that so the justice of God being fully satisfied for our wrong we might enjoy God's peace and favour with life for he sheweth the mean of their reconciliation was the crosse of Christ not the material tree or matter of the crosse but Christ's sufferings and death upon the crosse That He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the crosse 6. Christ in suffering Himself to be overcome by death did fully destroy sin death the ceremonial Law and every other thing which could impede the reconciliation of the Elect with God He having thereby brought-in the substance of all those legal shadows Col. 3. 17. satisfied the justice of God and purchased grace and strength which afterwards He was to convey unto all Believers for mortifying and subduing the body of sin and death in them Act. 5. 31. for saith Paul He hath slain the enmity thereby that is by the
the most rigid critick or Momus himself shall not find any inlack or defect in either as the word rendered without blemish will bear Doct. 1. All those who are justified and sanctified here and none but they shall be glorified hereafter for Christ must see the travel of His soul Isa. 53. 11. which is not only to sanctifie those for whom He gave Himself ver 26. but also to glorifie them and to bring them to glory by the way of holinesse That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church 2. Christ hath purchased by His death not only sanctification to His Church but also heaven it self and therefore our glory in heaven is not merited by our holinesse but being purchased by Christ is freely gifted to us Rom. 6. 23. He gave Himself for it that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church saith he 3. Though Belivers even while they are here be brought near to God in Christ by faith Eph. 2. 13. and have fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ 1 Joh. 1. -3. yet all that fellowship and nearnesse is but a distance and kind of estrangement being compared with that most perfect presence and intimate fellowship which shall be enjoyed hereafter the former being but mediate through the glaste of Ordinances 1 Cor. 13. 12. frequently interrupted Psal. 30. 7. and no wayes full 1 Cor. 13. 12. but the latter shall be immediate 1 Cor. 13. 12. constant 1 Thess. 4. 17. and so full that they who enjoy the meanest degree shall find no inlack Psal. 17. 15. for he speaketh of Christs presenting His Church to Himself in glory at the great day as if there were nothing but uncouthnesse and distance betwixt Him and the Church untill then that he might present it to himself a glorious Church saith he 4. Though every believing soul is when the Father draweth it to Christ contracted and handfasted with Him Hos. 2. 19 20. yet for good and wise reasons it pleaseth the Lord Christ to delay the taking of us home to Himself and the accomplishment and consummation of the begun marriage untill all the Elect being effectually called shall be presented to Him at once and so this spirituall marriage shall be fully accomplished betwixt Jesus Christ and the Bride the Lambs wife Rev. 19. 7. even as in earthly marriages there is first a Contract or Espousals and then for just and honest reasons some space of time ought to interveen betwixt that and the full accomplishment of the marriage Deut. 20. 7. Matth. 1. 18. for Paul sheweth that then at the great day the whole Church of real Believers shall be presented to Christ as the Bride is to the Bridegroom for the solemn consummation of the marriage That he might present it to himself a glorious Church 5. As believing souls even after their being contracted with Christ by faith and after they are renewed and cleansed in part do not get all their filthy garments put off there being a body of sin and death which cleaveth unto the best So at the finall solemnization of the marriage in the great day the Church of Believers the Bride and Lambs wife shall be clad in garments of glory being fully freed from the smallest remnant of sin and misery and made wholly glorious both in soul Matth. 22. 30. and body Phil. 3. 21. for he saith that he might present it unto himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle c. 6. Those garments of glory and needle-work wherewith the Church the Lambs wife shall be arrayed in the marriage-day are dearly purchased and freely bestowed upon her by Christ her Bridegroom and head for Paul saith Christ gave himself for the Church that he might present it to himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle c 7. This perfect glorious state wherein the Church shall be for ever with Christ her Lord her Head her Husband is such as none can positively declare what it is yea neither can the heart of man comprehend it and all the knowledge which can be here in our state of imperfection attained of it is not so much positive or a knowing what it is as negative or a knowing what it is not by removing all those things from it which imply the least degree of sin and misery for therefore doth Paul set it out here by four negatives Not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing and without blemish and by one affirmative only that it should be holy Vers. 28. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies he that loveth his wife loveth himself FOlloweth the second argument to inforce this duty of love upon husbands towards their wives taken from the near conjunction betwixt husband and wife which he doth propound in this verse by shewing that the wife is the husbands body in so far as by the law of marriage which shall be explained ver 30. they two become one flesh so that in loving her he doth love himself to wit not so much because his so doing tendeth to his own good and peace though that be also truth Prov. 5. 17 18 19. as that she is his own body a piece of himself yea and his whole self or a second self they two being one flesh and therefore he ought to love her yea and to love her with the same sincerity and ardency of affection kything in the same or like effects wherewith he loveth his own body yea both his soul and body which are himself for the words as their own bodies are both an argument to inforce upon them the duty and a rule to direct them in the right manner of practising the duty Doct. 1. As love in husbands toward their wives after the pattern of Christs love unto His Church is a most necessary duty So considering the many quench-coals of love which the mutual infirmities both of husbands and wives do frequently furnish together with that naturall pronenesse which is in corrupt man being advanced and preferred above others to abuse his authority to domineer with a kind of tyranny over such as are under him it will be found a task not so easie as at the first it would appear for husbands to keep this affection and love flowing from the right fountain and manifesting it self in all its necessary effects towards their wives for to what purpose else doth he reiterate this exhortation and inforce it by so strong and convincing arguments So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies 2. That place of honour and superiority which God hath given the man over the wife as appointing him to be her head doth tye him unto answerable duty so that the greater his honour is the greater is his burden and in particular it bindeth him to love her and from love to govern instruct cherish her and provide for her and to all other things by proportion which the head doth for the body for from what he said ver
and Body as a Sacrifice by death upon the Crosse. The wrong was infinit Gen. 39. 9. and so must the price be even no lesse than the Bloud of God Act. 20. 28. Who gave himself for our sons 5. Such was the desire which Jesus Christ had to the salvation of lost sinners Prov. 8. 31. such was His care to perform what He had undertaken to the Father and what was fore-told of Him in Scripture Psal. 40. 7 8. that willingly and of His own accord without any constraint except that of love Joh. 15. 13. He did offer up himself a Sacrifice to satisfie provoked justice for He gave himself for our sins saith Paul 6. They for whom Christ did give Himself upon the Crosse are also delivered by Him from this present evil world which Christ doth not by taking them presently out of this world by death or otherwise Joh. 17. 15. But first by renewing their natures and so separating them from the condition of unregenerate men who are called the world 1 Joh. 15. 19. And secondly by guarding them against those baits and snares of sinfull temptations which are mainly prevalent in the men of this world 1 Joh. 2. 16. Thirdly by defending them so far as He seeth conducing for His own glory Psal. 76. 10. and their good Psal. 84. 11. from the malicious cruelty of wicked men of this world Psal. 105. 14. And lastly by taking them at the close of their time 2 Cor. 5. 1. from Earth to Heaven that they may be for ever with Himself Joh. 14. 3. for He gave himself that He might deliver us from this present world Doct. 7. So much do wickednesse and wicked men abound in the world Gen. 6. 5. so many are the snares and temptations to sin and wickednesse which are in it 1 Joh. 2. 16. so many also are the crosses and calamities which godly men may resolve to meet with while they are in the world Psal. 34. 19. that though the world simply in it self and as it speaketh our duration and abode in this life all the dayes of our appointed time be not evil but distinguished from evil Joh. 17. 15. Yet for those causes and in those respects the present world is an evil world for so it is here called 8. That any of lost mankind in whom by nature sin doth reign should have their natures renewed the power of sin in them mortified and so themselves delivered from this present evil world it was necessary that Christ should offer up Himself for as life eternal so also God's Image and Holinesse was forfeited by Adam's fall unto all his posterity 1 Cor. 15. 21. and so behoved to be purchased by Christ's death before ever we could attain unto it Heb. 9. 14. for saith the Apostle He gave himself that we might be delivered from this present evil world 9. This evil world wherein so much wickednesse so much misery and so many wicked men abound is but present not lasting transient not continuing it is hastening to its end Rom. 8. 19. and at last shall be consumed with fire 2 Pet. 3. 10. and a new World new Heavens and a new Earth are to succeed unto it wherein shall dwell righteousness 2 Pet. 3. 13. for he calleth this a present world importing that there is another to come 10. That Jesus Christ did offer up Himself in satisfaction to provoked Justice for the sins of the Elect was a thing decreed and appointed by the Father which as it speaketh the Fathers unspeakable love unto lost sinners Joh. 3. 16. so it sheweth the ground whereupon the satisfaction given by Christ is accepted for those who by faith lay hold on Him Joh. 6. 39 40. it was so transacted betwixt the Father and the Son even that He should give himself for our sins according to the will of God to wit the Father for when God is opposed to Christ then God signifieth the Father Yet so as the other two Persons of the Godhead are not excluded as is noted upon Ver. 1. Doct. 6. 11. By reason of this satisfaction given by Jesus Christ to provoked justice for our sins God who was before a consuming fire to sinners Heb. 12. 29. a strict sin-pursuing Judge Exod. 34. 7. becometh now our Father for justice being satisfied and that satisfaction laid hold upon by faith Rom. 5. 1. the enimity ceaseth and we become children yea heirs and joynt-heirs with Christ having received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba Father Rom. 8. 15 16 17. This is imported while it is said According to the will of God and our Father Vers. 5. To whom be glory for ever and ever Amen HEre is the close of the Salutation in which by holding forth his own practice for an example he comprehendeth the duty of the Redeemed they are to ascribe lasting glory and praise to God the Father for His good-will to this work of our Redemption by Jesus Christ. Doct. 1. As God in this great work of our Redemption by Jesus Christ hath made the glory of almost all His Attributes especially of His Justice as to Christ Rom. 8. 32. of His Mercy as to us Eph. 1. 7. and consequently of His infinit Wisdom 1 Tim. 1. 17. to kyth and shine forth So it ' is the duty of the Redeemed and such a duty as useth willingly to flow from the very making mention of that so excellent a Work in a heart duely affected with the worth thereof even to acknowledge that glory of His which is manifested therein and to wish that His glory may be set forth more and more both by our selves and others and this not only by speaking to the commendation of His Glory and Greatnesse Psal. 145. 5 6. but by making our whole life and conversation to be nothing else but a testimony of our thankfulnesse to Him 2 Cor. 5. 15. for the Apostle having mentioned that great Work ascribeth glory to God as God's due and his own duty To whom be glory 2. This duty of ascribing glory to God for the great and excellent work of our Redemption is such that it can never be sufficiently discharged there is no lesse required than a succession of Ages to Ages yea and Eternities leisure to ascribe glory to God for so much is imported while he saith To whom be Glory for ever and ever 3. The Glory of the Redeemer and of God who sent His Son to do that Work shall be the long-lasting and never-ending song of the Redeemed-ones through millions of imaginable ages even to all eternity so much doth the word rendered for ever and ever bear for it signifieth to ages of ages or innumerable ages 4. Our praise and thanksgiving to God must not be formal or verbal only Mat. 15. 8. but ought to be fervent and serious as proceeding from the most intimate affection of the heart Luk. 1. 46 47. signified by the word Amen that is Let it be so an earnest wish Vers. 6. I marvel that ye
of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me HEre is a third Reason to the same purpose with the former shewing more fully that justified persons are most strictly tyed to mortify sin and lead an holy life if so they walk according to the prescript of the Doctrine of Justification which was taught by Paul for he and by consequence all real Believers were crucified with Christ to wit the old man of their indwelling corruption Rom. 6. 6. it did receive the stroke of death by His death He having by death redeemed them from the slavery of it Tit. 2. 14. which crucifixion with Christ doth not destroy the natural life of Believers for so Paul sheweth he did live only the old man of corruption doth not live in them so as to act them in what they do but Jesus Christ doth live in them He being united to them as the root to the branches or head to the members and furnishing them with spiritual life and motion whereby the very natural life which they live and those things which concern that life are ordered and gone about by vertue of strength drawn from Christ by Faith in Him and the consideration of Christ's love to them and His dying for them because he loved them is a great inducement unto justified persons so to live Now this being true in Paul and in some measure in all Believers and seing the principles of the Doctrine of Justification did bind all to this It is evident that to affirm this Doctrine did tend to foster sin is but a foulforged calumny Doct. 1. As Jesus Christ did die a most shameful painful and cursed death upon the crosse Gal. 3. 13. so in His dying He did stand not as a private but as a publick person in the room and place of all the Elect for He was their surety Heb. 7. 22. and died for them Job 11. 50. so that when they lay hold upon Him by Faith and thereby are made one with Him Eph. 3. 17 the crosse and passion of Christ as to all those benefits which were purchased by it whether in order to the removal of the guilt of sin Mat. 26. 28. or to the subduing of its strength and quickning of them in the way of holinesse 2 Cor. 5. 15. or to the purchasing of life eternal for them Joh. 3. 16. is as verily made theirs as if they had been crucified in their own persons for Paul saith of himself as an instance of all Believers I am crucified with Christ. 2. The former confideration of the Believer's right to Christ's purchase in order to the subduing of sin layeth a strong engagement on him and giveth a great encouragement unto him to oppose resist and set about the mortification of sin in himself for Paul maketh this an argument to prove that the Doctrine of Justification in its own nature is no friend to sin because according to the principles thereof the justified person is crucified with Christ. 3. God's infinit wisdom hath found out the way whereby the threatning of death Gen. 2. 17. is fulfilled in the Elect so that they die and yet their lives are spared they die and yet they live for they are reckoned in Law to have died when Christ their Surety died for them so that He was taken and they go free Joh. 18. 8. thus is that riddle solved which is here propounded by Paul I am crucified with Christ yet I live 4. Though notwithstanding of fulfilling the threatning of death upon the Elect they do live yet upon their believing in Jesus Christ the old man of corruption and power of sin is so far weakened in them that it doth not bear the chief sway in their heart to command execute and order all their actions as formerly it did Gen. 6. 5. for thus is that other riddle solved which is here propounded Nevertheless I live yet not I to wit the old I the body of death and corruption did not live in him but was mortified and the dominion thereof removed Rom. 6. 14. Dost 5. The Doctrine of Justification by Free-grace revealed in the Gospel layeth on strong obligations upon the justified person to set about the whole duties of Sanctification not only those which relate to the mortifying of sin but also to his quickning in the way of grace both those must go together and the justified man is obliged to both and furnished with help and encouragement from the Doctrine of Justification to set about both for Paul sheweth they were both conjoyned in himself the first while he saith Not I live the second while he saith Christ liveth in me whereby is meant his following the motions of Christ's Spirit as the guide of his life Rom. 8. 1. and this he speaketh of himself as a thing that he was obliged unto and furnished for by the Doctrine of Justification which he taught otherwise he should not have refuted the calumny of his adversaries 6. That Christians may live the spiritual life of grace they must 1. be united to Christ and have Christ dwelling in them by Faith Eph. 3. 17. for speaking of the spiritual life which he lived he supposeth Christ to be in him But Christ liveth in me 2. Besides this union with Christ there must be a communication of influence from the Spirit of Christ to excite them unto Cant. 5. 2. enable them for John 15. 5. make them persevere Philip. 1. 6. and effectually to order and direct them in Philip. 4. 13. the practice of every thing that is spiritually good for this is to have Christ living in them to wit as the head in the members or root in the branches which do furnish the members and branches with all things necessary for life and growth and Christ's quickning of Believers in the way of grace is frequently see forth by similitudes drawn from those Col. 2. 19. Joh. 15. 5. 3. The Believer if so he would live this spiritual life must not only have the habit of Faith in his heart but also must keep it in daily exercise so as first thereby to try what he is to do if so it be warranted by the Word of Truth and how it is to be circumstantiated Rom. 14. 23. Secondly thereby to draw furniture from the Spirit of Christ for exciting enabling and directing him in the way of duty 2 Cor. 3. 5. And thirdly to apply pardoning mercy for covering the defects of duty when he hath gone about it and for removing the guilt of all his other sins Mat. 6. 11. for this is to live by the Faith of the Son of God or in the Son of God which Paul speaketh of as a necessary ingredient in this spiritual life 4. This spiritual life and life of Faith must be extended not only to spiritual duties and of God's immediate Worship but also to all the actions of our natural and temporal life in so far as they fall under a Command even to our eating and drinking 1 Cor.
own House and Family which is the Church to whom He dispenseth and distributeth all her mercies comforts and crosses with no lesse yea with infinitly greater care wisdom and foresight than any man doth care provide for and govern his own family So among other things He dispenseth and ordereth times and seasons for his Church as not only having fixed in his eternal counsel the general periods of the Churches time how long the Church should be in her state of infancy how long under the bondage of the Law and how long she shall continue in her more grown and perfect age under the Gospel but also the time and season for bestowing of particular mercies and inflicting corrections and chastisements for the word rendred dispensation signifieth the way of administrating the affairs of the family by the master thereof and the times come under those things which are administrated by God That in the dispensation of the fulnesse of times 7. As every time chosen of God for bestowing of any mercy is the full and fittest time for his bestowing of it So the time of Christ's incarnation is in a speciall manner the full time and fulnesse of time and that not only because it was that full time which God had appointed in his decree and for reasons known to his own unsearchable wisdom condescended upon as the most fitting time for that great work but also because all the fore-going prophecies promises and types of the Messias were fulfilled in those times Luke 24. 27. and the will of God concerning man's salvation was then and not till then fully revealed Heb. 1. 2. for the Apostle calleth those times the fulnesse of times That in the dispensation of the fulness of times 8. Though the benefits purchased by Christ and particularly that of effectuall calling and gathering together unto God those whom sin did separate from Him be intended for and accordingly doth light only upon few Mat. 7. 14. Yet the Gospel and Promise by which Christ and the benefits purchased by Him are revealed is drawn up in the most comprehensive expressions And this of purpose that none may hereby be excluded from laying hold upon that gracious offer but such as do exclude themselves Joh. 5. 40. for saith he That he might gather together in one all things both which are in heaven and which are on earth by which broad expressions are meaned only the Elect for there is an universality and world even of those 2 Cor. 5. 19. and not all the creatures not Devils or Reprobates Joh. 17. 9. yea to speak properly not yet the elect Angels who being never separated from God by sin cannot be gathered to him by Christ though they may improperly and in some respects be said to be so to wit because of those advantages which they have by Christ as that they are now most perfectly and inseparably united with God without hazard of being separated from Him Mat. 18. 10. and have attained the knowledge of that wonderfull plot of Man's Salvation through Jesus Christ which was a mysterie even to them Eph. 3. 10. and a greater measure of joy than formerly they had upon Christ's converting and saving of lost sinners Luke 15. 7 10. Doct. 9 All who belong to God's purpose of Election and who are or shall be gathered together in Christ are either in heaven or earth Paul knew no purgatory or third place for the souls of the Elect to go unto after death to endure the temporal punishment due to their sin for he divideth those all things which were to be gathered into things in heaven and things on earth 10. There is an union betwixt the Saints departed now in heaven and those who are yet alive upon the earth so as they make up one mystical body under one head Christ to whom the Saints departed are united though not by faith 1 Cor. 13. 10. yet by sense as we are united to Him by faith and as they are united to Christ so also one to another and to us by love for charity never faileth 1 Cor. 13. 8. from which union there floweth a communion betwixt them and us whereby they do pray for the Church in general Rev. 6. 10. though not for the particular conditions and persons of men upon earth whereof they are ignorant Isa. 63. 16. and the Godly upon earth do in heart and affection converse with them in heaven Philip. 3. 20. desiring continually to be dissolved and to be with Christ Philip. 1. 23. though they are not to pray unto them or give them religious worship Rev. 19. 10. for saith he That in the dispensation of the fulnesse of times he might gather together in one things in heaven and things on earth 11. Jesus Christ is that person in and by whom we are gathered together unto God by faith in Him and to the Angels and also among our selves by the grace of love He having united the two dissentient parties God and man in His own Person Mat. 1. -23. and having satisfied justice for that wrong which caused the rent Isa. 53. 5. and working in us by His Spirit those graces of faith and love whereby we are made one with God and among our selves Act. 5. 31. and having by His death taken away that wall of partition and enimity which was betwixt Jew and Gentile Eph. 2. 14 15 16. it being also necessary that we be in Him by faith before we be united to God through Him for the Apostle is so much delighted with this Truth himself and would so gladly have it well known believed by others that he doth inculcate it twice in this one vers That he might gather together all things in Christ and again even in Him Vers. 11. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will 12. That we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. THe Apostle having hitherto spoken of all the Elect in general doth now make application of the former doctrine first to the Jews and next to the Gentiles and hereby he doth yet further and thirdly inforce the fore-mentioned scope while he sheweth in effect that the prerogative of the Jews above the Gentiles made not grace the lesse free to them and that nothing which the Gentiles could pretend to beyond the Jews made it lesse free to them either And first he applyeth it unto the Jews whereof Paul was one and therefore he speaketh of them in the first person We. And first he sheweth that they to wit Believers among them as is explained ver -12. had in Christ and by vertue of His merit and intercession obtained an inheritance to wit of Heaven and Glory Col. 1. 12. and by consequence all the fore-mentioned blessings which lead to it and this not from their own merit or free choice but freely and as it were by lot wherein least of man is seen
region of the air he doth exercise it also in the earth and hell 1 Pet. 5. 8. and therefore these must not be here excluded but rather included as being below the region of the air It is described also from the subjects of his kingdom to wit those who are not only so obstinate in evil that they cannot be perswaded by any means to relinquish it as the word in the Original rendred disobedience implyeth but also are judicially given over to disobedience and fully under the power of it which is expressed while they are called children of disobedience according to the custom of the holy language whereby those who are fully given over and under the power of any vice are said to be the children of that vice Hos. 2. 4. concerning which obstinat sinners the Apostle affirmeth that the spirit of Satan did uncessantly and without intermission work most powerfully in them by driving them unto all manner of evil without any stay or hinderance See Joh. 8. 41 44. Doct. 1. The depth of man's naturall misery is so great that even the renewed Children of God cannot reach it at one view nor be sufficiently convinced of it until the Word of the Lord do frequently inculcate and lay it forth in its wofull parcels yea and bear-in upon them the truth of it by most convincing reasons taken from their own sense and experience for the Apostle speaking to the converted Ephesians seeth a necessity not only to declare in the general that they had been dead in sins and trespasses but also to prove it was so and to point-forth that wofull death at large in this verse Wherein in time past ye walked c. 2. Though even the Regenerate have a body of sin and death dwelling in them Rom. 7. 24. and do sometimes actually fall in sin yea even very grosse sins 2 Sam. 11. 4. and 12. 9. yet they do not walk in sin that is sin is not to the Child of God as the way to the travellor so as to make it his daily trade and imployment Psal. 1. 1. or to sin without any reluctancy flowing from a spirituall principle against that which he knoweth to be sin Gal. 5. 17. And so as to walk after sin by making sin and suggestions to sin his guide whom he doth willingly follow Rom. 8. -1. although sin may conquer and carry him as an unwilling captive Rom. 7. -14. c. for Paul maketh their walking in sin an argument to prove that they were dead in sin and therefore it cannot fall upon the Regenerate Wherein in time past ye walked 3. Such is the power of converting grace that it causes men change their former way and course though they have been never so much rooted in it and habituated to it for while he saith Wherein in time past ye walked he implyeth there was a change wrought and that they did not so walk in the time present 4. While Scripture affirmeth that Christ hath taken away the sins of the world Job 1. -29. and is a propitiation for the sins of the whole world 1 Joh. 2. 2. it is no cogent argument to prove that Christ hath died for all and every one in the world seing the word world doth not alwayes when mentioned in Scripture comprize all who are in the world but must be astricted to the universality of some certain kind of people in the world as the nature of the purpose in hand will bear for here the world whose course the unconverted Ephesians did follow must be the world of unrenewed men only and cannot be extended so as to comprehend the godly and renewed who were also in the world Ye walked according to the course of this world 5. The Lord is so far from being moved with the merit or worth of those whom He doth convert to bestow converting grace upon them rather than on others whom He leaveth in their unconverted state that He maketh this grace of His to fall upon such as are in no respect better than those whom He passeth by for those Ephesians before conversion walked according to the course of this world that is they were behind with none in sin and wickednesse 6. As the generall corrupt custom and example of those with whom we live or who have lived in the former ages of the world before us is a strong incitement and sufficient excuse in the minds of many to follow the multitude in doing evil without further enquiry So it argueth a man to be yet in an unrenewed estate when he maketh the example of others the highest rule according to which he walketh and laboureth to conform himself unto it more than to the will of God for the Apostle sheweth the general custom and course of the world was the rule by which they walked and an encouragement to them in their walk and maketh this an argument to prove they were then dead in sins and trespasses Wherein saith he in time past ye walked according to the course of this world 7. All men in their unrenewed state are very slaves to Satan whose wofull motions and suggestions they follow and whom they resemble and imitate in their sin and wickednesse for so much is implyed while he saith They walked according to the prince of the power of the air that is the Devil 8. Though the Devils and fallen Angels have alwayes an hell horror and torment in their conscience where-ever they are 2 Pet. 2. 4. yet they are not alwayes in hell that place of torment which is prepared for Devils and Reprobates Mat. 25. 41. they are also present in the earth and air and there through divine permission have no small power even so great as they are able to move the elements bring down fire upon earth Job 1. 16. raise storms Job 1. 19. to smite mens bodies with several diseases Job 2. 7. yea and to take away the lives of men Job 1. 19. and beasts Mark 5. 13. which power of theirs in its exercise is alwayes over-ruled and limited by God Job 1. 12. and 2. 6. in so far as His most holy and over-ruling providence doth thereby bring about His own design and purpose which is either to execute deserved judgment upon the wicked Mark 5. 13 17. or to exercise and try the godly Job 1. 12 c. for Satan is called Prince of the power of the air that is who hath power in the air 9. As the Devils are of a spiritual nature and substance and cannot be seen by bodily eyes but when they appear cloathed with bodies which belong not naturally unto them but for a time are assumed by them 1 Sam. 28. 14. So the way by which Satan doth impart his temptations unto us is not alwayes sensible but often unperceivable by the outward senses he doth most certainly tempt to sin and yet the tempted sinner perceiveth him not for as this spiritual and unperceivable way of tempting doth follow upon his spirituall and immateriall substance So
wonderfull and matchlesse love for saith he For His great love wherewith He loved us 9. The Lord hath love to the Elect even when they are children of wrath and liable in the course of justice to the stroke of His vindictive anger for although God could not with safety of His own justice bestow Heaven upon them when they were actually such yet nothing hindereth why He might not love them being such that is have a will and fixed resolution even when they were liable unto wrath to bestow Heaven upon them having first from that same love given His own Son to deliver them from that state of wrath that so what eternal love had resolved to give them might be actually bestowed upon them without doing injury to divine justice for ver 3. he sheweth they were children of wrath and here that God loved them and both these before He quickned them Wherewith He loved us saith he even in the by-past time 10. The doctrine of our natural misery and spirituall death through sin is a lesson most necessary to be learned which we have no great pleasure to learn and which we are prone to forget as to a deep and lively impression of it even when it is learned for the Apostle's repeating this doctrine almost in the same words by which he had expressed it ver 1. doth hint at all these Even when we were dead in sins saith he 11. There is no application of the doctrine of God's mercy in order to our delivery from sin and misery except the doctrine of sin and misery be first applied and taken with for Paul being to apply God's mercy in quickning sinners unto himself and his country-men the believing Jews he doth first apply the doctrine of natural sin and misery unto them while he doth now speak of himself and the Jews also whereas ver 1. he spoke of the Gentiles only as appeareth by the change of the person Even when we were dead in sins hath quickned us 12. Whatever a man be before his conversion as to the point of civility and right use of his natural parts yet he is looked upon by God when He cometh to quicken him as one dead in sins who can neither help himself nor merit help at God's hand for therfore doth the Apostle assert that they were dead in sins immediatly before yea and in the act of God's quickning of them while he saith Even when we were dead in sins He hath quickned us 13. The state of grace which sinners dead by nature are brought unto at their conversion and wherein they continue untill death is a state of life the sentence of eternall death which they were liable unto ver -3. being taken off Rom. 8. 1. there being also new principles and powers infused in them at their effectuall calling whereby they are enabled to do those actions of a spiritual life Ezek. 36. 26 27. which powers are also continually actuated and excited to their work by renewed influence from the Spirit of God Philip. 2. 13. and accompanied oftimes in their actings with assurance of God's love Rom. 8. 16. peace of conscience Rom. 5. 1 2. and joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1. 8. whereby also they have not only a right unto Joh. 3. 16. but also the first fruits and begun possession of eternall life Joh. 17. 3. for the Apostle expresseth God's bringing them to and continuing them in the state of grace by His quickning of them hath quickned us saith he 14. Though love and mercy in God do set Him on work to quicken dead sinners yet this work cannot be brought about or accomplished without the intervention of Christ's merit and intercession who behoved to satisfie divine justice and thereby acquire unto us those things which love and mercy had prepared for us Isa. 53. 5. seing they were all lost in Adam Rom. 5. 15 16. and who being now exalted doth also apply them to us Act. 5. 31. for notwithstanding of what was said ver 4. of God's mercy and love as the inward impulsive causes moving God to quicken them yet the Apostle here sheweth that their actual quickning had a necessary dependance upon Christ's merit and mediation while he saith He hath quickned us together with Christ. 15. That Jesus Christ behoved of necessity to strike-in with His merit and mediation hereby to acquire and apply saving grace and salvation unto us doth in nothing hinder but that notwithstanding our compleat salvation from the first step unto the last doth wholly flow from God's free grace seing it was of grace that the Father did send the Son to die for us Joh. 3. 16. It was of grace that the Son did undertake Joh. 15. 12 13. And it is no lesse grace that what He did or suffered should be accepted in our name Rom. 3. 24 25. So that all is of grace and free good-will as to us for the Apostle having pointed at the necessity of Christ's mediation in order to their quickning doth presently adde as in a parenthesis by grace are ye saved 16. There is an infallible connexion betwixt converting grace and salvation so that all those who are now converted and quickned shall be undoubtedly saved for what the Apostle calleth quickned in the former part of the verse he calleth saved in the close so that he taketh the one for the other He hath quickned us By grace are ye saved Vers. 6. And hath raised us up together and made us fit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus HEre are the other two branches of their delivery to wit first The raising of their bodies at the last day for their spiritual resurrection from the death of sin to newnesse of life was mentioned ver 5. Secondly Their glorification in Heaven both which are yet to come 2 Tim. 2. 18. Mat. 25. 34. And yet he speaketh of them as already past when the Father raised and glorified Christ because seing Christ in His resurrection and entering of heaven did sustain a publick person representing all the Elect as their Head and Atturney-generall Job 10. 15. Therefore He was judicially looked upon by God in those actions as if all the Elect had risen when He rose and taken possession of Heaven when He did enter it Hence it is that in the close of the verse it is added in Christ to shew we are not yet raised and glorified in our own persons but in Christ our Head And the Spirit of God doth choose to set forth their future resurrection and glorification by shewing these are already accomplished in Christ their Head rather than by saying God shall raise them up and glorifie them that he may with one and the same labour point out the dependencie which their resurrection and glorification have upon Christs as the effect upon the cause the thing promised upon the pledge thereof as also the undoubted certainty that those shall come to passe a certainty greater than that of a simple prediction and
of Christs body are by nature lost and gone even dead in sin and children of wrath Eph. 2. 1. -3. So there was no way for their recovery but by Jesus Christ His becoming man and suffering death and uniting Himself being now risen from death unto them as their head that so He may bestow the influences of spirituall life with a right to heaven upon them here and at last take them to Himself in glory hereafter for he sheweth that Christ is become the Churches head that He might be a Saviour of his lost body 6. The dominion and power which husbands have over their wives is not tyrannicall rigid or soveraign but loving gentle warm and amiable and such as the wife may look upon as a mercy to her self as well as a dignity unto her husband for it is compared here unto that sweet and naturall power which the head exerciseth over the body and Christ over His Church who maketh His people willing in the day of His power and it ought to be employed wholly for the good and safety of his wife as Christ is the Saviour of the body Vers. 24. Therefore as the Church is subject unto Christ so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing THe Apostle secondly repeateth the exhortation as a conclusion from the former argument that wives should subject themselves unto their own husbands and addeth two things 1. The manner of this subjection to wit such as it may resemble the subjection of the Church unto Christ which is to be understood not in all things for wives are not to subject their souls and consciences to their husbands as Believers do to Christ trusting in Him for life and salvation but in some things only to wit so as they may subject themselves willingly chearfully lovingly chastly and dutifully unto their husbands for so doth the Church subject herself unto Christ. He addeth secondly the extent of this subjection and obedience even to all things which is not to be understood of all things absolutly and without exception Acts 5. 29 but all things lawfull godly honest and which are not forbidden in the Word of God even though they crosse the humour of the wives and argue little discretion in the husband who commandeth them Numb 5. 14 15. c. for nothing is excepted here but what is contrary to that subjection which is due to Him who hath commanded this subjection of wives to their husbands as Paul commenteth upon an expression like to this 1 Cor. 15. 27. Doct. 1. As subjection in wives unto their husbands is a most necessary duty So considering the inbred pride arrogance and self-willednesse which is in all the sons and daughters of Adam by nature it is a work of no small difficulty to get wives peswaded to give that hearty chearfull loving and dutifull respect and obedience unto their husbands which both the Law of nature and the written Word of God do require from them for to what purpose else doth he reiterate this exhortation and inforce it by so strong and convincing arguments Therefore as the Church is subject unto Christ so let the wives be unto their own husbands 2. Though there be much unmortified corruption in the Church of true Believers and a law in their members rebelling against the law of their mind Rom. 7. 23. yet God doth look upon them as true and loyall subjects to Christ in so far as with the Spirit and better part according to which God doth reckon with them they serve the Law of God Rom. 7. 25. and do groan after and long for the time when they shall be fully freed from the body of death and throughly subjected unto the will of God Phil. 1. 23. for while he saith as the Church is subject unto Christ it is supponed that the Church is subject unto Him and looked upon by God as such 3. The servants of Christ in pressing duties ought mainly to guard against that extremity which people naturally are most prone to fall into especially seing all the guards which can be used will have sufficient work to keep the heart from breaking over upon that hand for though there be some things excepted from coming under that obedience which wives do owe to their husbands as was cleared in the exposition yet because wives are more inclined to multiplie exceptions in this purpose than to diminish them Therefore he extendeth this obedience expresly to all things leaving them only to gather from the circumstances of the Text and other places of Scripture those few things which are excepted that thereby he may with one word cut off all unscriptural exceptions limitations and restrictions which imperious aspiring spirits impatient of the yoke are ready to bound and straiten this submission and obedience by Let them be subject in every thing saith he Vers. 25. Husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for it THe Apostle doth now exhort husbands to their duty which he first proponeth summarily under the name of love to their wives whereby the heart and inmost affections of the husband ought to be so inclined and disposed towards his wife as that not only he do wish her good but also endeavour unto his utmost to bring it about which is not to be so understood as if the wife were not bound to love her husband also Tit. 2. 4. But he presseth love upon the husband in particular because he is most ready to fail in this duty of love and to abuse that superiority which God hath given him over his wife by proving rigorous and bitter against her Col. 3. -19. Now this love enjoyned to husbands is not that common Christian love which is extended unto all Christians of both sexes as unto brethren and sisters in Christ Joh. 13. 34. but a speciall and conjugall love which ought to be extended unto none but unto a mans own wife and it includeth cohabitation with his wife and contentation with her love only Prov. 5. 18 19. a patient bearing with her infirmities and frailties 1 Pet. 3. 7. with a fatherly care to defend her 1 Sam. 30. 5 c. to provide for her in all things according to his power which either her necessity or dignity of her rank doth require 1 Tim. 5. 8. lovingly to govern direct and instruct her 1 Cor. 14. 35. yea and to cherish her ver 29. Next he inforceth this duty by two arguments The first whereof is proponed in this verse to wit Christ's example who loved His Church and from love gave Himself for it See upon ver 2. Which example of Christ's love doth not only inforce the duty as an argument but also point forth the right manner of the duty as a pattern In so far as the husbands love ought to resemble Christs to wit in the chastity of His love who loveth none to His Church Joh. 17. 9. the sincerity of His love who loveth the Church not for His but