mise, seems to point at the promise made to Adam, Gen. iii. 15. that first grand original promise, of which promise all the following promises were but branches, or more full explanations. Now the Ephesians are here said to be strangers to the covenant of promise; because, as Gentiles, this covenant was never revealed to them, nor any offer of it made by the ministry of the word, and consequently they could have no actual interest in the blessings and privileges of it. This intimates to us, that for men to live and die without an offer of the covenant of grace made unto them, is a woeful, sad, and dangerous condition, because their salvation is rendered in an ordinary way impossible, forasmuch as the terms upon which salvation may be had are concealed from them. 4. They were without hope; that is, they were without the grace of hope, and without the means of hope; they were without hopes of redemption, without hopes of pardon and reconciliation, and consequently without any well-grounded hope of eternal life and salvation. Such as are Christless, must be hopeless; such as are without faith, must needs be without hope; and such as are without the promise, must necessarily be without faith: for the promise is the ground of faith, and faith is the ground of hope. Learn, That for a person to be without a well-grounded hope of future happiness, is a very deplorable case and condition; but all such as are without the pale of the christian church, without the bond of the covenant of grace, without the offer of a Saviour in the gospel, they must be without hope, even in this life, and so are of all men most miserable. 5. They were without God in the world; that is, without the knowledge of the true God, without worshipping of him as God, without any affiance or trust in him, without performing any obedience to him: not that the Ephesians, and other heathens, lived without all sense of a Deity, for they worshipped false gods abundantly, but they lived without any sense or sensible apprehension of the majesty and holiness of the true God: now, this is to live without God in the world; and verily such a life is worse than death. The apostle calls all the Gentiles, not only the barbarous and savage, but the best polished and civilized nations, Alcov, Atheist, because they wanted the right knowledge of God by and through a Mediator: there is no knowing God acceptably, except we know

him in Christ, and approach unto him by Christ. In this affecting manner doth our apostle set before the Ephesians their dark and dismal state whilst Gentiles, and before brought into the christian church by preaching the gospel of Christ unto them; they were without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. God grant that every unregenerate sinner may think of it till his heart and soul are affected with it.

13 But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were afar off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

The apostle having set before the Ephesians the black and dark part of their lives, before their conversion to christianity, in the foregoing verse; comes here in this to acquaint them with the blessed change which was made in their state, and by whom. Now, says he, in, or by Christ Jesus, ye, who were sometimes afar off, namely, from Christ, his church, his covenant, from saving hope, and from God himself, are made as nigh as the Jews, and have as much right to expect the aforesaid benefits as they, the blood of Christ having purchased them for you, and sealed them to you; Ye that were before afar off are now made nigh by the blood of Christ. Where, note, That persons who are most remote, and at the farthest distance from God, are sometimes unexpectedly brought home unto him: Ye, who were afar off, are now made nigh. Note, 2. That it is ow. ing to the blood of Christ, to his death and sufferings, that any soul is brought into a state of nearness unto God, and finds acceptance with him: Ye are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making

peace:

He is our peace; that is, 1. He is the Mediator of our peace, the great peacemaker betwixt God and men. 2. He is

our peace: that is, the purchaser of our peace. 3. He is our peace; that is, the establisher of our peace. All which is to be understood, not only of peace betwixt God and man, but also betwixt man and man. Who hath made both one; that is, both Jews and Gentiles one church. Here note, That there was a very great and deeprooted enmity betwixt Jews and Gentiles, until Christ purchased their peace and reconciliation. The Jews derided, scorned, and hated the Gentiles as unclean, compared them to dogs and swine. The Gentiles, they reproached the Jews for circumcising their flesh, esteemed them, of all nations, the worst; and would hold their nose at the Jews when they met them, and cry, O fætentes Judæi! O ye stinking Jews! and turn away their eyes from them. Learn from hence then, That the uniting of both Jew and Gentile into one church, was one blessed effect and sweet fruit of the purchase of Christ's blood; Christ's offering of himself was intended as a sacrifice for enmities between man and man, as well as for enmities between God and man: He is our peace, who hath made both one. Observe next, What Christ hath done in order to his making peace between Jew and Gentile; 1. He has abolished the ceremonial law, called here a partition-wall, betwixt the Jews and the Gentiles; in allusion, no doubt, to that wall to Solomon's temple which separated the court of the Jews from that of the Gentiles, that they could neither come at, nor look at one another. So that this partition-wall being said to be broken down, intimates to us, that Jew and Gentile, who before had two manner of religions, the one in and under a covenant with God, the other afar off, and without God; yet now by Christ are both adopted into the same church, partakers of the same covenants, incorporated into the same faith, entitled to the same glory. 2. Christ has abolished the enmity and perpetual strife which was occasioned between Jew and Gentile, upon the account of the observation of the ceremonial law, and the ordinances thereunto belonging: He hath abolished the enmity; that is, the ceremonial law, which made the enmity between them. The ceremonial law was the cause and the continuer of that enmity which was betwixt Jew and Gentile: this is called, the law of commandments contained in ordinances; because Almighty God did actually separate the Jews from all the world, by giving them ordinances

and commandments, judicial and ceremonial laws, containing many visible and external observances, which forbade them to communicate with the Gentile world. Now Christ being come in the flesh, all those observances ceased, and those legal ordinances vanished away all nations become blessed in Christ, and Jews and Gentiles become one church, both alike the people of God, both admitted equally into covenant, and both alike blessed. Here note, That the moral law, summarily comprised and comprehended in the Ten Commandments, was no part of the partition-wall between Jew and Gentile. Nor did the death of Christ abrogate this law, nor is it at all abolished: but it was the law of ceremonies only, which the sufferings and death of Christ put an end unto; for when he died, they all vanished; as the shadow disappears when the substance is come.

16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby; 17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

1. Our apostle had declared in the foregoing verses, that one end of Christ's death was, to make peace between Jew and Gentile; here he assures us, a second end was, to inake peace between God and man, that he might reconcile both Jew and Gentile, thus united, to an offended God. This he did by the sacrifice of himself upon the cross; whereby he did destroy that enmity which was betwixt God and man, by undergoing the punishment of sin, the cause of that enmity. Learn hence, That in order to our reconciliation with God, and being at peace with him, a price was paid by Christ upon the cross, to satisfy divine justice, and atone divine displeasure. Observe next, that Christ's having purchased peace, he came and preached peace to both Jews and Gentiles; to the Gentiles, said here to be afar off, and to the Jews, that were nigh. But how did Christ preach to the Gentiles? Where do we read that he ever did so! he did not in his own person preach peace to the Gentiles, yet he gave commission to the apostles to preach to them, Matt. xxviii. and they and their successors, pursuant to

Ans. Though

such commission, did preach peace unto them, even to them that were afar off, and to them that were nigh. Learn hence, That when the ministers of Christ do come in his name, and by a commission received from him, to preach peace, and offer terms of reconciliation unto lost sinners, it is all one as if Christ himself did come and preach, he expects the same readiness from them in receiving the message, as if it were delivered to them from his own mouth; and will treat the despisers of his ministers, and the contemners of their message, as if the affront were offered immediately to his own person. Observe, 3. The apostle's argument to prove that the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, were effectually called, by the preaching of the gospel, to partake of peace and reconciliation with God; because they had both equal access and liberty to approach unto God in all holy duties, as unto a Father, by the manuduction of the Spirit: Through him, that is, through Jesus Christ, we, both Jews and Gentiles, have access, that is, liberty of approach, by one and the same Spirit, unto the Father. Learn hence, That through Jesus Christ, all believers, of what denomination soever, have access to God by the Spirit of grace. Quest. What doth this access to the Father denote? Ans. It supposes a preceding distance between God and us, both a natural and a moral distance, as creatures and as sinners: it denotes a propinquity and nearness unto God, in opposition to this distance; and that our approach to God is free and voluntary, friendly and complacential, peculiar and privilegious, fruitful and advantageous. Quest. 2. In what respects have believers access to God as to a Father? Ans. In this life they have access to the Father's heart and love, to the Father's ear and audience, to the Father's care and protection; to his providing care, to his guiding and counselling care, to his comforting and supporting care, but especially to his sanctifying care. Quest. 3. Through whom have we this access to God? Ans. Through Jesus Christ, through his mediation and manuduction, we have access to God's heart, to God's ear, to his fatherly care on earth, and to his gracious presence in heaven. Quest. 4. What influence gives the Holy Spirit unto this access unto the Father? Ans. It is by his influence that they are at first brought home to the Father: he prepares them for this access unto the Father: he stirs up holy affections, and enkindles holy

desires, in them after God, and helps them to make improvement, an holy, fruitful, and advantageous improvement, of all their access unto God.

19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the himself being the chief corner-stone; apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ 21 In whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Our apostle began this chapter with setting before the Ephesians the horror and dread of the heathenish state before converted to christianity: here he closes the chapter with an account of that glorious and blessed state, which the christian religion, embraced by them, had translated them into: Now ye are no more strangers, but fellow-citizens, &c. Where observe, 1. Their present happy condition is set forth both negatively and positively negatively, by showing what they were not, neither strangers nor foreigners, but freemen and fellow-citizens, &c. Where it must be remembered, that all the nations of the world, except the Jews, were called strangers to the God of Israel: but the Jews were called propinqui, his neighbours, or near ones: but, says the apostle, there is now no such difference; for the believing Gentiles are equally admitted with the believing Jews to the privileges of the new Jerusalem, and are fellow-citizens with one another; they are no longer aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, but free men. Observe, 2. The apostle sets forth their happy condition positively, under a three. fold similitude; namely, that of a city, that of an household or family, and that of an edifice or building. Note, 1. Our apostle compares the christian church (of which the Ephesians now were members) to a city; and shows, that themselves, as believing Gentiles, had a right to all the privileges and immunities of that city, as well as the Jews, who accounted themselves the only free members of it. Ye are fellow-citizens with the saints; that is, the patriarchs and prophets, and all

other mem

bers of the church of the Jews; ye are free denizens, burgesses, and infranchized citizens, with the rest of that holy society; ye are all members of the holy catholic church. Note, 2. Our apostle compares the christian church to an household or family: Ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. Now, this metaphor intimates a greater degree of nearness to, and communion with, the church, than what the former metaphor did imply, there being a straiter tie of familiarity and friendship between the members of a family, than between the members of a city. Whence we learn, That the church of Christ under the gospel, is God's great household or family, in a peculiar manner admitted to an intimate communion with him, in a special way provided and cared for by him; and every sincere christian becomes a member of this blessed family, and enjoys all the privileges thereof: Ye are all fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. Note, 3. St Paul proceeds yet farther, and compares the church of Christ to an edifice or stately building: Ye are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, &c. Now this similitude holds forth unto us a still farther degree of nearness to, and communion with, God and his church, than the former. What can be more closely united, and more strictly joined together, than stones in a building? And our apostle calling the church an holy temple, seems to allude to Solomon's temple, which was a type of the christian church, as the tabernacle was of the Jewish church. The tabernacle was ambulatory and changeable, made of decaying and corruptible materials, and so fitly typified the Jewish dispensation, which was temporary and transient; but the temple was made of durable rich materials, and thereby a proper type of the christian church, which is called a kingdom that cannot be shaken. But observe further, How our apostle doth describe this stately edifice, this spiritual building, the christian church, these several ways: 1. By its foundation which it stands upon, namely, the apostles and prophets; that is, upon the doctrine of the prophets and apostles, not upon their persons: Christ himself being the personal foundation and chief corner-stone. Learn, That though Christ himself be the builder of, and the chief corner-stone in, his church, yet he employs his ministers now, as he did the prophets and apostles of old, to lay

the foundation, and carry on the superstructure, and no one apostle had a privilege in this above another; and therefore for the pope, as St. Peter's successor, to style himself, "the foundation of the Catholic church," is an impudent presumption; for no more is here said of Peter, than is said of all the apostles and prophets. 2. The church as a spiritual building or temple, is here described by the unity and compactness of its parts: in whom all the building fitly framed together; that is, all the members of the church are by faith firmly joined to Christ as the foundation, and to one another by love, and their unity is both their strength and their beauty. 3. This building is described by its worth and perpetual increase, it groweth unto an holy temple. The church groweth two ways, by an addition of new and particular converts, and by an addition of new graces in every particular convert. Where remark, how this spiritual edifice, the church of Christ, differs from all other buildings; both the whole of it, and all the individual parts of it, are endued with life, a life flowing from Christ the foundation, a life far from a state of perfection, in whom all the building groweth; all a christian's life and spiritual growth flow from his union and communion with Christ; in him all the building groweth. 4. This building, namely, the christian church, consisting both of Jews and Gentiles, is here described by the end and design of Christ in erecting this growing edifice; namely, to be an holy temple unto God, wherein now (as in the material temple of old) he may manifest his gracious presence, and be perpetually worshipped, glorified, and served. whole church, or collective body of believers jointly, and each believer severally and apart, are a spiritual and holy temple unto the Lord, in and by whom all spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise are offered up, and all the duties of new and sincere obedience acceptably performed.

CHAP. III.

The

The design and scope of our apostle, in this chap.

ter, is, to let the Ephesians know, that he was now a prisoner at Rome, for preaching the gos pel to the Gentiles in general, and consequently that they (the Ephesians) had no cause to be offend ed at his present sufferings in particular, especially considering that his calling to that work and office was by divine revelation; and that he was not only extraordinarily called to it, but qualified and fitted for it. From all which considerations be exhorted them from fainting upon the score of his sufferings, which he gladly underwent for so