--·--- ---·~----- to the EPHESIAN S. 393 In the Fourth place, As he /hewed his Death and Refurrection and Exaltation,~ fo he lheweth the relation that Jefus Chnfl beareth to Ius Church, m the mtd~ of Sermo" all this exaltation, faith he, hebath all tlungs und~r l11s feet mdeed , but he ts a XXX. head to his Church, r!tat is for thetr comfort; and thts doth Jefus. Chnfr account~ reat a part of hisexaltatton as any other, that he ts a Head to Ius Church,for fo •: f~lloweth in the lafl verfe, which is his fulnefs, though he be full of all this glo– ~y he is pleafed to account his relation to his Church to be his fulnefs, without which he is nor perfect. Laaiy, He telleth us the influence that Jefus Chrifl hath now he is in Heaven, he litteth not there as polTeiJing g!c:ry and happtnefs tnlumfelf, bur he hath an influence into all things, h• fi!leth fatth he, all m all. . So now you have the partsof the words to the end of the Chapter, Before I come to handle thefe particulars, as I have often ~one, fo I /hall now give you one Obfervation in general, and the Obfervanon nfeth from thts; both that the Apo(\]e here runneth out fo much whe~ he had mentioned the rower that wrought in Chrifl, he runneth out upon Ius Refurrectw~ and Exaltatton, and lit– ring at God's right hand, &c. and prayeth that the~ mtght know thefe thmgs, for that is part of his fcope alfo. Hence Obferve thts my Brethren. That the knowledge of rhefe common Articles of our Faith of Chrifr's being raifed again, his fitting at God's right hand, and having all things under his feet, and the l1ke, that the rrue kn?wledge, the confrant apprehenlion .of thefe, take them in the relatton that Chn!l hath to us as a Head, (take that m,) tt IS ofall lmowledges the mofr necelTary, the mofr ufeful,the moft comfortable; and there– fore the knowledge of this is the lafr of the Apo!lles prayer, for all this cometh in his prayer to God for them ; necelfary for fealed Chnfrtans as thefe Ephrfollls were, Chrifrians grown up,for them to fpend the deepeft and the dearefr of rhei~ thoughts upon. My Brethren, they are common points, and you have them in your Creed, and every Child knoweth them, and you take them for granted, whereas if they were but d,fgefled by Faith confrantly and daily, if you would make confrant Meal• of them, there are no points in Religion more frrong, more powerful to quicken mens hearts than thefe. It would never elfe have been, that by univer– fal confent of the Church in all Ages, thcfe IJJOu]d be put as the common Articles of our Faith, as you know they are, What ever account you make of them,let me tell you this, they were the great points which rook up the thoughts of the Faith of the J>rimitive Chrifrians, that their Chrifr was rifen, newly afcended up to Heaven, and lining there ar God's right hand. They were frelh news then, and did mightily quicken their hearts; and it was that which took up their Sermons , read their Sermons in the ACfs Chap. >· and you /lull find they inlifr upon thefe things. WhenPaul came to Corinth, you ll~all fee in 1 Cor.1 '). what :in Emphalis he putteth upon thefe common points,Chrifl's being dead and rifen again, faith he there, I dn!ared tmto you the Gojpel which I preach•d, ( fo it is at the lir!l verfe,) which alfoye have rtceived, and wherei11ye {land, by which alfoye are [twed; and he addeth, I(ye kup ill memory,that is,if you ei<ercife your thoughts aaily up?n.whaiO' I have delivered, for it is agreaq~omt, it is not only necellary to falvatton for thetr fir!l beltevmg but for thetr keepmg m memory, and whetting their Souls upon them; If ye keep i1J memory (faith he,) what I preached tm– toyott,tmlefsJ'e have b•lievedinvai11; fdr faith he, (if ye would know what this Gofpel is which he putteth this weight upon,) I delivered tmtoyottfir{/ ofaft that which I have received, how that Chrifl di•d{or our fins, accordi11g to the Scriptures, and that ht WM lmried, mid that he rofe a~ai11 accordmg to thi Scriptures; and faith he verfe 11. So we preach, mJd/oyt believed, It was the great thing in their preaching, and it was the great thirig in the eye of their Faith. Read all Paul's Epifrles, you /hall likewife find he ruilneth out upon thefc points. Here is but a fmall occafion given, you fee how he inlargeih himfelf up– on tt; When he cometh to fpeak of thefe points his heart fwclleth and mi~lllily nfeth up, for indeed his heart was full of them. " Thefd
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