to the E P HES I A N S. 395 it would prefently quafh the riling of a luft,and inftamly fire ?our Souls, Is ]efus ~ Chrift fitting in Heaven, In Glory, and am I a member of his, and hope to be Serm 011 with him, (or elfe why do I believe in him,) what do I then .finning upon Earth? XXX. You know how the Apofile urgetll!t.' Co/of j-2. Jj ~·e 6e rife,. WtthChrif/,feek ~ tho(e tbi 11 f!,s whichtJre above, where GhYI{Ijittelb at I!Je rJgbt ha!Jd of God: Sa yottr affe[fio11 ons things above,1nd11ot 011 thmg• 011 the Earth, Tlus our hearts will do if we believe thefe great tlungs. My Brethren, you m :ke confcience of !in, and you do well, but had you but Faith in thofe great things about Chrift, that Faith would make more quick riddance of your fins, than your Confcicnces can do. the one would direa you what is fin and what not, but the other would ftr;ngthen you againft it. . If thefe common pnnciples were held forth and profelfed, if they were ltved upon by behevers, you would find that the holmefs of your Jives would have as m your own heans,fo 10 the hearts of others more power toconvince you. The Believers m thepnmmve times as they were holy 10 their' lives fo they profert this ftill to be the foundation of their holincfs, Chrift is dead, Chrift is rifen, Chrift is in Heaven,therelore we muft live fo and fo; and this \Vas their great profe!lion,read but the writings ofthofe firft times and you /hall find it. It daiheth all the carnal Gofpellers in the world, it would fhame men out of their fins or out of their profe!ling of Chrift. If Paul were alive he would fpit in any man's face that will fay that he bclieveth in Chrifi that died and rofc again,and yet lived in fin. I cannot demonftrate this unto you as I would, I muft leave the point: fo much in general. Now, I come to the particular Articles concerning Chrift laid open in the Text, I fl1all not be able to infi(t on the feveral ufes the knowledge of them will be unro you, but I will open them and handle themby way of Expofition, ·and that is all I fl1all do, becaufe I muft keep to the pomt m hand, You have thefe Articles of your Faith concerning Chrift, explained from the 2oth. verfe to the end of the Chapter. Firft, you have him here dead, truly dead, perfealy dead, not a fpark of life left before he was to be raifed, .or elfe what need there be fo great a power to work in him ? Thr great11ejs of I he power (faith he,) wh1cb wrortgbt itJ Chr 1 jt whm he raif<d bimj'rom the dead, Here is his death. Secondly, Here is his remaining in a ftate of death after his dying, he doth not. fay limply who raifed him from death,but raJfed himfrom the dead,from amongfi the dead amongft whom he lay, That is the Second. Thirdly, You have his Refurredion, and you ilavetwothing<conceming ir. Firft, the Refurreaion 1t felf. Secondly, the ratfer of lum,God the Father who raifedhim from the dead, faith he. ' Laftly, You have his Exaltation, his fetting him at God's right hand, &c. This is the more general divifion of the 2oth, verfe, Firft,To begin with his death which is hinted here.He was dcad,and truly dead. I will nor fpeak of the kind of his death, crucifying, it is not in rhe Texr, but of that ad ofdying, that hr died, Toconfirme wluch Article, that the eye of ourFatth might be upon It, and m a fpccial manner take notice that he wao not only crucified but dead. I will give you but a Scripture or two about it that fllall fhew you the neceility and the reafon ofit, why he died. 1do not now fpeak of all his fufferings, why he was crucified, or why he was a man offarrows, the manner of h1s death, or the kmd of Ius death, bur limply the ad ofdying his giving up the Ghoft. ' lt was a Prophecy in the Old Teftament that the Meiliah fl10uld be llain cut off out ofthe Land ofthe living, as theexpreilion is, IJzi. H· 8. which is a~ appa– rent prophefie of his death. He dJ<d, (faith he in rhat , Cor. , S'·) accordmg to t!.e ScnJ>tttrts.TiJe Old Teftament prophecied of it. It was necefiary he: fl1ould die; What faith Cbrift himfelf, .'Job. 12. 24? Verily verily lfiry unto)'Ou,(faith he,)except acontof Wheatjrtlli11tothegrotmdattddie,. it abldtthoiMte, 611t zf zt dte, tt brmgtthforth much frtltt. Our Saviour Clmft fpeaketh It of himfelf. He compareth hirufelfto a grain of Corn that falletl1 from Heaven,it dropped from thence, for he IScalled the Lord from He,JVt11, 1 Cor. '5· And as the Corn that E e e falleth
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