An Expojition of the Epiftle ~ to tbe Church to /g ber Head, m3king the greatnefs of the gift lie there th.1t it Sermotz {hould be to R:r. Or. it may lie, GJVmbzm to be.a.Hrad to the Church: making XXXV. the greatnefs of the gtft to .be, mgzvn;g htm thts pnviledge, this dignity. So that ~ f\ill he involveth Jefus Ctmf\ s dtgntty Wtth Ius ChurciJes, and let them !or ever go together. So you have the fcope, and coherence and fum of thefe words, I told you there were Three parts of the Text; and lef\ I thould forget the Founder, which is the laf\ of tl1e three, I will begin firf\ with that, for indeed it l.l'ill not come in {o properly afterward, and it is the f.irf\ thing in the Text, A11dgave, fpeaking of the Father. Herein there are Two things to be con!idered. The Firfi is, that it was a gilt to either. For God to give the Head, to give Clm!\ to be the Head to tht Churcb, ~as a gait ~o Her;. for God to give to ]efus Chnfl to be the Head of the Cburch, tt was a gaft to Ham, The words do ambi– guoufly refer to both, The greatnefs of the Gift I !hall thew, when I come to open thofe words [Over all,] abovt all Gifts, that's one part of the mean– ing. But take it firfi thus: It was a gift to the Church, that God gave 1eftu Chrifl to be her Head, and Her to be his llody. You will eafily fee that, for you heard in my la!\ difcourfe fl1e was mJder bis feet; therefore to advance her fo far as tO. be his Body, to be his Qgeen, you muf\ needs acknowledge this to be a great ad– vancement, and a meer gift on her part. Do but think of Ejlbersadvancement, read her f\ory, from a Slave to bea 0<Jen, and think what the advancement of the Church is, to be a Bot!;:. unto Cbrifi ber Head. Then Seconclly,It is a gaft to Cbrijl to be a Head,and to have aCburcb to be his Body. I will infiance in both feverally. It was a Gift firlt, That God would give JeftU Cbrifl a Body , whereof he might be the Head. You read in Adam's fiery, (who was Cbri~'s type) that God brought the Woman to him; (you know Adamwas the type of him tbat was to come, Rom.5.1 ~ · and that inmarriage, as Ephef.'i· p.) As foon as hefaw her, he !mew her, knew God's meaning; faith he, 'Ibins 6o11eoj my botte, mtd flefb of my flejh. He took her thankfully, as a gift from God; thoughafrerward, when he was fallen,he mof\ impioufly upbraided God with this gift; Tbr Woman (faith be)whom thot~grzvefl me, Gm.~.12. I quote it only for this, that the was agift, for even in thofe words Adam, when he was fallen, acknowledgeth her to be fo. Now this is as true of the Stcond Adam too; Eph.) ,2 ~· 3o,and 32.verfes compared. The Apo!\le fpeaks there of Adam and Eve, and he compareth C!mjl and his Church, and faith, that was the myfiery infolded in Adam's mar– riage. Now you !hall find this Second Adam acknowledging this gift more than'kfully than the Firfl doth; What faith he, John 1 7· 6? Spcal;ing of his Church, faith he, Thi11e they were, Ellld tbottgavtfl tbem me; and Heb.2,1 3· Lo, bere nm I, mzdthe Ghzldrm that God bathgivnz me! He doth it more thankfully; but !till it argueth that the Church was agift to him. • ' As a gift to him, fo for Him to be a Head to the Churc.h was a gilt too. 'uou ,_.,.,.WJ, He gave bim to be tbe Head, fo Beza reads it, and fo you fee our Tranflation renders it, that is, Appointed him to be the Head, he fet him in the place of a Head, Cottj/ittlit, as Gm.4.1. the word Give, for fo it is in the Origi– nal, lN: It is faid, that Pharaoh, hefet Jo(tph over a/1 the Lmzdof Eg)pt; and , the Septuagint {atth, He appoi11ted him, made bim a Head over all tlie Landof Egypt. Now this Tranflation our TranJlators have followed, He made bim to IK the Head; it might be read as well, Made bim tobe a Head; but they put the gift upon Chrilt, it was a gift to him to be made the Head, which certainly is the more direct fcope of the place, Now let me only add this concerning it. It was as a great gift to Jefus Chri!l to give him a Body, fo to advance him to that great dignity to be their Heod. AI; though for his own excellency none elfe was fit for it, it was his due; yet flill (as I have often faid) fo it is carried, becaufe he is lefs than the Father, as he is God– Man. That which is his due is yet agift ; therefore the Schoolmen do exceeding well in this. They fay tbere was a Threefold Grace bellowed upon Chri11. Firfl,
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