to theEP H E SI A.N S. Firll,allourlife is from him that is Spiritual: Jhe.J~ody ind~ed it llveth aNa-~ turallife without the Head, but 1t dot.t not hvean Ammal hfe, a $enfittve ltfe, Strm01s all that is from the Head. You have a Natural hfe frorl) 4d,zm, . but all your pi- XXXV• . ritual life is from the Head Chrill. My Brethren, the very bands by wh1ch we \./"'rV are united to this head all come from him, as all the Nerves and Smnews by wluch the Members are united to the head, fpnng all from the head, You haye ~ piam lace for it Culo{.' z. 19, fpeaking of men that did not hold the head Chnll, . by ~hich (f;ith he,) a/Jth'e Body 6y )o)ltls and 6a11ds bavi11g liouri{hment mi1JI– Jired a11d knit together, illcreafrth witb tbr iltcreaft of Gud. .He cloth not on– ly co:Omunicate all life to us but he lmitteth us to him(elf, firll he apprehendcth us and then we apprehend him, a' in t~e Eptpte to the Epbe(hms. . . Secondly, The Head you know 1s the pnnc1p!eof motion .as well as the pnn– ciple of life and !-mion of the Members ; There 1s no motton m any htt!e Member but it is formed m the head firfi, and the head~ the fancy firfi formeth lt,and then fends the Spirits to the Toe and biddeth it move this way or that way, or to the Hand arid bids it act this thing or that, and tt is more the action of the Head then it is of the Toe or of rhe Hand. So iris here, all the fpiritual actions wh:ch you do are from Chrill that wor/uth a!J in a/J, I Cor. 2, 6. as he ii here faid tofill all i>/all, What a mighty vall comprehenfive head have we, that lhould think all · the good thoughts of every Member, that is, Give direction that any lhould thin& them, he fendeth his Spirit down, who is fa id to be that fame MpJ"'"' that .fame inward working, Ephef. 4· 16. He fendeth his Spirit down and rhat worl1s every thing that Ghrill would have wrought. . I find in fame of the Schoolmen, handling Chrill's head/hip t~at they would make the Holy Ghofi to be the Heart and Chrill to be the Head, they would fol– low the fimilitude fo far. But it is an abfurd one, for to make the Holy Gholl the Heart in this Body is indeed to make him a Member whereof Chrill is the Head; He beareth no fuch part: But what part doth he bear in this Body then? He beareth the part of the Spirits that run up and down in the Nerves and Sinnews and Blood, l which is called the life of aMan, ) that carry all the commiiiions for actions to be done,& that part indeed theHolyGholl hath between the head and us, Now my Brethren, do but think with your felves what a Head Chrifi is, in re– fpect of motion. Suppofe (it is afuppofition may be made to illufirate the thing,) there were a Man that were as high as that his head were in Heaven, and his feet were here upon Earth, and his hands firetched all over the World: No fooner did the head that was in Heaven think of moving the toe, but it would move in an infiant. Even fuch an one is Chrill, he is a head, he hath a part of his body in Heaven, he movetl1 them as he pleafeth he bath another part on Earth here, and he moveth them as he pleafeth too, and hedoth it in an infianr. He is the principle of all motion. He is the head in that refpect. Thirdly, He is the Fountain of all llrengthlikewife. All the fircngth of the body lieth in the Spirits. Take away the Animal Spirits that come from the head, the body is a weak thing, It u Jown i11 wMknefs; when the Spirits are gone the body dieth. Further than Chrill llrengthneth us we are all dead ; therefore theApoflleprayeth, Ephef. ~· I6. Tb,Jt theymay6e {lrmgth11ed with mtght by his Spirit ill the in11er mmt; AndI am able (faith he,) to do all rhiltgs througb Chrifl that flrt11gthnethme. And fo much for the head/hip ofour Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrill.He is firfi the Fountain ofall Spiriruallife,the uniter ofus to himfelf,the principle of all union is from the head;he is Secondly the fountain of all motion;and tllirdly ofall llrength. The Second thing to be confidered in Jefus Chrifi's head/hip is this, He is faid to be a head over all, G,,ve him to6e a headover all. There are many fenfes of them and they are all full ofcomfort to us.The words note out firll, (as I faid before,) an eminency, an excellency, a fuper excellency; As Eph: 6. I 6. Above all thi1{~s pr~t on the jhield of Faitb, that is th~ moll emi– nent thmg of all the reil ; So Jefus Chrill is a head above all : And fo it referreth to the gift, that above all gifts that God hath given him this is the greatefi gift to be the head ofthe Church.That is one mean ing.It was the greatefi gift that could be. given to Chrill to be a head ofthe Church which is his body, more than fove. r~1gnty over all things elfe,which he had mentiontd afore.And it was the greorell gift that could be given to the Church,the words will bear either,'l)•v7lr ldl>r~ "''""'1' ~mp mlv74 'T~ 'Ex.,....N!ol~. Q q q Or
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