to theE PH E SI AN S. 493 Secondly, Is every degree of Grace in a Saint a part of Chnf/'s(ulnefs; doth ~ it add to his jidn.fs ·1 Is the addmon of every Member a panol IHs fit!nefs? Sermo11 then Converlion of Souls, addmg Grace u1to the hearts of men, ISthe bcfl work XXXVC. in the World for it is an adding toChnf/'s/rtl!lejs; and what can be a greater ~ work? It i;not only doing good to a poor Soul, though that ":ould move one;_ it is the Motive that 'fames uleth, He thatcOJrverteth afomer from theerrour of his w~ jhalljave a Soul from death, hep11tleth him out of the fire; but belides this he ;dderh to cfmjl'sfu!ttefs, which is the highe!l Monve that can be. That as the Apoflle Paul faith, th.at it moved him to take all th.r j>ains he did, to fuffcr Pcrfecurions for preacbmg of the Gofpel, and to be glad ol 1t too; I 6ear (faith he)thea/Jitf!JOTtsof Chnfl i11 myjlejh,for his Bodies fah; this was Paul's Motive: But here IS a h1gher Motive; here IS not to do It for Ills Bodies fake on" Jy but for Chrifls, to make up his jidnejs. If there were a piece of work, a St~tue that were to lafl to Eternity, would not all the cunning Arti!ls in the World be glad to have a hand in carvingbut a Finger in that Statue.My Brethren, To build up the Saints, to joynt in the Saints to Chri!l, is to add to the fuhJtJs of Chrifl. The work of the Mini!lry is the befl work in the World; God had but one Son in the World, and he made h1m a Mm1fler. Thirdly, What a glorious light, my Brethren, what a glorious meeting will there be at the latter day, whenas Jefus Chrifi !hall have all his jutnefs, all his Body fully and perfectly united to him inall their glory, .pcrJectly cleanfed, not a Member wanting, and all grown to their full flature! To fee the Man Chrift (as I may fo call him,) thatperje[f Man the Apoflle telleth us of Eph.4.10, and in 1 Cor. 12.12. that is, Chrifl and all his Members making one perfect Man, He the Head, and They the Body. There was never fuch a light as this; not only to fee this Head crowned with aft Glory mid Honour, jitti11g at God's right hand, and having all thi11gs 1111der hisfut; and how beautiful will that Head be to be– hold. Our Lord and Saviour Chri!l is more worth than all this Body, when it hath all her Graces, and all her perfections, and the lea!! Member of this Body is more worth than all the World, (let me tell you that too ;) but when you have view'd the Head, to view every Member limb by limb, to fee all the beauty and perfe– ction of every part, when there Jl1all not be a Saint wanting, nor a degree of Grace wanting, but a Body proportionable to this Head; the Head being fo ex– cellent, if he had not a Body fuitable he were deformed. Chriil'• beauty, my Brethren, willadd to the beauty of this Body; and the beauty of rhis Body,put all together, will fet off the beauty of the Head. How doth our Lord and Savi. our Jejiu Chrifl himfelf long foJOthis day, when he !hall be full, when he Jl1al! come tobeglortjiedinhis Saints, as the Apo!lle faith, 2 TheJ[.r.ro. ·. My Brethren, If you had heard of a piece of work, that all the cunning Car• vers m the World had been about thefe 6ooo years, and It had been wrought limb by limb, and all the Beza!ae!s in the World, filled with theHoly Gho11,had been carving of it, and this Piece had not been compleat and put together (as you know in working Arrao, there are many pieces put together to make th~ Picture of a Man) if you heard of fuch a piece of work, what mighty, what infinite expectation would you have! Let me tell you this, That this Body of our Lord •nd 'Saviour Jcfus Chrifl hath been carving and working by all the Propltets, and Apo!lles, and Mmi!\ers, by all thelJtza!aels of the World, filled with the Holy Gho!l to this day, limb by limb; and as the Pfa!mijl faith, I amwonderfit!h• a;Jd fearfully made zn tht lowerparts of the E_arth; God hath wrought it in the lower parts of the Earth, as he d1d hts Body m the Womb. When all thefe !hall be brought together, ~nd Chrifl the Head fet upon them, t~en view them all toge– ther, what a light will It be! Oh, but let me fay one thmg more, What will it be to be a Member of this Body, though but thelittle Toe, though but the leaft part of it, to be one that Jl1all go to make up the Ful11e{s of our Lord and Saviour ,· Jefus Chnjl. So I have done with this Text, and thus likewife I have, together with this Chapter, finilhed that Courfe of this exercife, which I undertook at firfl . and I have fo done it, as I am not confcious to my felf of having offended any.' AN
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