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Christ; for that part of his priestly office was resembled by Melchisedec, who, we never read, offered sacrifice, but he blessed Abraham, as Christ doth us from heaven, and now intercedeth for us.

Now, intercession is noted out by headship, for it is natural to the head to speak for the members; the tongue speaks, if speaking will prevent any danger; the head takes care of the members by intercession and by pleading. It noteth out, therefore, his priestly office, and that with an eminency and by a peculiarity.

I might shew likewise how it noteth out his being God and man; but I would finish the chapter at this time, therefore I must cut off many things. Only there is this question, which I know not well how to pass over,—I find it not started by interpreters upon the place, but I find it started by some divines in other discourses of theirs,-and it is this, When it was that Christ began to be Head of his Church? Say they, it was when he did ascend; and the text, say they, is clear for it: for having raised him from the dead, he gave him to be a head over all things to his church, when he had first set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.

To solve this doubt in a word or two:

In the first place, headship is taken either largely for one that representeth another, who is a common person for others. The head, you know, standeth for the whole body; therefore you give the name of the whole man to the head it is so in all languages. In Latin, caput is put for the whole person; so likewise in Greek, the word sepaλn is put for the whole person: so Jesus Christ, being the head, is put for the whole body, as 1 Cor. xii. 12; and as you see oftentimes in princes' coin. Now then, take Christ as he is a common person, a person representative, so he was a head before his incarnation. In election we were all chosen in him as in a common person, standing for us, and undertaking for us, as I shewed when I opened those words, chosen in him.' And so, likewise, he was a common person when he was upon earth, and every action of his was capital, as the school-men say; every grace of his was gratia capitis. Now, as headship is taken thus for a common person representing another, so I say Christ was a head before his incarnation; and so he was a head while he was upon earth.

But then, secondly, headship importeth an influence into members; and that influence is either virtual or actual, as I may so distinguish. It is virtual, as before Christ was incarnate; yet the virtue of his being God-man and a head to his church was it that filled all the saints then as well as now. Therefore he was a 'Lamb slain from the beginning of the world,'—that is, he was considered as such; so he was a head from the beginning of the world, from Adam's fall.

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But then there is an actual influence, whereby the Godhead, dwelling in the manhood, doth actually fill all things through his manhood, as the instrument of it and so he began to fill all things when he ascended; for then the human nature was enlarged to take into his care every member of his church, and to send commission that this soul should be filled with this good thought, and that soul with this; which was not before.—And so I have cleared that thing.

Now, this similitude of a head importeth many things; but I will keep to what the text saith. There are two things imported in the text whereby the headship of Christ is represented to us

First, He is said to be a Head in respect of eminency; and that is plain in the text; he gave him to be a head over all.'

Secondly, He is said to be a Head in respect of influence into his members;

that is plain in the text too, 'he filleth all in all.' I shall open those words afterward; but only, because the text giveth us hints of these two, I will first speak a little of them.

First, He is a Head in respect of eminency. The head, caput, is oftentimes put for the beginning. Christ is a head in that sense; he is the beginning of his church, he hath that eminency: so Col. i. 18, 'He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence.' Here is one eminency. Now, he is the beginning of the church. As Adam was the beginning of the creation, so is Christ of the new creation; he was first in order intended, he was not ordained for us, but we for him; the text is plain for it, for we are 'his fulness.' The head is not ordained so much for the body, as the body for the head. He hath the first in that sense.

He is likewise head in respect of eminency, for he is worth all the body. Oh, my brethren, think what Jesus Christ is The head of a man is infinitely more worth than his body. Divide them you cannot; but if you could divide them, the head is of more worth than all the body, for all reason, and wisdom, and whatsoever is glorious, all the senses dwell in the head; there is but one sense dwelling in the body,-namely, the sense of touching, but the perfection of all the senses is in the head, it is the seat of the understanding. All the beauty is in the head; therefore the civil lawyers, in their language, call whatsoever is excellent, caput, the head.

All beauty, you know, lieth in the face, and the face and head is all one. You may read, 1 Cor. xi., of uncovering the head, that is, uncovering the face; covering the head is covering the face with a vail, as the custom of those times was. Such a one, my brethren, is Jesus Christ. You see saints, and you see but few of them, and you do not see them in their ruff, in their glory, as they shall be in their robes at the latter day; when you have thoughts of them all, put them all together, what are they? They are but the toes, the fingers, the hands of this head. Christ is worth all this body, and a thousand bodies more, if you could suppose them. In him is all the beauty: for it is said, the glory of God shineth in the face of Jesus Christ,-the face is put for the head, so 2 Cor. iv. 6.

The image of God appeareth in the head more than in all the body; so it doth in Christ. God is very well pleased when he looks upon the Head, though the members be scabbed, and diseased, and full of humours; but in him I am well pleased, saith he. He is primum amabile, that makes the body beautiful in the eyes of God; and he will never leave it till he hath cleansed it, and made it like himself. He is 'fairer than the children of men,' than all the children of men put together, Ps. xlv.

And whereas you will say, All the grace we have Christ hath; but, my brethren, how hath he it? Not as you have it; for the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth in him, and dwelleth in him bodily. The body hath all the use of the reason of the head, so that when you see a man do actions, he doth them rationally; as when a man playeth on a lute, it is a rational act, which made one say that the soul is in the fingers' ends: but now he doth these actions by way of participation; it is the soul that guideth all. So we have grace, but it is by participation; the spring of all is in Christ the Head. All the counsel, all the wisdom is in the Head; and he is made unto us wisdom,' we have none of ourselves; he is the mighty Counsellor, as you know he is called. So that he is a Head in respect of eminency, a Head over all, body and all.

Secondly, He is a Head in respect of influence; which is imported in these

words, 'he filleth all in all.' He is a Head in respect of influence these three ways in respect of communicating

1. Of life.
2. Of motion.

3. Of strength.

First, All our life is from him; that is, spiritual. The body indeed liveth a natural life without the head, but it doth not live an animal life, a sensitive life, all that is from the head. You have a natural life from Adam, but all your spiritual life is from the Head, Christ. My brethren, the very bands by which we are united to this head all come from him, as all the nerves and sinews, by which the members are united to the head, spring from the head. You have a plain place for it, Col. ii. 19, speaking of men that did not hold the Head, Christ, by which, saith he, 'all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.' He doth not only communicate all life to us, but he knitteth us to himself; first he apprehendeth us, and then we apprehend him, as in the Epistle to the Philippians.

Secondly, The head you know is the principle of motion, as well as the principle of life and union of the members. There is no motion in any little member but it is formed in the head first, and the head, the fancy first formeth it, and then sends the spirits to the toe, and biddeth it move this way or that way; or to the hand, and bids it act this thing or that; and it is more the action of the head than it is of the toe or of the hand. So it is here; all the spiritual actions which you do are from Christ, that 'worketh all in all,' 1 Cor. ii. 6, as he is here said to fill all in all.' What a mighty vast comprehensive Head have we, that should think all the good thoughts of every member; that is, give directions that any should think them. He sendeth his Spirit down, who is said to be that same végya, that same inward working, Eph. iv. 16; he sendeth his Spirit down, and that works every thing that Christ would have wrought.

I find in some of the school-men, handling Christ's headship, that they would make the Holy Ghost to be the heart, and Christ to be the head; they would follow the similitude so far. But it is an absurd one, for to make the Holy Ghost the heart in this body is indeed to make him a member whereof Christ is the head; he beareth no such 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 sinews and blood, which is called the life of a man, that carry all the commissions for actions to be done, and that part indeed the Holy Ghost hath between the head and us.

Now, my brethren, do but think with yourselves what a head Christ is, in respect of motion. Suppose-it is a supposition may be made to illustrate the thing-there were a man as high as that his head were in heaven, and his feet were here upon earth, and his hands stretched all over the world. No sooner did the head that was in heaven think of moving the toe, but it would move in an instant. Even such a one is Christ, he is a head, he hath a part of his body in heaven, he moveth them as he pleaseth; he hath another part on earth here, and he moveth them as he pleaseth too, and he doth it in an instant. He is the principle of all motion. He is the head in that respect.

Thirdly, He is the fountain of all strength likewise. All the strength of the body lieth in the spirits. Take away the animal spirits that come from the head, the body is a weak thing; it is sown in weakness;' when the spirits are gone, the body dieth. Further than Christ strengtheneth us, we

are all dead; therefore the Apostle prayeth, Eph. iii. 16, that they may be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.' And I am able, saith he, 'to do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me.'

And so much for the headship of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He is, first, the fountain of all spiritual life, the uniter of us to himself, the principle of all union is from the head; he is, secondly, the fountain of all motion; and, thirdly, of all strength.

The second thing to be considered in Jesus Christ's headship is this, He is said to be a Head over all; 'gave him to be a head over all.'

There are many senses of them, and they are all full of comfort to us. The words note out first, as I said before, an eminency, an excellency, a superexcellency. As Eph. vi. 16, Above all things take the shield of faith,' that is the most eminent thing of all the rest; so Jesus Christ is a head above all. And so it referreth to the gift; that above all gifts that God hath given him, this is the greatest gift, to be the head of the church. That is one meaning. It was the greatest gift that could be given to Christ to be a head of the church, which is his body; more than sovereignty over all things else, which he had mentioned before. And it was the greatest gift that could be given to the church, the words will bear either; xai avrò ἔδωκε κεφαλὴν ὑπὲρ πάντα τῇ ἐκκλησία.

Or else, in the second place, he gave him to be a head over all to the church,' hath this sense in it. It noteth out his sovereignty and superiority over all in relation to his church, that God gave him to be a head to the church, who is above all; and so indeed the Syriac translation readeth it, 'he that is above all, God gave him to be a head to his church.' And this seemeth to be the meaning more properly, for he had set him out before, how he was over all principalities and powers, far above all; yet he repeateth it again in this, he gave him to be a head over all to his church; that is, he that was Lord of all, God added this to him, to be a head to the church; noting out, that none was fit to be a head to the church but he that was over all; he is over all that belongeth to his church for her good; over all that are against her to hurt her. And it was needful for the church to have such a head, for we have enough against us; but who shall be against us if Christ our head be for us?

There is a third meaning yet, and it is for our comfort. It is this: it hath relation to headship; that is, above all relations else he gave him to be a head and to act that part. He doth not say, he gave him to be a lord simply, nor a king, nor a brother, but above all these, though he is all these, he is a head. God gave him to be above all things else a loving, and kind, and natural head to his church, which is his body.

Every one of these senses, my brethren, how full of comfort are they! If you refer 'above all' to gift,' he gave above all him to be a head;' how full of comfort is it! That this should be the greatest gift that ever God gave, Christ to be a head to his church; and Christ reckoneth it so. Look into John xvii., read over that chapter; you shall see there, as it is a prayer, so it is a thanksgiving too; it is an acknowledgment of mercies and benefits given him by his Father. He telleth his Father indeed he had given him glory; saith he, ver. 1, 'Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee,' 'with the glory which I had with thee before the world was,' ver. 5; which, ver. 22, he calleth 'the glory which thou gavest me.' And this indeed Jesus Christ valueth most, therefore he mentioneth it first in ver. 1; for his own person being worth more than ours, he hath reason to value his own glory more than all ours; he should not love himself regularly

else. But next to that, what valueth he? Ver. 2, 'Thou hast given him power over all flesh;' here is his being over all; but to what end? Mark what followeth: That he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.' And, ver. 22, 'The glory which thou hast given me I have given them.' So that he useth this power that he hath in order to our salvation. And if you read that chapter, observe it, what is it that Christ mentioneth oftenest in that chapter as the greatest gift? It is the giving of his church to him. He mentioneth it, ver. 6, 'I have manifested thy name to them which thou gavest me; thine they were, and thou gavest them me.' So again, ver. 8, 'I have given thy words to them which thou gavest me, and they have received them;' ver. 9, I pray for them which thou hast given me;' ver. 10, All mine are thine, and thine are mine;' still he pleadeth his interest in them as by way of gift. So ver 11, 'That those which thou hast given me may be one;' still he mentioneth this as the greatest gift of all the rest which God hath bestowed upon him.

My brethren, Jesus Christ reckoneth his being a head to the church more than all his temporal dominions, more than his being over all things else. What use shall we make of it? In a word thus, let us prize our relation to Christ, seeing Christ prizeth so much his relation to us; he prizeth it more than his being over all things, than his being far above all principalities and powers; let us prize it more than all worldly greatness and riches, or what else soever. Our being members of Christ is more than our being all things, as Christ's being a head to us is more than being Lord of all the world.

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And then again, let the Church value this gift of Christ being a head to her, for it beareth that meaning too; there is an emphasis in that word him. He gave him to be a head,' so saith the text. He had set him forth as Solomon in all his royalty, sitting at his Father's right hand over all principalities and powers; and he hath given him,' saith he, to be a head over all to the church.' What should the church do now? It should go over all the excellencies of Jesus Christ to make her prize the gift of Christ to her as a head. And let me tell you, he hath given him to be a Saviour, the Saviour of his body, but to be a head is the greater, to be a head is an everlasting thing. When sin will be remembered no more, when his priesthood is at end, he will be a head for ever when he hath given up the kingdom to God the Father. It is a peculiar blessing. To which of all the angels hath he said he is a husband to them, or a head to them, as a body? To none of them. It is only to this body, the church, the sons of men.

Oh, my brethren, when you are in heaven and when sin shall be forgotten, -you love him now because he saveth you, justifieth you, and cleanseth you, and you will love him at the latter day because he pronounceth you blessed, forgiveth you all sins, and suffereth you not to enter into condemnation ;-but when all these shall be over, what will be the sweetness for ever? That he is your head. Above all he gave him to be a head to his church.'

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And do you but consider what a head you have. There is I know not how many alls in him. In his person there dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; so he saith, Col. ii. 9. In his relation to you he is all, and he is in all, Col. iii. 11. In his power for you he is above all; so saith the text. In his communicating his goodness, he filleth all in all;' so saith the text too. He is one that hath all the Godhead; that is all in all, that is above all, that filleth all in all. What would you have more? Here are alls enough for you; value this gift, that Jesus Christ is your head.

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Last of all; take that other sense, that of all relations else he is above all

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