Selected quad for the lemma: body_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
body_n	nature_n	soul_n	unite_v	6,882	5	9.6339	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B02482	Christ alone exalted in the perfection and encouragements of the saints, notwithstanding sins and trials. Volume III. / Being laid open in severall sermons by the late spirituall and faithfull preacher of the Gospel, Tobias Crispe, D.D.	Crisp, Tobias, 1600-1643.; Cokayn, George, 1619-1691.; Pinnell, Henry.	1648 (1648)	Wing C6959; ESTC R233167	185,508	400

In this he is a Housholder with a witnesse he cannot eat his morsels alone he must impart that he hath The tender mother if she have but a bit the childe must have half with her and participate thereof And therefore in the 1. of Iohn he is full of grace and truth saith the Holy Ghost and of his fulnes we have received grace for grace What better Husband can you desire in the world then to have his whole purse at your command You are not at stint and allowance you may draw till you are weary there is no shutting up of the chest of his treasure he is a Fountain set open for you But to draw towards our purpose There are two offices the Holy Ghost is pleased to acquaint us withall proper unto Christ as an encouragement to win people unto him The first is generall in respect of creation and providence over the whole world the second is peculiar and speciall over the Church alone that is the office mentioned in the Text He is the head of the body the Church the beginning In the words you may observe with me a Proposition and an Eposition and Interpretation or an Allegoricall Proposition and the exposition of the Allegory The Allegoricall Proposition is He is the head of the body The interpretation of it is He is the beginning of the Church In the words note whose office this is that is here spoken of it is he that is the Head even the Image of the invisible God the deare Son of God Secondly note the office it self what that is It is Headship He is the Head of the Church He is the beginning Thirdly note among whom this office is executed and for whose use he doth execute this office that is the body interpreted to be the Church the severall members of Christ I will not set down any other Proposition but what the Apostle hath stated in the Text using his own words Christ is the head of the body the Church the beginning A head and so consequently a body admits of a threefold consideration Sometimes it is taken naturally and so proportionably it hath a body consisting of naturall members Sometimes a head is taken politically and so proportionably it hath a body politique But here it is taken spiritually for a spirituall head and a spirituall body Christ is the head and the Church you see is the body so that this is here a mysticall body And the Church is called a body not that it hath a compleatnesse without a head but in reference to the head it is called a part of the whole A body and a head is but a compleat body indeed Sometimes the body goes for a part and sometimes for the whole Here it is taken for a part only But that we are to insist upon is this First to take into consideration who this is that is the head Secondly what this office of Headship doth import unto us Thirdly how this Head is furnished to the office that is proper for a head to a body Fourthly and then as time will give leave we will have a word or two of application First who this Head is You will say we need not ask the question it is confest by all it is Christ It is true it is so but yet there is a mystery in it and peradventure the thoughts of many persons are something more confused in the apprehension of Christ as he is Head then haply they might be And it may be there might be a more cleer apprehension of Christ considered as he is Head then yet there is among us I will therefore as cleerly as possibly I may state unto you under what confideration Christ is to be considered being head of his Church or of his members Note for the making way to this that there are five very distinct things in Chrirst I say all five distinct one from another and all of them as you shall hear in the closure concurre together in Christ as head of the Church First in Christ the● is the one only divine nature and Godhead there is no God in the world but the God that Christ is This is worth your consideration for the mindes of men are apt frequenty to 〈…〉 so between God and Christ as if God were one and Christ distinctly another 〈…〉 God 's when as the truth is there is no other God 〈◊〉 the world but what Christ himself 〈◊〉 My Lord and my God said Thomas speaking to ●hrist And in the 2. chap. or this 〈◊〉 to the Colossians vers 9. the Apostle saith th●● in 〈◊〉 dwels the fulnes of the Godhead bodily In the begining was the Word and the 〈◊〉 was with God and the Word was God In 〈◊〉 1. chapter of Iohn and the 1. vers Christ is God there is but one God in all the world and therefore you must know that you are never to separate in your thoughts God from Christ Alwaies as you look upon Christ so look upon God or as you look upon God look upon God no otherwise then as he is in Christ as if there were another God besides what Christ is for there is no such thing Secondly besides the Godhead there is the eternall ineffable personality in Christ as he is God so he is the Son And in this though we cannot fathome the difference yet certainly there is a personall difference between the Fatherhood and the person of the Son There is but one God as I said before but the persons are three the Father is one the Son is another and the Holy Ghost is another There are three that bear record in heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one Now the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost are not all one personally but the Son is the Son and the Father is the Father But the Godhead of the Father and of the Son is one that is the true meaning there is a difference between the person of the Father and the person of the Son but this matter is not to be pryed into by humane wit For this of all the mysteries in Scripture is the pure object of meer faith there is no humane way to illustrate the difference between the eternall Fatherhood and the eternall Sonship Thirdly in Christ there is a distinct human nature that is as this man is not that man such a distinct individuall human nature Christ hath having a peculiar soul and body of his own that which was born of the Virgin Mary and suffered upon the crosse distinct I say from our individuall souls and bodies Fourthly in Christ there is to be considered an ineffable and incomprehensible hypostaticall Vnion of the divine nature of the second person in the Trinity and humane nature in one person There is difference between the being of God and man considered severally and the being of Christ as Mediator The Godhead of Christ is not the Mediator simply the Manhood of Christ is not

divine nature gave up it self though only in the second Person God was in Christ as much as to say whole God the divine nature assumed a humane nature and so makes up a Christ And thus God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself You shall see in the Apostles expression elsewhere that the beginning of life in a member of Christ flows from Christ Your life is hid with Christ in God It is such another phrase as the two former It is hid with Christ in God that is it is hid in that God who by being man is become Christ For that is all the difference between God and Christ all the difference I say is between God simply and absolutely considered in himself and God considered as ineffably united to the humane nature God I say thus united becomes Christ and so in such a union is reconciling the world unto himself and takes the Church who is his body The Apostle tells us further Now I live but he presently checks himself yet not I but Christ lives in me Christ is the soul of the body and as the body without a soul is dead so a person without Christ is dead I will not dispute that needlesse dispute of the Philosophers whether the soul be seated in the head principally or in the heart but this I am sure of the life and soul of the Church is in the head of the Church I am the way the truth and the life he is the life of the soul of man as the body without the soul is dead even so if there could be such a thing as the body of the Church without Christ that body were but a dead thing It hath all animal vertue from him alone It hath all life in all respects from him Take life in the first fruits in its sence or motion all spirituall sence all spirituall motion all spirituall actions and activenesse for action receives being and beginning only from Christ Hee is given for a covenant to open the blind eyes All eyes are blind till Christ opens them there is no seeing till the body receive sight and seeing from the head The head causeth us also to sinell as wel as to see the sweet savour of the ointment of Christ that makes the Virgins love him Because of the sweet savour of thy oyntments therefore do the Virgins love thee Now this savour the smell thereof being as the smel of a field that the Lord hath blessed to smel this is the sole work of Christ himselfe So also the spiritual taste to tast how good God is to relish the fatnesse and marrow and sweetnesse of the spirituall wine well refined upon the lees is all by the power of Christ and hath its being from Christ So all our feeling to feel comfort joy unspeakable and glorious all is from Christ Christ opens our eyes he boars the eares he causeth us to smell You will say all this is the worke of the Spirit why doe you say it is the work of Christ Mark what John saith in the 16. chapter the words are these He that is the spirit shal glorifie me For he shall receive of mine and he shall shew it unto you The Spirit himselfe as he dealeth with the members of Christ is the agent of Christ proceeding from Christ communicating that that is Christs to those members So that the Spirit is as it were the conduit-pipe through whom the fulnesse of the fountaine conveyes it selfe and runs forth to every member The Spirit is as the veins and nerves in the naturall body The blood you know hath its fountain from the liver but the veins carry it into every part of the body And as the naturall eye cannot see except the nerves feed it with visive spirits so neither can any eye behold the secrets of the Lord the hidden things of Christ such as he thanks his Father hee reveales unto babes while he hides them from the wise of the world except the Lord Christ do feed the members with his own Spirit It is not the eye that doth discerne and see of it selfe but the spirits that do come from the head cause sight by the eye For there may be an eye and no sight where a want of these spirits are Looke over all the Book of God and you shall finde that there is no action that comes from the Spirit but Christ is the head and spring of it You shall finde the strength and hearts of people faile when hee withdrawes himselfe It is hee that is the strength of them for ever Feare not saith the Text be not dismayed I will uphold thee I will strengthen thee There must needs be miscarriage for want of power except Christ come with his strength and power to uphold Therefore when Paul exhorts those to whom he writes to worke the workes of the Lord hee gives them this counsel Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might and again saith hee Put on the whole armour of God Now it is a vain thing to think of taking up of arms except there be strength to manage them Saul thought David to be a puny when he was to sight with Goliah and had no regard to him although hee might have good armour on hee was too little a man What Saul thought of David is true of all the whole armour of God it is to no purpose except men be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might And therefore when Paul was in a strait hee begged and begged again to have strength given though hee had not an answer to his mind yet God told him My grace is sufficient for thee My strength is made perfect in weaknesse All persons are weak but as they have strength in Christ Yea there is no strength but what is his and is sent by him Let me tell you this and I beseech you consider they that have Christ for their head they have an infinite advantage above the closest hypocrite in the world although he goe never so farre All he doth is but from a weake principle Christ is not the principle of that hee doth but hee that hath Christ for his head hee hath a spring of fulnesse The Holy Ghost tells us He is full of Grace and Truth and in him dwells the fulnesse of the God-head bodily and It pleased the Father that in him all fulnesse should dwell So that you may plainely see that the preaching of Christ as head and setting up of all the glory of Christ is not the preaching of licentious liberty to men Hee that can win a person to be a true member of this head that is Christ hee brings that person into a fat soile hee transplants him from a barren soile from a rocky soil into a rich soile whereby he come to abound in all manner of fruitfulnesse And certainly beloved fruitfulnesse will be more abundant as the soule can apprehend it selfe by true faith to be a part of this head

renounceth as false and slanderous ibid. 2 He returneth to the Text wherein is observed That the Church is the Spouse of Christ and this great grace is set forth in 2. things 1 In the consideration of the great inequality of the persons matched p. 328 2 The manifold priviledges that come by this match or relation as 1 We thereby become the sonnes of God p. 335 2 Wee are thereby made joynt heirs with Christ ibid. 3 We hereby partake with Christ in all his honours ibid. 4 The Spouse of Christ is hereby freed from arrest ibid. SERMON XI VPON Colos 1.18 He is the head of the body the beginning page 337. Wherein is considered 1 Who this is that is the head p. 343 Who is described 1 By his divine nature and Godhead 344 2 By his eternall personality p. 345 3 By his distinct humane nature p. 346 4 By the personall union of his divine humane nature together Ibid. 5 By the mystical union whereby Christ God-man is united with his body the Church p. 346 2 What this office of Headship imports 348 Namely 1 That Christ is the beginning of the being of his Church pag. 349 2 He is the beginning of all the priviledges prerogatives of the Church page 357 GODS COVENANT with his People the ground of their security SERMON I. Isaiah 41. Vers 10. Feare not for I am with thee be not dismayed for I am thy God I will strengthen thee yea I will helpe thee yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousnesse IN the former part of this Chapter which we will speake a little of because it will make way to the discovery of the true scope of this Text you shall finde the Lord graciously acquainting his people concerning his minde in sending Christ into the world and what tumults this sending of Christ should raise how the Lord repell'd that out-cry what sucecsse he giveth unto this Christ raised up in spite of all the malignity and force raised against his power and glory And it is worth your observation beloved to consider how the Lord doth manifest this a● a Preamble to this very Text. In the first verse of this Chapter the Lord seems to represent unto us the malignity of the world under th● name of Ilands and the people and to presen● them in such like posture as Demetrius and his fellows stood in in his time in the 19th of the Acts of the Apostles upon Pauls setting up o● Christ there was a horrible tumult raised it that particular against the Doctrine of Christ so is seems the Ilands and the people were it such a kinde of posture here therefore the Lord is pleased to call for silence Keepe silen●● before mee yee Ilands such a noyse there was as I may say that God could not be heard and therefore first hee requires silence and then i● stead of that confusion that was among them in respect of their madnesse hee desires them to deale somewhat rationally with him hee chargeth the world to put out all the strength it hath Bring forth your strongest reasons Le● them come neere and let us reason together in judgement Now that which the Lord speakes is a● intending to heare what they could say for themselves in their opposition of Christ for so you see plainly in the second verse there when the Lord had got silence hee pleads the cause of Christ by way of expostulation as if hee had said what madnesse is it in you to set your faces against this setting up of Christ For who hath raised up the righteous man and called him to his feete and given him to rule over Kings Why doe you contend in this manner can you tell who it is that sets him up If yee did but know against whom ye rise up it would appeare to your selves to be a vain contention And therefore in the fourth verse of this Chapter he answers the question himselfe and therein shewes the vanity of their opposing him For saith he the Lord hath done it who is the first and who is the last If you fight with me what will you get by it Be ye sure I will manage the thing it is the worke of mine owne hands and it is I that raise him up even to rule over Kings and therefore you doe but kick against the pricks in your contending with me The Lord proceeds further to shew the certainty of the prevalency of Christ in the latter end of the second verse and in the third verse he goes on to let us see the fac●●lity of Christs prevalency and not onely the facillity but also the extent of the prevalency of Christ both how easily and how far he should prevaile This matter is of excellent consideration He shall pursue saith the Text and he shall passe on safely or as it is in the margent he shall passe on in peace as much as to say when Christ takes upon him to set up his owne Kingdome and glory in the world every one that sets his face against him shall flye before him and Christ will be the pursuer and in the pursuit he will so overtake them in the flight that they shall be easily destroyed Therefore Christ shall run quietly and softly he shall not run after them too hastily there shall be such softnesse in the pursuit of Christ that the overcomming of the opposers shall seem to be a time of peace there shall be such little opposition of him In the fifth verse the Lord goes on and tells of the fruit of this conquest and the victory Christ shall have when he comes to reign in his Church the first fruit of it is terror to them that set their faces against the Kingdome of Christ the Ilands were afraid Secondly the Lord shewes what an ill use they made of this feare whereas it should make them stoop to the Scepter of Christ that was too hard for them like malefactors indeed when they saw themselves overmastered they assembled and gathered themselves together they hoped to raise up more forces and then they will try it out once more againe with Christ Besides you may observe what a politike devillish practice they use to bring downe Christ againe when he was raised that which hath been the main and grand plot of Satan even to raise up Idols and set them up by Christ to steale away the hearts of people It was the policy of Balaam counselling Balak to lay stumbling blockes before Israel to intice them unto the Idols of Moab and it was the counsell of Jeroboam to overthrow the Kingdome of Christ to set up Calves in Dan and Bethel that so there may not be a going unto Christ So you have it in the seventh verse The Carpenter incouraged the Goldsmith c. Well the Lord having thus discovered what opposition there would be at the setting up of Christ begins to speake somewhat comfortably unto his owne giving incouragement to his own people the opposition

the person there is no act of believing The truth is this the Father gives his elect to Christ his Son Thi●e they were saith Christ in the 17. of Iohn and thou gavest them me and the Father that gave the elect unto Christ he gives unto Christ also power both in heaven and in earth so saith Christ in the 28. of Matthew and in the latter end All power saith he both in heaven earth is given me Go teach all nations as much as to say I give you Apostles and Ministers that follow you a commission from my self a commission to preach and in preaching to convert and how so All power in heaven and earth is mine So that beloved the Lord takes his elect as they are self-willed and as they are untamed he brings them as they are self-willed and untamed to his Son and by vertue of all power that is given to that Son when they are brought unto him he himself doth break tame and bring them to his own bent The Father saith Christ judgeth no man but hath committed all judgement to the Son Take notice of it that now as Christ is ordained the Mediator of the covenant the Father doth nothing towards or concerning his elect people but what he doth by his Son it is the Son doth all so that all that the Father doth is to deliver up elect persons such as they are in blood enemies and rebellious he delivers them up to his Son and the framing of their spirits to his own bent is the sole work of Christ himself Christ is become by the donation of the Father the life and the soule of every elect person Now the Philosophers do observe of the naturall soul that it is the framer of its own body and the maker of its own organs that so they may be fitted for it to act its own will so may I say is it with Christ Christ hath the framing and the disposing of the whole man to bring every thing in this man to his own bent The Father bringing the creature as he is a stubborn and stiff-necked creature so delivers him up to his Son so that I say there is not a pevious foregoing act wrought by the Father without Christ I say no previous act of believing wrought by the Father or by the Spirit without Christ by which a person comes and doth close with Christ but the Father doth give that person without any faith at all or any qualifications whatsoever to his Son and his Son Christ himself he frames and creates that very faith in persons to come to him and therefore in the 42. of Isai v. 6. you shall plainly see there is not an opening of blind eyes a giving of believing eyes to close with Christ before Christ himself be given and given as a covenant to persons So saith the Text I will give thee for a covenant Here you see Christ passed to persons not with a supposition that when persons do believe he shall be theirs and they his but I will give thee for a covenant to open the blind eyes Here is not the eyes opened before Christ comes but Christ comes when the ey● are blind and when he comes he opens the eyes that are blind But to go further Let us suppose that coming into this place is spoken of believing Ye will not come to me that ye might have life it cannot follow that although there be no life till believing therefore there can be no union till believing I say if it possibly might be imagined that there may not be life from Christ till believing yet it follows not that there must be believing before there is union Nay beloved there is nothing cleerer in all the world then this principle namely Suppose there cannot be life before there be believing yet there must be union before there can be life fetched from Christ I say there must be union before believing can fetch life from Christ For suppose that the fruit upon a branch should have such a faculty to draw life into the branch from the root though this would be a strange conceit that the fruit growing upon a tree should have a faculty to draw life from the root to the branch whereas the root communicates life to the branch and the branch by vertue of that life communicated brings forth fruit But yet suppose the fruit should draw life into the branch from the root that is suppose that faith which is a fruit growing upon a member of Christ that is a Believer and a branch of that body suppose that faith this fruit should have such a faculty to draw life from Christ the root into the branch yet it is impossible that faith should draw life into the branch till the branch be united unto the stock For beloved that is Christs comparison I am the Vine ye are the branches Now take this comparison suppose a branch growing upon a wilde Olive is cut off from the wilde Olive and for the present it is not united to the good Olive tree Now can a wilde Olive or suppose it to be a good Olive upon this branch of the wilde tree can this fruit upon the branch draw life from the root of the good Olive tree while it is separated and laid aside and is not united to the good Olive from which root it must draw life It is known to all men that communion is the fruit of union there is no participation nor communion of any thing that is Christs but as it doth flow from union with Christ so that either you must say that faith which you speak of is not of Christ the root but hath some other root and fountain from whence it hath its being and essence or else you must confesse if Christ be the root then it must come from Christ by vertue of union of a Believer to Christ first Finally suppose it should be that coming is believing suppose that this life spoken of here is not in persons till they do believe What is meant by life here Beloved I beseech you consider the Apostle tells us our life is hid with Christ in God and Christ is the life of the world that is of the elect It seems then that the life of every elect person hath a being in Christ before he doth believe believing therefore doth not produce a new life that was not before only it manifests that life which was before and it makes that life which was before an active life or is an instrument by which that life that is hid in Christ doth now after believing become an active and appearing life in this person So that all that can be made of this is but this till believing there is no activenesse of the life of Christ in the person that is elected his life is in Christ and was in Christ and reserved in Christ till the time of believing for him and then doth he the elect person become active in life when Christ doth