are made conformable to his death Phil. 3.10 There are two things in this conformity There is a conformity to his sufferings in the mortification of sin Our old man is crucified with him Rom. 6.6 We suffer in the flesh ceasing from sin 1 Pet. 4.1 What Christ suffered in his pure flesh by way of expiation that those that are in him suffer in their corrupt flesh by way of mortification Was he arraigned and condemned to die they serve sin so He was charged with blasphemy they charge it upon sin which in its rebellion blasphemes Gods Soveraignty in its turpitude his Holiness in its secrecy his Omniscience in its ingratitude his Goodness in its folly his Wisdom and in all his glory He was charged to say That he could destroy the Temple they charge it upon sin which hath laid those souls which were made to be Temples of the Holy Ghost in spiritual ruins The mind of fallen man lies in darkness the will in the chains of concupiscence the affections in the grave of earthly things They adjudg sin unto death as being the greatest of evils Was he stript they deal so with sin They unvail and undress it pluck off its false colours disrobe it of all its pomps and shadows of seeminggoodness and make it appear in its ugly hue and nakedness so that it looks as it is sinful sin and an evil of evils a thing most worthy to be crucified Was he nailed to the Cross they nail sin there they restrain the inward corruption that it cannot go at large and riot in open scandals no nor steal out in an evil thought but it will be arrested in its passage to the will they set guards within and without that it may not creep in by the ports of sense nor rise up out of the deep of the heart Within there is a watch over the thoughts and without over the sensible objects There are such nails of restraint that it cannot move or stir it self but it dies away by little and little Was he pierced they pierce sin and let out the vital blood I mean the love and joy and delight of it It is a prodigious thing in their eyes to love that which crucified their dear Saviour and makes war upon their good God to joy in that which hath been their sorrow and set the whole Creation a groaning about their ears or to delight in that which in it self is a meer ataxy and confusion and in the soul is an hellish blot and turpitude It is their daily work to cast it out of their hearts as an accursed thing and in an holy hatred to pursue it to the death The violence done to Christ they put upon it till it do like one upon a Cross give up the Ghost This is a sure mark of union with him They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts Gal. 5.24 They have done it and because sin is long a dying they are still a doing of it more and more If a man indulge his lusts it is a meer vanity for him to imagine that he is in Christ he cannot at the same time be a subject of Christ and a drudg to sin he cannot be joined to a crucified Saviour and to the Crucifier too his heart cannot at once be a Temple of the Holy Ghost and a stable of unclean lusts these things are utterly inconsistent All that are in Christ die to sin having in his death the great pattern of Mortification and from it a spirit for the work Also there is a conformity to his sufferings in bearing the Cross they that are in him in their first Espousals did receive him intirely Cross and all and so virtually and in purpose did swallow down all the persecutions that were to go along with the Gospel And if God call them out to it they are ready to take up the Cross and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in their flesh the satisfactory sufferings of Christ in his natural body were full and perfect but the sufferings of Christ in his Mystical body are daily to be filled up and all that are in him are content to bear their part in them Christ hath sanctified the way of affliction by going himself in it to glory and they are willing to follow him in thither He drunk up the cup of wrath to the bottom and they are content to take such drops of it as are allotted to them In the midst of afflictions and bloody sufferings they carry themselves as parts of the holy Lamb some of his meekness and patience rests upon them to tell the world that they are his they do not murmur at instruments but submit to the will of their Father who sits in Heaven and orders all they do not wave the Cross but accept it as a piece of conformity to their Head who died on a Cross to sweeten it to his members To them reproaches for Christ are as marks of honour Sufferings for the Gospel as pledges of future glory Some of the Martyrs have stiled their Prisons a Paradice their Chains an ornament This is an high proof of union with Christ They that suffer with him shall be sure to reign with him If a man be not willing to suffer for him he hath not any part in him he doth not accept of him upon the terms of the Gospel Such an one would have a Christ of his own fancy not a crucified one a Gospel and no Cross in it and an Heaven and no sufferings in the way to it which can never be In suffering times the leaves of his profession will fall off he will appear as a meer man of this world one who loves the world above Christ and fears temporal sufferings more than eternal A true Christian he cannot be omnis Christianus est crucianus all that are in Christ learn the lesson of the Cross This is the second Conformity The third is this There is a conformity to the Resurrection of Christ what was done in the flesh of Christ in his corporeal Resurrection that is done in the spirits of true Christians in a spiritual One there the stone was rolled away from the Sepulchre here from the heart there the flesh of Christ was raised up by an Almighty Power here the Spirits of Christians are raised up by it In this conformity two things may be noted There is a conformity to his Resurrection in heavenliness of mind Thus the Apostle If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God Col. 3.1 As long as men are in the old Adam their center is here below their affections are buried in earthly things but as soon as they are in union with Christ they are not here any longer but they are risen their affections do not creep upon the earth but are lifted up to heaven their Faith puts back the things of time and looks
Jewels and attire If Adam had a world Eve did participate with him Thus it is in the earthly marriage much more is it so in the spiritual one When such an one as Christ is joined to Believers what and how great must the communications be The earthly Husband according to his state and degree doth communicate to his Wife what then doth Christ who hath a Deity and unfearchable riches in him communicate to those who are in conjunction with him Want they cannot while he hath a Deity or be without a supply till his riches be exhausted They go no longer in the rags of their own unworthiness but are covered with the robe of his pure righteousness guilt can no longer abide on them because they are sprinkled with his aroning blood while he hath an Holy Spirit they cannot want the Jewels and ornaments of Grace their love meekness obedience patience shew that he hath put some of his beauty upon them his wine-cellar of Scriptures and Ordinances stands open to them that they may taste and drink of Divine Consolations at last they shall enter into the palace of Heaven and there partake of his glory No Husband but himself can so communicate The other is this That in Marriage there is a due propagation of mankind individuals dye but mankind is preserved generation supplies what death devours Also in the spiritual marriage there is a double propagation one of Believers another of good works First in the Church there is a propagation of Believers such an one as Christ could not but have a seed his name was to be continued as long as the Sun Psal 72.17 In the original it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his name shall be sonned or childed in a succession of Believers The Church at first was in a Believer or two but being Christs Spouse she becomes Mother of thousands a spiritual Eve to bring forth Sons unto God In the power of the Word and Spirit which are as the seed and formative virtue in this heavenly generation multitudes of Believers come forth as the dew from the womb of the morning not in the Jewish Church only but in the Gentile world also the wilderness buds and blossoms the barren sing for joy the tent is enlarged the curtains are stretched forth the Church breaks out on the right hand and on the left in an admirable fertility this is the fruit of this Divine Marriage between Christ and his Church Again In particular Believers there is a propagation of good works as we are in conjunction with Adam we are impotent and barren but as soon as we are in conjunction with Christ we have power and holy fruits To open this it will be worth while to consider the words of the Apostle Ye are become dead to the law by the body of Christ that ye should be married to another to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit unto God For when we were in the flesh the motions of sins which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death But now we are delivered from the law that being dead wherein we were held that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter Rom. 7.4 5 6. Here we have two sorts of persons the unregenerate who are in the flesh of corrupt nature and the regenerate who have a new spirit or principle in them Two sorts of Marriage one unto the Law in the unregenerate and another unto Christ in the regenerate Two sorts of fruit one unto death in sinful actions another unto God in good works The unregenerate are married to the Law they are under the curse of it as sinners they have but the naked letter of it which commands but helps not Nay their corruption is accidentally irritated by it their inward malignity swells and rises against the holy commands which stand in Scripture as so many dams and bars to their impetuous lusts Hence they bring forth nothing but fruit unto death what they seem to do in Gods service they do only in the oldness of the letter in the external work without a spirit or principle for it The regenerate are dead to the Law and married to Christ they are not under the curse of the Law but pardoned in Christ they have not the meer outward letter only but the quickning spirit they are not irritated by the command but delight in it as in their joy and treasure Hence they bring forth fruit unto God they serve him in newness of spirit in the suavity of internal holy principles their good works are not brought forth in bondage and servility but by a free spirit and in the easiness of the new creature We see here that the progeny of good works issues not out of nature or the letter of the Law but out of a conjunction and spiritual marriage with Christ who by his Holy Spirit quickens Believers to bear holy fruits The conjugal union in the earthly pattern not being enough the Holy Ghost goes on to set forth the mystical union by that which is between the foundation and the building Christ in Scripture is called a foundation upon a double account he is the foundation of Doctrine Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 3.11 Here the Apostle speaks of a foundation of Doctrine the consequent words make this appear the gold silver and precious stones are pure and solid Doctrines the wood hay and stubble are vain and frivolous ones both are called mans work which the fire shall try He is also the foundation of Believers They are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone Ephes 2.20 It 's true the Apostles and Prophets are here called a foundation but they are only a doctrinal foundation Christ is the personal one they are a foundation metonymically only Christ is so properly upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets is no other than upon Christ whom they in their Preaching laid as the foundation of the Church The Foundation and the Corner-stone are both one and the same Christ as a Foundation he bears up and sustains the Church as a Corner-stone he joins and holds together the two walls of it made up of Jews and Gentiles In this resemblance three or four things may be considered The Foundation and the Building are both framed by Art First the pattern is in the mind of the Builder and then the thing is set up In the Spiritual Foundation and Building the Art was not humane but Divine the Idea of them was not in mans mind but in Gods man falling off from his bottom of primitive integrity could not have a foundation in himself God in infinite wisdom contrived that he might have one in another the way was admirable the eternal Word was made flesh two natures met in one person an humane in
overcome by them the Spirit which is in them is greater than he that is in the world they do duties as becomes them who live at so high a rate in a very lively vigorous manner the free Spirit stablishes and enlarges their hearts to run in the pure ways of holiness and obedience under crosses they do not murmur at the hand of God but in an holy silence subject to it the Spirit strengthens them unto all patience St. Paul glories in afflictions that the Power of Christ may rest upon him 2 Cor. 12.9 The Noble Potamenia being by the Persecutors threatned to be cast into a Vessel of burning Pitch begged of them That she might not be cast in all at once Spondan Annal. Anno. 310. but piece-meal that they might see how much patience the unknown Christ had given unto her The Reason of such acts of power and strength in Believers is because they live upon the Body and Blood of Christ and from thence have a Divine virtue and power to perform the same 2dly Christ as food is united unto believers there is a very close and intimate union between the food and the body and so there is between Christ and believers He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him saith our Saviour vers 56. Eating here must not be taken properly an oral manducation is capernastical and indeed a very horrible thing to be imagined Hence St. Austin saith That the command of eating his flesh and drinking his blood seems to require an horrible wickedness and then concludes De Doctr. Christ lib. 3. c. 16. Figura ergo est a thing to be done in a spiritual way Hence Averroes the Philosopher said That if Christians devoured their God he would not have his soul to be with them It is a wonder to me that those who are called Christians should hold such an eating Nay that men on earth should orally eat the body of Christ in Heaven or that his glorified body should come into our earthly mouths and stomacks is to me a thing utterly impossible he is and must for ever remain in glory The eating therefore is a spiritual one done by faith though Christ be in Heaven faith flies up and apprehends him In 1 Cor. 10. Hom. 24. St. Chrysostom would have us be as Eagles and so fly to Heaven and then adds Where the carcass is there will the eagles be Christ our aliment is gone to Heaven and faith follows after him to draw life and virtue from him Faith doth spiritually participate of his body and blood and from thence doth derive a Divine power and strength into the soul As faith ascends up so the holy Spirit comes down upon believers which compleats the union between him and them They dwell in him and he in them as our Saviour speaks they dwell in him by faith and he in them by his Spirit There is a mutual indwelling a most near and intimate union between them The learned Grotius takes this mutual indwelling to be only amore mutuo by a mutual love Amans est ubi amat quod hic tribuitur manducationi id alibi tribuitur dilectioni 1 Joh. 4.16 The lover is where his love is What here is attriouted to eating that in another place is attributed to love He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him But I take it there is a difference our union to Christ is first and more immediate and then in and through him we are united unto God It 's true God dwells in the sincere lovers but he dwells in them as in parts of Christ partakers of the atonement were they not such the spots of guilt and imperfection upon them would make the holy one wave dwelling in them Christ is united to us as aliment inlivening and strengthening us but God is not as such united to us though the fountain of life and virtue be in him yet are these derived down unto us in and through Christ of whose body and blood we do by faith participate We are saith Bishop Vsher by a mystical and supernatural union as truly conjoined with Christ as the meat and drink is with us when by the ordinary work of nature it is converted into our own substance 3ly Christ is food by way of eminency Food above all food other bread is comparatively but a shadow or meer figure but he is the true bread 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 living bread which makes men live for ever other bread comes but out of the earth but he is that bread which came down from Heaven The Son very God came down into our flesh and in it was broken upon a Cross that his body and blood might become bread for us He hath saith Bishop Vsher by his death made his flesh broken Incarnat fol. 52. and his blood poured out for us upon the Cross to be fit food for the spiritual nourishment of our souls and the very well-spring from whence by the power of his Godhead all life and grace is derived unto us Thus that excellent man Other food being inferior to the body is changed into our substance but Christ the spiritual food being infinitely more excellent than our souls turns believers who feed upon him into his own likeness Christs blood may be read in their serene consciences his death may be seen in their continual mortifications his Spirit shews it self in their holy graces as they live at an higher rate so they live in a more divine manner than other men Their humility meekness love zeal obedience patience tell us that they live upon him who turns the eater into himself the eater so participates of him as to be assimilated to him Thus much touching the resemblances of the Mystical union I shall now draw out fome Conclusions from them because as is before noted the Analogy between the Mystical union and the earthly patterns serves if genuinely taken not only for illustration but for very good proof 1. The union between Christ and believers is not meerly a Political one such as is between a King and his Subjects It 's true Christ is a King believers are his subjects there are Laws of constitution which make him a King over them and Laws of administration according to which he governs them yet the union between him and them is not meerly Political To make this appear I offer these things The manner of his Kingdom is considerable were his Kingdom such only as earthly ones are there might be some colour to say That the union is only Political But his Kingdom is not of this world Joh. 18.36 It is not mundanae indolis of an earthly but of an heavenly nature Eusebius Hist 13. When the kindred of our Saviour were asked touching his Kingdom they answered Domitian That it was not Earthly but Coelestial It cometh not in outward pomp and glory but in inward efficacy It stands not meerly without in Laws and Ordinances but
to Jesus Christ We find them drowning in sensual pleasures or earthing themselves in worldly profits or breathing after popular air and vain-glory but they will not come to Christ to wash in his Blood or subject to his Scepter or tread in his holy steps that they may live for ever so they perish as if there were no Sayiour or Gospel Two or three things will make this evident There are Two Covenants the one of Works which runs thus Do this and live the other of Grace which runs thus Believe and live the first in congruity to man in his primitive integrity calls for perfect sinless obedience the other in condescension to man in his fallen estate asks only faith All men as sinners being short of the first Covenant none can be saved but by the second nor by that neither unless they be united to Christ the Charter of salvation gives nothing to those who are in a separate estate from the fountain the unbeliever who is so is condemned already condemned by the first Covenant and not saved by the second There are two Heads Adam and Christ both communicate to those who are theirs Adam communicates sin and death to his posterity Christ communicates righteousness and life to his believing seed There being nothing but sin and death from the first Adam none can be saved but by the second nor by him neither unless they be in conjunction with him He is the Saviour of the body there is no condemnation to those who are in him nor nothing else to those who are out of him There are two ways and two periods of mankind those who are in Christ walk after the spirit in the pure way of holiness and so pass on to that Heaven which is the center of sanctity those who stay in the first Adam in a state of corruption walk after the flesh in a way of disobedience and so pass on to that Hell which is the center of iniquity Hence it appears That Union with Christ is the critical point upon which eternal life and death depend upon this account the Apostle exhorts us to examine our selves in this great concern Know ye not that Jesus Christ is in you except you be reprobates 2 Cor. 13.5 Which is as much as to say if Christ took our flesh and we have not his spirit if he were a propitiatory Sacrifice and we are not sprinkled with his blood if he rose again from the dead and we are dead in sins and trespasses he profits us not at all To us as an * Sunt quibus nondum natus est Christus nondum est passus non surrexit usque adhuc Bern. de Resurr Dom. Ser. 4 Ancient speaks he is not yet born he hath not yet suffered he is not yet risen That is he is of no effect to us we are no better than reprobates rejectaneous persons such as God will put away as the dross of the earth Memorable are the words of the Learned Zanchy * De Verâ Dispensat 4. Tota verae justitiae salutis vitae participatio ex hâc pernecessariâ cum Christo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pendet The whole participation of true righteousness salvation life depends on that very necessary Union with Christ Union is a very extensive term the Philosophers reckon up many kinds of it some learned men distinguish Unity Unition and Union Unity is of one individual thing Union is of more than one met in conjunction Unition is the act of the efficient which joins things together Union is the state of the united which is produced by the unitive act There may be Union without Unition between the persons in the sacred Trinity there is an Union but it being an eternal one Unition which imports a temporal act can have no place therein but in all temporal Unions an Unition cannot be wanting that being it which tacks things together and of two makes them in a sort to become one In Union both the extremes are united but both are not always changed Thus in the Union of the Divine nature in Christ with the humane the change is not in the Divine nature but only in the Humane which is taken into one person with the Divine * In 3. Part. Aq. Art 7. In Quest 2. Medina taking Union so largely as to comprehend Unition in it observes in Union three things first the action by which things are united then the Union of the things united lastly the relation which arises between the extremes from the two former the conjunction of the extremes depends upon the unitive act the relation between them results from both the unitive act and the conjunction Union with Christ is union with him who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God and man in one person were he only God the union of a faln creature to him being immediate and without a Mediator would be impossible were he only man the union of a faln creature to him being but a creature and so uncapable to be a Mediator would be unprofitable and to no purpose God-man is the Sponsor Mediator Head God-man obeyed suffered satisfied for us with him it is that the union is A double union with Christ may be noted the one is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in appearance only Thus the meer professor is united to him living in the Church and coming to the Ordinances he looks like a member of Christ and is as our Saviour speaks Joh. 15.6 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a quasi branch in him he seems to be such but in truth is not so he hath not the Spirit of Christ and so is none of his he is in union with sin and in that state cannot be in union with Christ What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness what communion hath light with darkness Bellarmine who holds hypocrites to be members of Christ confesses that they are but membra mortua dead members which is as much as to say they are but equivocal members or rather none at all Membrum mortuum est membrum pictum saith Aristotle a dead member is but a painted one Upon this account other learned Papists as Melchior Canus will not have them to be members at all but only parts members say they cannot be without life but parts may St. Austin best of all saith * Tract 3. in Epist Joh. That they are but as evil humours in the body Aut in membris sumus aut in humoribus malis either we are among the members or among the humours hypocrites are but as corrupt humours in the Church they do not fill up the Body of Christ but corrupt and deturpate it putatively they belong to Christ but really to Satan The other is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in truth and reality thus belivers are united to him as subjects they are under him as living stones they are built on him as a dear Spouse they are joined to him as fruitful branches they are implanted into him as mystical members they
strengthens unto all duties He is united to Believers He is food by way of eminency Several conclusions drawn from the resemblances viz. That the Vnion between Christ and Believers is not meerly a political one That it is not meerly a moral one Several reasons to prove the same That this Vnion affords support to Believers That it gives a vital influence to them That it is a very intimate Vnion That it hath a great mystery in it That it is very lasting and durable AFter all these resemblances the Holy Ghost yet proceeds on to set forth the mystical union by that which is between the food and the body This resemblance we have notably opened in the Sixth chapter of St. John where our Saviour who used to spiritualize every thing raises up his discourse above earthly food to heavenly above the typical to the real Manna which is himself who came down from Heaven to give life to the world In this Discourse several things offer themselves to us 1st Christ is the true food of the Soul The Jews dream'd that at the coming of the Messiah they should have a wonderful feast of outward varieties but he tells them that he himself was the feast My flesh is meat indeed my blood is drink indeed vers 55 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is though Metaphorically yet truly such it doth what meat and drink are to do nourish and strengthen the receiver nay it hath not only an analogy to but an eminency above all corporeal food it nourishes and strengthens us in the Soul the noblest part of man and that not for a day but to all eternity Hence our Saviour tells them That they should not labour for the meat which perisheth but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life which the Son of man should give unto them vers 27. He is the food of the Soul upon a double account The one is this His flesh and blood as crucified and satisfactory to Divine justice do strengthen us against the curse and condemnation of the Law The moral Law is immortalized by its own intrinsecal rectitude the very frame of mans soul puts him under it his Reason cannot but be bound to know the supreme Truth his Will cannot but be bound to love the supreme Goodness the respects in his rational powers towards the Creator are a Law not to be altered as long as God is God and man man this Law cannot but be obligatory one jot or tittle of it cannot fall to the ground To make it the more sacred and venerable Divine Justice fenced it in with a Threatning and added a Curse against the transgressor Cursed is he that continueth not in all the points of it The wages of sin is death All men being transgressors Conscience as soon as it is awakened tells a man his own these and these things are sins thus and thus thou hast done the offended Law condemns thee the wrath threatned hangs over thy head the consequent of this is That the heart is full of inward wounds and terrors it knows not which way to look or turn it self Take a sinful man in these circumstances where doth his strength lye what plea or answer hath he to the broken Law How or which way may the Curse be avoided or the Conscience eased The only thing can be said is this Christ was made a Curse for us he is the end of the Law for righteousness he hath made a perfect atonement and satisfaction this is the Believers hope and confidence this is his great plea and answer to the charge of the Law Ostendo sidejussorem meum saith Bishop Davenant when the Law makes its demands against me I shew my Sponsor Christ who satisfied it This is lively expressed in Anselms direction for the visitation of the sick Si Dominus te voluerit judicare dic Domine mortem Domini nostri Jesu Christi objicio inter me tuum judicium alitèr tecum non contendo si tibi dixerit quia peccator es dic mortem Domini nostri Jesu Christi pono inter me peccata mea si dixerii tibi quod meruisti damnationem dic Domine mortem Domini nostri Jesu Christi obtendo inter me mala merita mea ipsiusque merita offero pro merito quod ego debuissem habere nec habeo That is if the Lord would judge thee say Lord I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and thy judgement otherwise I will not contend with thee if he say to thee that thou art a sinner say I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and my sins if he say to thee that thou hast deserved damnation say Lord I put the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and my evil merits and I offer his merits for my own which I should have and have not It is not in our inherent graces to justifie us against the Law these are not our Christ these do not satisfie the Law these do not make a compensation for sin no it is Christ only that doth this his death which satisfied Gods heart must satisfie ours his precious body and blood are the food which when fed on by Faith cheer the Conscience and fill it with peace Hence the Noble Luther tells the menacing Law O Lex immergo conscientiam meam in vulnera sanguinem mortem resurrectionem victoriam Christi praeter hunc nihil planè videre audire volo O Law I drown my Conscience in the wounds blood death resurrection and victory of Christ besides him will I see and hear nothing This is the true way of peace and holy rest the oriency of this Divine Truth is such that it hath extorted a confession from its enemies The Schoolmen themselves as Bishop Andrews hath observed whatever they are in their Quodlibets and comments on the Sentences yet in their Soliloquies and devotional meditations acknowledg Jehovah justitia nostra Cardinal Contarenus saith that we must viti tanquà m re stabili justitiâ Christi nobis donatâ lean on Christs righteousness communicated to us as on a stable thing This is it which stablishes and strengthens the heart against the accusations and terrors of the Law The other is this The flesh and blood of Christ as it is procurative of the Holy Spirit doth strengthen Believers unto all the duties incumbent on them the Spirit is from Christ as an Head and it is from him as aliment his Members have it and so have the feeders on him Hence in that sixth Chapter of John after a very Divine Discourse touching eating his flesh and drinking his blood he adds It is the spirit that quickeneth vers 63. The feeders on him have of his Spirit which strengthens them in the inner man this strength notably discovers it self in them their corruptions how strong soever are subdued The Spirit of life which is in Christ makes them free from the Law of sin Satan that evil one is
could make it It s satisfactory and meritorious blood did operate before it was shed upon the account of it Pardons and the Holy Spirit were communicated unto the ancient believers That presence which made them capable of the bonds of union made them capable of the union it self There is a difference between the natural body and the mystical in the natural body the members are simultaneous but in the mystical one they are successive Some members are before others yet they are all but one body some were before Christ incarnate yet were they united unto him as their Head St. Austin elegantly sets forth this from Jacob whose hand came out first and then his head De Catech. rud cap. 3. and 19. in Psal 61. Manus a capite praemitti potest connexio tamen ejus sub capite est the hand may be first sent forth by the head yet is it united to the head all the ancient Saints were but as it were manus Christi the hand of Christ though they came forth before he the Head came in the flesh yet they were united to him and had a virtue and Divine Spirit from him though they were first in time yet he was first in dignity and power Had these not been members of him there would have been after the fall some holy flesh not in conjunction with him which to imagine is to render him useless as if the forfeited sanctity in man might have been recovered without him The sum of all is this That Union which no distance of place or time can break or dissolve must needs have a great deal of mystery in it 7thly The Union between Christ and Believers is lasting and durable were it not so very black consequences must needs ensue There might possibly be no Church at all that Article of our Creed which concerns the Holy Catholick Church and the Communion of Saints might cease and become no object of Faith the death of Christ might be in vain his precious sufferings might be without fruit the great Promises as well those which are made to Christ touching a seed as those which are made to Christians touching perseverance might utterly fail and come to nothing These are very momentous things yet passing them over it will suffice to consider what a King Husband Foundation Vine Head Food Christ is the excellency of him above all the earthly patterns will evidently prove the perpetuity of this Union He is such a King as never was his Kingdom stands upon foundations that cannot be shaken Earthly kingdoms may be dissolved by a defection of Subjects the Prince cannot command their minds and wills the outward Thrones and Laws may be too weak to keep them in due order a jealousie of yokes and burdens may blow the coal a fancy of being better under a change may kindle a fatal Rebellion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the present Government is ever grievous But it is not thus in Christs Kingdom his Subjects never fall off he inspires obedience into their wills and hearts his Throne and Law are within there are no blots or errata's in his government all is meer rectitude and Grace they cannot be better than under him in such circumstances no room is left for a revolt The kingdoms of this world may be broken by a foreign invasion one earthly power may eat up another the great Empire rowl'd about from the Chaldean to the Persian from thence to the Grecian from thence to the Roman but in the Kingdom of Christ it is not so his Kingdom shall not be left to other people Dan. 2.44 No invasion can be upon him who hath all the power in Heaven and Earth he sits at Gods right hand till his enemies be made his footstool Psal 110.1 till Sin Satan the World Death Hell be subdued under him no foreign power therefore can overturn his Kingdom who is universal Conqueror Earthly kingdoms have their periods there is a mene wrote upon each of them the Gold Silver Brass Iron Clay in the great Image must at last be all broken to pieces and become like the chaff of the Summer threshing-floor Dan. 2.35 But it is not so with Christ his Throne is as the Sun and as the faithful witness in Heaven Psal 89.36 37. Of his Kingdom there is no end Luke 1.33 It is a thing of perpetuity But if his Subjects might fall off where what would his Kingdom be A Kingdom without Subjects is but an umbra a meer shadow It may be therefore noted that in that 89th Psalm there is not only a Throne continuing but a seed enduring for ever And in that first of St. Luke there is not only an endless Kingdom but an House of Jacob a Church for him to regin over for ever without this his Kingdom would soon be at an end for want of Subjects If then his Kingdom be as it is perpetual then there must needs be a continuance of Subjects under him He is such an Husband as never was his conjunction with his Spouse is never dissolved the earthly marriage may be dissolved by Adultery but in the spiritual Marriage between Christ and Believers no such thing falls out truth and faithfulness are found on all hands he will never forsake them they will not forsake him his fear in their heart keeps them from a departure his love is towards them their love is towards him if it cool or slack his love which is the fountain and first mover will come and inflame theirs afresh nay there is not only love or a likeness of temper between them but they are so joined to him as to be one spirit two spirits may vary and go different ways but one spirit must needs keep them together here is no room for spiritual fornication or departure from Christ Further Death parts man and wife but not Christ and Believers he died but it was that he might purchase a Church that a Spouse might come out of his bleeding side they dye but their death is a sleep in Jesus their union to him continues in Death there is a separation of body and soul but as in Christ it did not break the hypostatical union so in Christians it doth not break the mystical one his body in the grave was not separate from his Divine person their bodies there are not separate from Christ the Head his Spirit will not leave them in the dust but raise them up to a glorious life as a sure token that they are in conjunction with him The perpetuity of this conjunction is excellently set forth by the Prophet I will betroth thee unto me for ever yea I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and in judgment and in loving-kindness and in mercies I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness and thou shalt know the Lord Hos 2.19 20. In this famous Text which as I take it respects the spiritual Marriage between Christ and the Church two or three things may be noted Here we have