primarily refer to the Christian Church not to every individual Christian. Thus Christ is called a Head but he is the head of his Church which is his body as a Husband is the head of the Wife Eph. 5. 23 24. No particular Christian is the body of Christ but only a member in this body Christ is called a Husband but then the whole Church or Society of Christians not every particular Christian is his Spouse as St. Paul tells the Church of Corinth 2 Cor. 11. 2. For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousie for I have espoused you to one Husband that I may present you as a chast Virgin to Christ. Christ is a Shepherd and the Christian Church is his Flock Iohn 10. For the relation between Shepherd and Sheep doth primarily concern the whole Flock Christ is the Rock upon which his Church is built the chief Corner Stone and the Christian Church a Holy Temple so that all these Metaphors in their first and most proper use refer to the whole Society of Christians and are designed to represent the Union between Christ and his Church Secondly I observe further that the Union of particular Christians to Christ is by means of their Union to the Christian Church the Church is the body of Christ and every Christian by being united to this body becomes a member of Christ as the Apostle tells the Corinthians 1 Cor. 12. 27. Now you are the body of Christ and members in particular The Church is the Temple of God built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Iesus Christ being the chief Corner stone and every Christian is a lively stone in this spiritual building The Church is Christ's Flock and every Christian who is of this fold is one of Christ's Sheep The Church is Christ's Spouse and every Christian is a member of that Society which Christ ownes for his Spouse but every Christian is not Christ's Spouse He is a great Enemy to Polygamy and hath but one Spouse as he hath but one body and one Church which quite spoils the prettiness and fantastical Wit of a late Exhortation to young Women to chuse Christ for their Husband because he is rich and beautiful and kind and hath all the properties of an excellent Husband which would have sounded much better in a Popish Nunnery than among such pretenders to reformation for this is the great Art whereby those cunning Priests wheadle silly Girls into a profession of perpetual Virginity by perswading them that in so doing they are marryed to Christ And to give every one their due the Papists are the most generous sort of Suiters for Christ for they perswade them to forsake all other Husbands for Christ which is more honourable and meritorious Thus to proceed Christ is called the Vine and Christians the branches in that Vine Iohn 15. which must be expounded to the same sense with what goes before where Christ speaking of himself saith I am the true Vine The meaning is that Church which is founded on the belief of my Gospel is the true Vine I signifies Christ together with his Church which is his body upon which account the Church is elsewhere called Christ as I observed above And my reasons for this exposition are these First Because the Jewish Church is frequently in the Old Testament compared to a Vine Isaiah 5. Ier. 2. 21. Hosea 10. 1. Now a Vine being the metaphor whereby the Church useth to be described we cannot reasonably understand it otherwise here I am the true Vine that is the Church which is founded on the belief of my Gospel is the only true Church which God now owns He having rejected the Iewish Synagogue as proving a degenerate Vine Especially when we consider that Christ himself applies the Parable of the Vineyard to the State of the Gospel Math. 21. 33. c. and the Christian Church is called an Olive Tree and the members of it expresly called branches Rom. 11. 17 18. which metaphor hath the very same nature and signification with the Vine and branches Secondly Because God is called the Husband-man who takes care to dress this Vine which cannot be understood of Christ but of the Church which is therefore called God's Husbandry Thirdly Christ speaks of such branches in him as bear no fruit now there can be no such branches in the Person of Christ for our very Union to his Person as those men acknowledge who talk of such an Union of Persons between Christ and believers will make us fruitful and therefore being in him can signifie no more than being members of his visible Church which is made up of Hypocrites as well as sincere Christians But fourthly To confirm all this and to prevent objections it is evident from this very Chapter that when Christ speaks in the first Person I and In me he cannot mean this of his own Person but of his Church Doctrine and Religion according as the circumstances of the place require thus in the 5. Ver. I am the true Vine ye are the branches he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me ye can do nothing I would willingly learn what sense can be made of this if we understand it of the Person of Christ for it is not very intelligible how we can be or abide in the Person of Christ and it is more unintelligible still how we can be in the Person of Christ and the Person of Christ at the same time be in Us which is a new piece of Philosophy called Penetration of dimensions and that our fruitfulness should depend upon such an Union to the Person of Christ is as hard to my understanding as all the rest But if by He that abideth in me we understand the Christian Church he who makes a publick and visible profession of Faith in me and continues in Society with those who do so and by I in him the Christian Doctrine both the sense and Reason of it is very evident the sense is this That Church which owns my Doctrine and Religion is the true Vine and all you who make a publick profession of Faith in me of a belief of my Gospel and live in Communion with one another are the branches in this Vine and whoever of you continue stedfast in this profession and Communion and do not only make a visible profession of Faith in me but suffer my Doctrine and Precepts to dwell and abide in you to govern your will and affections and to direct your Conversation in the World all such of you will be very fruitful in good works for without such a sincere and hearty belief of my Gospel it is impossible you should do any thing that is good So that to abide in Christ is to make a publick and visible profession of Faith in Christ to be the members of his visible Church but because many are so who do not much credit their profession being branches in him that bear not fruit hence to distinguish all true Christians from such Hypocritical Professors he adds and I in you that is my words abide in you Ver. 7. if my Doctrines and
account with God than ignorance unless it be to aggravate their sins and their condemnation SECT II. Of acquaintance with the Person of Christ. AFter this plain account wherein the Knowledge of Christ consists the sum of which is that to know Christ is to understand his Gospel which contains all those revelations he made of God's will it will be necessary to examine another notion of the Knowledge of Christ very distinct from this which contains a greater secret than at first one would imagine and that is an acquaintance with the Person of Christ which if we will believe some men is the only fountain of saving knowledge I shall not envy the Author the glory of this discovery and therefore shall honestly confess where I had it viz. in a Book Entitled Communion with God the Father Son and Holy Ghost each Person distinctly Written by Iohn Owen D. D. And that I may not do this Author wrong I must tell you what he means by acquaintance with Christ's Person an account of which we have in digression 2. pag. 87. of the excellency of Christ Iesus Where he tells us that Christ is not only the Wisdom of God but made wisdom to us not only by teaching us wisdom that is by the Doctrines he preached and those revelations he hath made of God's will as he is the great Prophet of the Church but also because by the knowing of him we become acquainted with the wisdom of God which is our wisdom To which purpose he applies that Text which speaks of the Doctrines and Revelations of Christ to his Person Coll. 2. 3. For in him dwell all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge So that our acquaintance with Christ's Person in this man's Divinity signifies such a knowledge of what Christ is hath done and suffered for us from whence we may learn those greater deeper and more saving Mysteries of the Gospel which Christ hath not expresly revealed to us for so he adds soon after that these properties of God his pardoning mercy c. Christ hath revealed in his Doctrine in that revelation he hath made of God and his will but the life of this knowledge lies in an acquaintance with his Person wherein the express image and beams of this glory of his Father doth shine forth that is that these things are clearly eminently and savingly only to be discovered in Iesus Christ as he explains himself So that it seems the Gospel of Christ makes a very imperfect and obscure discovery of the nature and Attributes and will of God and the methods of our recovery we may thoroughly understand whatever is revealed in the Gospel and yet not have a clear and saving knowledge of these things unless we gain a more intimate acquaintance with the Person of Christ. This indeed advances the Person of Christ very much but is no great commendation of his Gospel and prophetick office It sets up a new rule of Faith above the Gospel viz. an acquaintance with Christ's Person in whom dwell all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge But that you may better understand the whole mystery of this Acquaintance with the Person of Christ I shall first show you what additions these men make to the Gospel of Christ from an acquaintance with his Person and secondly show you what an unsafe way of arguing this is and how prejudicial to the Christian Religion First to show you what additions these men make to the Gospel of Christ from an acquaintance with his Person And I confess I am very much beholden to this Author for acknowledging whence they fetch all their Orthodoxy and Gospel Mysteries for I had almost pored my eyes out with seeking for them in the Gospel and could never find them but I learn now that indeed they are not to be found there unless we be first acquainted with the Person of Christ. This is an argument well worth considering and if this discourse should prove long as I fear it will I doubt not but the usefulness of it will be a sufficient reward both to the Writer and Reader And since I owe this discovery to Dr. Iohn Owen I shall confine my self to his method who in the place above-mentioned tells us that the sum of all true wisdom and knowledge may be reduced to these three heads First The knowledge of God his nature and properties Secondly The knowledge of our selves with reference to the will of God concerning us Thirdly Skill to walk in Communion with God In these three is summed up all true wisdom and knowledge and not any of them is to any purpose to be obtained or is manifested but only in and by the Lord Christ. Where By is fallaciously added to include the Revelations Christ hath made whereas his first undertaking was to show how impossible it is to understand these things savingly and clearly notwithstanding all those Revelations God hath made of himself and his will by Moses and the Prophets and by Christ himself without an acquaintance with his Person But to let that pass I shall begin with the knowledge of God his nature and properties and I shall not particularly examine every thing he says but principally take notice of those peculiar discoveries of the nature of God which the World was ignorant of before and of which Revelation is wholly silent but are now clearly and savingly learnt from an Acquaintance with Christ's Person The light of nature and the works of Creation and Providence and those manifold Revelations God hath made of himself to the World especially that last and most perfect Revelation by Iesus Christ our Lord assure us that God is infinite in all perfections that he is so powerful that he can do whatever he pleases so wise that he knows how to order every thing for the best so good that he desires and designs the happiness of all his Creatures according to the capacity of their natures so holy that he hath a natural love for all good men and will not fail to reward them but hates all sin and wickedness and will as certainly punish all obstinate and incorrigible Sinners but yet that he is very patient and long-suffering towards the worst of men and uses various methods of kindness and severity to reclaim them and is as ready to pardon them when they return to their duty as a kind Father is to receive an humble and penitent Prodigal These properties of God are plainly revealed in the Scripture without any further acquaintance with the Person of Christ And had Christ never appeared in the World yet we had reason to believe that God is thus wise and good and holy and merciful because not only the works of Nature and Providence but the word of God assure us that he is so the Appearance of Christ did not first discover the nature of God to us but only gave us a greater expression of God's goodness than ever we had before confirms us in the belief of what we had
such but as they are members of his body for he is the Saviour of the body and Redeemed his Church with his own blood Hence St. Iohn tells us in his first Ep. Ch. 1. Ver. 3. That which we have seen and heard the whole Doctrine and History of the Gospel declare we unto you that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Iesus Christ. First that ye may have fellowship with us become members of the Church of Christ by which means you have fellowship and Communion with God and Christ. And therefore those publick censures whereby rotten or dead members are cut of from the body of Christ consist in casting such persons out of the Society of Christian people in debarring them from the Communion of Prayers and Sacraments and all Religious offices which is a plain demonstration that our Union to Christ is not an Union to his Person of which more hereafter but consists in a sincere and spiritual Communion with the Christian Church otherwise this external Communion with the Church could be no visible signification of our Union to Christ nor could our excision from the visible Church signifie our separation from him But thirdly It will be requisite now to explain more particularly the nature of this Union between Christ and the Christian Church which is not a natural but a Political Union that is such an Union as is between a Prince and his Subjects Christ is a spiritual King and all Christians are his Subjects and our Union to Christ consists in our belief of his Revelations obedience to his Laws and subjection to his Authority Hence our Saviour tells the Jews if you continue in my words then are ye my Disciples indeed John 8. 31. which is the same thing with being in him and by keeping his Commandments we abide in his love Iohn 15. 10. 14. 21. and to have his word abide in us is a description of the closest and firmest Union to him Iohn 15. 7. As obedience to our Prince is the strongest bond of a Political Union which is dissolved and broken by disobedience and Rebellion Thus our Saviour calls himself a Shepherd and Christians his Sheep Iohn 10. to signifie that Authority he hath over his Church which bears some Analogy to the government of a Shepherd which is oft-times used as a name of power and Authority as God is styled the Shepherd of Israel Psalm 80. 1. and Kings are frequently called Shepherds both by prophane and sacred Writers Though this name is most commonly given to Prophets who feed and instruct the Church which includes power and Authority and so does very properly belong to our Saviour who erected this spiritual Kingdom on the Foundation of his Doctrine and Laws and by the exercise of his prophetical office for which Reason he is called the Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls Thus he is called a Head and the Church his Body a Husband and the Church his Spouse which two metaphors signifie the same thing and are both of them names of power and Authority as appears from Eph. 5. 23. c. For Husbands are said to be the head of their Wives as Christ is the head of the Church and are commanded to love their Wives as their own bodies as Christ loves his Church so that a Husband as a Husband represents the head and the Wife the body and what the meaning of all this is the Apostle plainly tells us that Christ is called the Head and Husband because he hath the Rule and Government of us and therefore exhorts Wives to be subject to their Husbands as the Church is subject unto Christ the Spiritual Head v. 24. For because the Head in the natural body hath the command and government of all the members hence Head is a common name for Princes and Governours Deutr. 28. 13. The Lord shall make thee the Head and not the Tayl and thou shalt be above only and thou shalt not be beneath that is thou shalt rule and govern Psalm 18. 43. Thou hast made me the Head of the Heathen and a people whom I have not known shall serve me And therefore the Apostles always expound this metaphor of Christ's being a Head by power and Authority Eph. 1. 20 21 22. Hath set him at his own right hand in Heavenly places far above all Principalities and Powers and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be Head over all things to the Church which is his body Col. 1. 18. And 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 preheminence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is that he might not only excel other things but that he might rule and govern them for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies him who hath the first place of Authority because government is naturally entailed on the greatest excellency and perfection Thus Christ is the Head of all Principalities and powers that is their Lord and Governour Col. 2. 10. This is the true explication of this relation betwixt Christ and his Church He is the Head and Husband because he is invested with Authority to govern and the Church is his body and Spouse because it must be obedient to his Laws and subject to his Government as we know it is very familiar to call a Society of men who live under the same Laws and Civil Government a body Politic which signifies their subjection to the same Authority as a body hath but one Head and that regard they must have to the preservation of the whole and their mutual care of each other as members of the same body Now the true Reason why this spiritual Kingdom of Christ is described by the Authority of a Shepherd over his Sheep and of a Head and Husband over his body and Spouse is to signifie the mildness and gentleness of his government and that great and near concern he hath for the welfare of his Church that he governs his Church with the care and tenderness of a Shepherd that he defends and ransoms his Church with his own blood as a good Shepherd lays down his life in defence of his Sheep Iohn 10. That he loves his Church with the natural kindness of a Head or Husband that his Government is only for the good of his Church not for his own private advantage as a kind Husband exerciseth no other Authority over his Wife but what is for her good as well as his own or as the Head hath no other concern but that all his members be preserved in their natural State and vigour and perform their proper and natural offices and therefore we may be secure that his yoak is easie and his burden light that he will be gentle in his Discipline and favourable in his censures especially when we consider how dearly he hath purchast this relation to his Church