me to wrath who am able to break thee in pieces like a potters vessel Think of it Saul as if Christ had said it is a dangerous way which thou art in it is a miserable imployment thou spendest thy pains about thou art but kicking against the pricks contending with one * Sententia est proverbialis à bobus out equis sumpta qui dum stimulis punguntur calcitrando nihil proficiunt nisi quod stimulis altius infixis malum duplicant that is too strong for thee for it is Jesus whom thou persecutest 4. Do not neglect to give believers what help and furtherance you can in their pilgrimage Be ready to shew them any kindness that lieth in your way to shew them and to contribute what relief and assistance soever you are able to minister upon any occasion for they are united unto Christ intimately acquainted with him and neerly related to him So that the Lord Jesus will take it kindly at your hands whatever friendship you shew to his people Art thou a Lawyer Plead their cause Art thou a Magistrate Protect their persons against the Sons of violence Break the jaws of the wicked and pluck the spoil out of their teeth Art thou a private person and hearest the godly traduced and their profession bespattered Endeavour to vindicate them and what in thee lieth to clear up their innocency Art thou a man whom God hath intrusted with wealth and riches Why then as thou hast opportunity do good to all but especially to the houshold of faith For they are members of Christ and thou shalt in no wise lose thy reward Christ hath all the blessings in the world put into his hauds to distribute and in the distribution of his doles of bounty be sure he will not forget such as have shewed kindness to his servants he will recompence them to the full the smallest courtesie done to the Saints shall not be forgotten Mark 9.41 Whosoever shall give you a cup of cold water to drink in my name because ye belong to Christ verily I say unto you he shall not lose his reward He hath promised to reward those that feed their enemies when they are hungry and give them water to drink when they are thirsty and will he not much more reward such as relieve and shelter his own Saints and people Prov. 25.21 22. They are united to him what kindness is shewed unâ—o them is reckoned as if it were shewed to our Lord Jesus Christ A little to press home these Exhortations let me intreat you to consider these four moving considerations Cons 1. Holy men and women who study to please the Lord and to walk in integrity before him are the very pillars of a Nation by which it is upheld They are the main props and supporters of the places where they live of the families wherein they dwell It is for their sakes that mercies are continued unto a people or kingdom and judgments are kept off from falling down upon them to their utter desolation and ruine So that it concerns you to seek their good and to incourage them in their holiness as you tender your own welfare Were it not for the servants of Christ you would quickly be in a miserable case And therefore when God doth gather his own people unto himself it is usually the forerunner of some sore calamity Isa 57.1 The righteous is taken away from the evil to come Plainly intimating that it was their presence which staved off vengeance for a time and when they are called home then the floud-gates of wrath are set open It is upon their account that God doth restrain the wickedness of men that they are not as monsters and devils one to another and that he doth with-hold the pouring out his wrathful indignation You know what he saith in relation to Sodom whose sin was grievous and the cry of it was great and went up to heaven yet if there had been ten righteous persons in it the place had been spared for their sakes And however nothing could be done against it till righteous Lot was gone forth Gen. 18.32 Gen. 19.22 23 24. Indeed sometimes the wickedness of a place is so excessively heinous that it is beyond the prayers of the godly The most eminent persons in holiness shall not prevail for the sparing it Though Noah Daniel and Job were in it they shall deliver but their own souls by their righteousness Ezek. 14.13 14. Yet in many cases they are instrumental by their presence and prayers not only to deliver themselves but to keep off vengeance from others And will you root them out who are the means of your preservation You think they are these precise persons who speak so much of Religion and are more strict than others that hinder your mirth and jollity What brave times of pleasure should you have were it not for these Precisians who are as thornes in your sides and rubs in the way of your rejoycings and merriment But Sirs if you believe the Scriptures it is evident that were it not for the godly amongst you you might soon expect to fall under the saddest dispensations and to have the sluces of the fury of the God of heaven set wide open upon you As soon as Noah was arkt the floud swept away the world of the ungodly As soon as Lot was lodg'd in Zoar it rained fire and brimstone as it were hell from heaven upon Sodom and Gemorrah And mark what our Saviour speaketh of Gospel-times Mat. 24.22 Except those dayes should be shortened there should no flesh be saved But for the elects sake those dayes shall be shortened Were it not upon the account of the servants of God who are converted and such as hereafter are to be converted the tribulation would prove like a sweeping rain that leaveth nothing behind it So that it concerns you in point of wisdom to love and cherish the Saints and to take heed that they be not wronged For they are the best subjects in a Kingdom the best neighbours in the places where they abide the best relations and servants you can get into your families they bring the blessing of heaven along with them Gen. 30.27 Gen. 39.5 They are the best friends you can have for they will be friends to your souls So that I may allude to that passage of the Lord to Abimelech Gen. 20.7 Restore the man his wife for he is a Prophet and shall pray for thee and thou shalt live Shew kindness to the godly for they are favourites in the Court of heaven intimately acquainted with God yea united to Christ the Son of God They will pray for thee and be instrumental to avert and turn away judgments from thee and to bring down blessings upon thy head if not to save thy precious and immortal soul Cons 2. It is a shrewd sign that you are persons intended for uttâ—r extirpation and ruine when God doth make use of you as scourges to afflict his Saints and
as thirst after them The remainders of the light of nature are enough to leave a sinner inexcusable in his condemnation when he doth not live up to that light but they can proceed no further they can make no discoveries of the path of salvation But now persons in the visible Church have these things revealed before their eyes they have Christ set forth that they may know him and his excellencies displayed that they may love him So that it is a merciful priviledge in this respect Nay if the fault be not in themselves it may bring them to Christ in a saving way Psal 147.19 20. He sheweth his word unto Jacob his Statutes and his Judgments unto Israel He hath not dealt so with any Nation and as for his Judgments they have not known them Praise ye the Lord. q. d. Here is matter of praise and abundant thanksgiving See also Rom. 9.4 and Ezek. 20.11 12. 2. Hereby persons do enjoy communion with such as are real Saints and servants of Christ in sincerity which may be of excellent use to provoke them to emulation and so to save their souls They have the benefit of the society of the godly to be an incouragement unto them to serve the Lord indeed and the advantage of their example as a copy for imitation Multum resert quibuscum vixeris They are under their counsel for admonition and many times partakers of their provoking conferences to incite and stir them up to become such as they are They have a share in their inspection and watchfulness over them whereby oftentimes they are restrained and kept in due bounds And so it is a signal mercy in this respect As by fellowship with the wicked and contracting friendship with them men learn their wayes and get a snare unto their souls so by communion with the Saints persons are in a capacity of learning their ways and saving their souls Psal 141.4 5. Let the righteous smite me it shall be a kindness and let him reprove me it shall be an excellent oyl which shall not break my head Nihil tutius amico monitore that is by an usual Meiâ—sis it will abundantly tend to my spiritual good and to the promoting and carrying on my eternal welfare As coals are kindled by other burning coals so are the ungodly many times by hearty counsel and holy walking and the like made instrumental to quicken and inflame such as have fellowship with them Jam. 5.19 3. From hence it is that they do in a sort partake of that special care which God taketh of his Church and receive some drops of those blessings which Christ doth showr down upon his Church You know that although God by a general providence doth mind and govern the whole creation he feeds the ravens when they cry and gives meat to the beasts of the field yet he hath a special inspection into the affairs of his Church he maketh peculiar provision for them reserving his dainties in store for them Now by this external adhaesion unto Christ and being in the visible Church a person may have a share in those mercies and the out-skirts of those blessings may fall down upon their heads As one that is but a sojourner in a family and no stated fixed member of it may taste of many good things which the good man of the house prepared for his own children And therefore a people are said upon this kind of neerness to have God himself nigh unto them that is to be under his special care even the body of the people though multitudes of them went no further than profession Psal 148.14 The children of Israel a people neer unto him Deut. 4.7 For what Nation is there so great that hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all that we call upon him for And it seemeth to be mentioned as a priviledge of the whole visible Church Isa 4.5 That the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion and upon her assemblies upon the Church of Christ whereof Zion was a type and upon all the particular Congregations thereof a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night The meaning is this God will in a special manner be a guide unto them and undertake for their safeguard and protection He will lead them and preserve them as he did the children of Israel in their travels out of Egypt when he went before them in a cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night So Isa 31.5 As birds flying so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem defending also he will deliver it and passing over he will preserve it As birds flying that is swiftly and speedily at the cry of his people he will come as in an instant before the adversaries are aware Or as a bird doth hover over the nest to preserve her young ones so will the Lord watch over his people to secure and deliver them These and such promises are made to the Church in general and even carnal Professors by vertue of their station in the Church may have a share in this security these deliverances As when the godly joyn in confederacy with the wicked they may be made to smart under the judgments that are sent upon the wicked so Professors by their fellowship with the godly may taste of the blessings imparted unto them 4. It is a great priviledge because hereby men are often restrained from venting many corruptions that otherwise would have prevailed from turning aside into such sins and abominations wherein others wallow And so they are prevented and kept from contracting much guilt which otherwise would be contracted by them And this is no small advantage Restraining grace is a mercy though sanctifying grace is an higher And God doth make use of this neerness to Christ as a restraint or bridle to stop sinners in their carier hereby they are purged from their old sins 2 Pet. 1.9 That 's the second Position 3. Position 3. When men and women are only thus united unto Christ by way of visible profession or external adhaesion though they may abide with him for a time and seemingly cleave unto him yet at last there will be made a separation betwixt them and this union will be dissolved and broken asunder As it is a dissoluble Union for the nature of it Quomodo ergo Zizania sunt in regno Dei Putres pisces in reti Evangelico carena veste nuptiali in nuptiis Christi ita in Chricto est qui non sert fructum nomine tenus stilicer secundam externam 〈◊〉 tantum non antem verâ— fiâ—e Quare telluntur isti tandem velut resecti arefactique pelunites gebennae addiciottur Bucer so in the event it will actually be dissolved sooner or later by one means or another When a soul is in Christ by a spiritual implantation he shall never be parted from Christ but this common union will be
and resolvedly that they would serve the Lord Jos 24.19 And Joshua said unto the people ye cannot serve the Lord for he is an holy God he is a jealous God he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins that is unless you forsake your corruptions you cannot except you detest and cast off your idols you cannot whilst you are in confederacy with sin and before you have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty you cannot be the Lord's servants He is an holy being who will have no communion with the workers of iniquity Perhaps you will walk in sin and hope to make amends for all by crying to God for forgiveness you will swear and curse and ly and defraud and commit adultery and profane the Sabbath and cry God forgive me But Sirs be is a jealous God and will not forgive you as long as you go on in a course of impenitence he will never pardon your transgressions Possibly you will walk as the generality do in the vanity of your minds and wallow in all sorts of uncleanness and filthiness and then call upon God to have mercy on you Alas poor souls be not deceived He will not be merciful to any wicked transgressor Psal 59.5 So that whilst you serve sin you cannot serve the Lord. That 's the third thing to be noted 4. Remember this withal That the state of all persons by nature as they are in themselves and as they came into the world is an accursed estate a state of utter estrangedness from God and of liableness to the indignation of the Almighty Mark I say this is the condition of all persons whether Jews or Gentiles bond or free learned or unlearned whatever priviledges they enjoy and wheresoever their lot is cast this is their state by nature to be under sin Rom. 3.9 What then are we better then they No in no wise for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin q.d. Is this the sad condition of the heathen and of the infidel world only to be under the guilt of sin and the curse of the Law No it is the condition of every Son and daughter of Adam Are the Jews we that are visible members of the Church in a better state than others in this respect No we are all involved in the same wretched condition There is not a person amongst us but may lay his hand upon his heart and appropriate it to himself and say this was my condition and if I have nothing to plead for my exemption besides my birth priviledge the name of Jew or Christian and the like this is my condition to be under sin Not only to betainted with sin but under sin i. e. under the guilt of it and under the condemnation due to it All the posterity of mankind are by nature condemned persons in a damnable estate and if God should take them away in that condition they would be actually damned and perish for ever Sin would lie upon them and they would fall under it and so it would sink them irremediably into destruction O my brethren how infinitely doth it concern us to prove that we are renewed and born again for as we came into the world this is the estate of all of us to be under the curse both of my soul who speak and of thy soul that hearest or readest these things Certainly if any man upon earth could have freed himself from being involved herein it might have been Paul who had as much to plead as any Phil. 3.5 6. He was circumcised the eighth day that is according to the ordinance of God he was solemnly admitted into the visible Church Of the stock of Israel to whom pertained the adoption and the Covenant and the giving of the Law and the promises He was of the tribe of Benjamin not of one of the ten tribes who fell away so grosly to idolatry but of them who retained the true worship of God when the others apostatized An Hebrew of the Hebrews that is both his parents were Israelites he was not descended of Proselytes on either side but of native Jews without any mixture of Gentiles in his linage * He that was born of a Proselyte either by Father or Mothers side was termed Ben-ger the Son of an He-proselyte or Ben-gera the Son of a Shâ—proselyte But he who had both parents Israelites was an Hebrew of the Hebrews Godwin Moses and Aaron Touching his profession He was a Pharisee he was of the strictest Sect amongst the people of those who held fast many of the great truth of Religion which the Sadduces and other Sects rejected he was more Orthodox than some others Lastly for his practise he was blameless touching the righteousness of the Law that is in the sight of men they could lay nothing to his charge they could not say black was his eye And yet he includeth himself as wrapped up amongst others in this cursed estate he acknowledgeth himself to be a child of the devil and led captive by him till he got into Christ Eph. 2.1 2 3. Amongst whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath even as others This is the fourth thing to be noted That the state of all men by nature is a state of wrath 5. For the conducting of a sinner to everlasting life and glory in the prefence of God and to make him for ever blessed in the enjoyment of God this state must be changed They must be taken out of this condition and put into another namely into the state of grace As there must be a physical change wrought upon the heart so there must be a relative change in the state For indeed Sirs it will be the principal matter of Christ's enquiry at the day of accounts in what state men are He will divide the persons that come before him into companies according to the state they are in â— and pass sentence upon them answerably thereto Mat. 25.31 32 33. When the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory And before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats And he shall set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on the left Mark it here is the great matter of enquiry whether they are sheep or goats righteous or wicked in the state of grace or still abiding in the state of nature It is true the Lord Christ will make an exact scrutiny into mens ways and carriage he will bring every work in to judgment and render to every one according to his deeds But those works will be lookt into as an evidence of their state and the nature and quality of the actions do much depend upon
expressions it appeareth that these are two 〈◊〉 things Our being in Christ and Christ's being in us Burgess on Job 17. Serm. 126. the Lord Jesus cometh and taketh up his residence in them and they are inabled to go forth unto Christ and receive him as he is offered in the Gospel whereby they are in him and thus this Union is established These are matters distinct and accordingly the holy Ghost speaketh distinctly of them Joh. 14.20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my father and you in me and I in you See also Joh. 6.56 He that eateh my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him So that there are two great bonds or ligaments of this conjunction and of the union which followeth thereupon 1. The bond on Christ's part is the Spirit whereby the people of God are apprehended of him and he taketh up his abode in them For he dwelleth in them by his Spirit Rom. 8.9 10. But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin c. Observe that what is called the Spirit dwelling in us in one verse is stiled Christ in us in the other because Christ seizeth on us by his Spirit and abideth in us through the Spirit 2. The bond of this Union on the Believers part is Faith whereby they do apprehend the Lord Jesus Christ and take him home as it were unto themselves Being apprehended by him they take hold of him and so they are knit together Eph. 3.16 17. That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith First Christ cometh by the holy Ghost and entereth into them and then they are inabled by faith to receive him unto themselves and to apply themselves unto him and so they are conjoyned and made one together From this mutual conjunction doth arise or spring a twofold Union or Oneness between Christ and Believers There is a 1. Natural 2. Legal Union the bond whereof is The Spirit dwelling in them Faith of the operation of the Spirit I will treat of each of them severally with as much clearness and succinctness as I can CHAP. VI. A natural and a legal Union with Christ Wherein they severally consist A moral Union proceeding from the former The last Proposition explained 1. THere is a natural Union or Oneness betwixt Believers and the Lord Jesus arising from the possession which he taketh of them and his residence in them whereupon they are partakers of the same heavenly and spiritual nature with him having Christ formed in them and dwelling with them Therefore I call it for distinctions sake a natural Union because herein they agree in the same divine and spiritual nature else for the manner of its effecting it is supernatural This you have mentioned abundantly in the Scriptures 2 Cor. 13.5 Christ is in you except ye be râ—â—probates that is If you are Christians in good earnest such as are sound in the faith unless you are persons unapproved * Si quid habent Christi sincerae pietatis Calv. Nisi forte reprobi estis i. e. improbi Marian. such as upon trial are found to deal falsely and unfaithfully in the Covenant of God except you are rotten at the heart gilded metal that will not abide the test and touchstone you must have Christ within you It is not enough that Christ be preached unto you but he must be revealed in you As the Apostle speaketh of his conversion and mission to preach the Gospel Gal. 1.16 When it pleased God who spearated me from my mothers womb and called me by his grace to reveal his Son in me Not only called me to be an Apostle and made known Christ unto me but also called me to the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ revealing him in me The bond of this Union is the Spirit of Christ which is shed abroad in to the hearts of God's peculiar people and whereby the Lord Jesus taketh up his habitation in them For it is the Spirit that treateth with them in Christ's name and takes possession of them to his use and service For hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which be hath given us 1 Joh. 3.24 This is the first sort of Union betwixt Christ and Believers which we call a natural union and it is wrought by the Spirit of Christ that dwelleth in them Concerning which I will enlarge a little for the better clearing it to your understandings under five Heads 1. This dwelling of Christ in the souls of his people by his Spirit whereupon doth arise a natural union with him is the same thing for substance with the positive part of the grace of regeneration whereby the principles of holiness and new obedience are introduced into them and the image of God is restored upon their natures For it is hereby that the holy Ghost maketh his entrance into them and fixeth his settlement with him You know that regeneration or sanctification take it for the first saving change or distinguishing work upon the soul consisteth of two parts 1. There is a privative part or the mortification and subduing the principles and habits of sin 2. There is a positive part or the introduction of new principles of grace and holiness There is 1. A blotting out the image of the devil 2. Stamping upon a mans heart the divine nature again You read of them distinctly A taking away the heart of a stone and giving an heart of flesh Ezek. 11.19 There is a removing of the old man and a bringing in of the new man which is created after God Now Christ's being in his people by his Spirit is the same thing for substance with this positive part of regeneration By the mortification of sin Satan is outed of his possession of the soul and by the implantation of spiritual grace Christ enters and taketh possession of the soul by the renewing of the holy Ghost Thus you have it explained for one expression there seemeth to be exegetical of the other Ezek. 36.26 27. A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you an heart of flesh and I will put my Spirit within you Mark it by the renovation of the heart God's Spirit is said to be within us And by the washing of regeneration the holy Ghost is said to be shed upon us abundantly Tit. 3.5 6. In the new birth Christ is formed in the soul by the working of the Spirit 2. Where Christ doth come by the operations of his Spirit to dwell in the hearts of his people he doth
as he is pure 1 John 3.3 3. By the grace of Regeneration the Lord Christ is said to take up his abode in us because the Holy Ghost in that work doth act in his name as purchased by Christ and receiving commission from him and being sent by vertue of his Prayer and Intercession John 16.16 I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive In the transactions of the everlasting Covenant our Lord Jesus undertook to sanctifie and comfort and to quicken and stablish his people and by the Spirit of truth he doth accomplish that undertaking By his death the Spirit was purchased and in his name he is sent 4. The grace of Regeneration may be stiled Christ dwelling in us from the tendency of it which is to bring sinners in subjection to the Government of Christ and to make them ready to obey the Laws of Christ Hereby we become his Servants and possession is taken of us to his use and behoof that we may cleave unto him and be followers of him Col. 3.24 For ye serve the Lord Christ Mat. 19.28 Ye that have followed me in the Regeneration c. that is in your regenerate condition in the exercise of that grace which was bestowed upon you in your New-birth for so it may be well understood The grace of Regeneration plucketh sinners out of the Kingdom of Satan and seizeth on them for the service of Christ carryeth us out to him and maketh us obedient to his Laws and Dominion This may suffice to be spoken to the first branch of that Vnion which is between Christ and Believers or the first sort of Conjunction betwixt them 2. There is a legal Conjunction and oneness thereupon arising from a Believers reception of Christ closing with him and getting into him Such an Union as there is between the principal Debtor and the Surety who hath paid the debt for him and made over that payment unto him The Law reckoneth them as one what payment the Surety hath made for the Debtor in his name and firmly made over unto him the Law accounts it as if the Debtor himself had paid it and dischargeth him thereupon as if it had been his own personal Act and Deed because of that intimate relation or oneness that is betwixt them in the estimation of the Law Such an union there is between Christ and his people and therefore we call it a legal union because it hath a special reference unto the Law of God which acquitteth the person thus united to Christ by vertue of the sufferings and satisfaction of Jesus Christ as fully and firmly as if the party himself had suffered and satisfied And likewise we call it a legal union because of the analogy it beareth unto the proceedings of Law in Courts of Judicature amongst men The bond of this union is a saving faith whereby Believers receive Christ and take hold on him As by the Spirit of Regeneration Christ doth take hold of their souls so by a living faith of the operation of the Spirit they are inabled to take hold of the Lord Jesus and so they are compacted and knit together You know faith is set forth by such expressions a receiving of Christ and taking hold of him John 1.12 But to as many as received him to them he gave power to be the sons of God even to them that believe on his name Mark it we receive Jesus Christ and take him home to our selves by believing on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ As under the Law when a man q. d. ran for refuge and protection to the Altar he was wont to lay hold upon the horns of the Altar so by faith a sinner betaketh himself for shelter and security unto Christ and layeth hold upon Christ Heb. 6.18 That we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us * We who to flee from deserved wrath have taken our course towards Jesus in hope to get the Salvation offered to us in him Dicks in loc that is upon Jesus Christ the object of our hope and confidence who is set before us in the Gospel as the person in whom we are to trust and upon whom to rely and place our hope By faith we lay hold upon him and by this laying hold on Christ a Believer is joyned unto Christ and made one with him By faith we are in him and put on his righteousness Phil. 3.9 That I may be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness which is of God by faith It is of God he provided it for us and it is made over to us and becometh ours by faith in the Mediator This is the Second Branch of the mutual conjunction between Christ and a Believer and the union thereupon the bond whereof is faith in Christ Concerning which I will propose onely these four things to your serious perusal and meditations 1. That the Holy Ghost in the writings of the Scriptures doth distinctly speak of a fourfold faith There is 1. An Historical Faith 2. A Temporal Faith 3. A Faith of Miracles 4. A saving and justifying faith in Christ which is the bond of our union with the Lord Jesus As this is an ordinary School-distinction so it is a Scripture-distinction which hath its warrant from the word and its foundation in the word of God 1. There is an Historical Faith whereby we believe the Scriptures and the matters therein contained to be Divine Truths and to have proceeded from God * This is by some called a dogmatical faith such a faith the Apostle supposed to have been in Agrippa in respect to the writings of the Old Testament Acts 26.27 King Agrippa believest thou the Prophets I know that thou believest q.d. I am confident thou art perswaded of the truth of those things Agrippa being a Jew and always conversant in Judea could not be ignorant of the Scriptures and Paul takes it for granted that he who owned their Original to be of God and that in them was discovered nothing but the truths of God I know that thou believest I am well assured thou darest not deny their Divine Authority This we call an Historical Faith because it assenteth to the truth of the History of the Bible as it is a Narrative of things done and containeth Predictions of things to be done as it comprehends matters of fact mentioned to be performed Doctrines asserted Prophesies and Promises to be fulfilled and the like And pray mark it Sirs this faith is diversifyed according to the different testimony on which it is bottomed * Quia testes quibus fidem adhibemus ex lege ordine communi sunt homines vel Deus idcirco sicut testimonium sic etiam fides distinguitur in
Fathers will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day This is the first thing to be noted 2. For the winning over a sinner to become the Lord Christ's and to surrender up himself into his hands He doth first treat with the sinner to that purpose and doth intreat and perswade him to accept of the grace of the Gospel Just for all the world as it is in order to marriage first the party is wooed before the contract is made so Christ doth woo the soul to become his Spouse and to accept him for an husband To this end he imployeth his Ministers to intreat sinners in his name and sends his Spirit to deal with their hearts and to propound the match unto them Such is his gracious condescension towards fallen man that although the whole benefit of this union redound unto us yet he is pleased to beseech us to close with him 2 Cor. 5.19 20. Now then we are Embassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is not only free grace and abundant grace but 〈…〉 〈…〉 with salvation unto the children of men so he doth seek unto them and earnestly beseech and intreat them to accept the offers of salvation Gen. 9.27 God shall perswade Japhet * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Alliciet scilicet ut suo tompore ad cultum Dei tentoria Shem i. e. Ecclesiam accedat Fut. per Apoc. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hiph pellexit allexit c. Buxtorf so the word signifieth and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem. Mark it The Church of Christ for some ages was well neer confined to the posterity of Shem Abraham and his seed came out of the loyns of Shem. And by Japhet understand the Gentiles who were his off-spring for by them were the Islands of the Gentiles possessed Now saith the Spirit of God the time will come that the Gentiles shall be gathered unto Christ they shall be brought into the Church How or by what means will this be so brought to pass why Christ will woo them and treat with them he will perswade them effectually and prevail by his perswasions 3. In pursuance of this comparison note further That our faith in Christ which is the uniting grace whereby we are joyned to him and made one with him is The consenting of our hearts to take Christ for our Redeemer as he doth tender himself to us and the resignation or giving up our selves into his hands As in the business of marriage it is the consent of parties that makes it The proposal being made the woman accepteth of such a man to be her Husband and accordingly giveth up her self unto him 〈…〉 gether Thus it is in the transactions of matters between Christ and the Church we are contracted to him by our consent to be his and taking him to be our Lord and husband Cant. 2.16 My beloved is mine and I am his Wilt thou have me for thy Husband and Saviour upon the terms of the Gospel saith Christ by his Spirit unto the sinner O Lord answereth the sinner through grace I will I give my full consent and surrender up my self unto thee and thus they are united Therefore it is the great complaint of Christ that he cometh to sinners and they will not accept him Joh. 1.11 He came unto his own and his own received him not Joh. 5.40 And ye will not come unto me that ye might have life And it is said of the Christians of Macedonia when they believed in Jesus they gave themselves unto the Lord 2 Cor. 8.5 4. This consent of the heart to be the Lord Christ's and acceptance of him for our Redeemer if it be such as uniteth us to him and maketh us one with him must be a marriage-consent and acceptance My meaning is It must be so qualified and circumstantiated as is required in the consent of persons when they are married togeâ—her That is to say It must have these three properties It must be 1. A present consent and acceprance 2. A full and hearty consent and acceptance 3. An entrie and indefinite consent and acceptance 1. It must be a present acceptance of Christ and closure with him and not only a promise for the future to take him hereafter and to submit to him in time to come For as Casuists and Civilians observe though promises for the future leave an obligation upon the parties promising yet they do not make up a marriag-contract that must be in words de praesenti So when sinners ingage hereafter to give up themselves to the Lord Jesus although it will add to their sin and condemnation to live in the neglect of performing such ingagements yet they are not thereby united unto Christ but still abide under the wrath of God If we would be made one with him we must immediately give up our selves unto him and take him to be our Lord and Saviour Psal 16.1 2. Preserve me O God for in thee do I put my trust O my soul thou hast said to the Lord thou art my Lord. Psal 116.16 O Lord truly I am thy servant I am thy servant It is not said I will become thy servant hereafter when I have a convenient season and then I will obey thee and put my trust in thee but I thy servant I thy servant q. d. Here am I ready to set upon any service I enter my self now into thy service to abide with thee henceforward even for ever 1 Cor. 7.22 He that is called being free is the servant of Christ If he be effectually called if he answer the invitation of the Gospel he must ingage without delay in Christ's work For it is the present time which is the time of acceptance and the present day which is the day of salvation 2 Cor. 6.2 And the truth is Sirs that bare promises for the future are so far from uniting us to the Son that they are nothing else but the sly endeavours of the heart to put a cheat upon Christ It is by such hypocritical promises that when sinners are convinced of the necessity of closing with Christ they do break through such convictions and get from under the power of them When conscience presseth them hard this is the answer whereby they stop the mouth of conscience hereafter they will become obedient to the Gospel But be not deceived Christ will not be dallyed with but all persons shall know that he searcheth the hearts and the reins and is able to see through their dissimulation and hypocrisie and he will give to every one according to their works Rev. 2.23 2. It must be a full and hearty consent and acceptance with the whole soul of a man It is not a faint wishing and woulding after Christ that will give us an interest in him but
mention upon this account is taken from the union between the foundation and the building erected thereupon They are coupled together and knit into one so as to make up one house So the servants of Christ are knit unto him being built upon him 1 Cor. 3.9 11. Ye are God's building Upon what foundation are they built See v. 11. Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ Believers then are as a fabrique erected upon Christ and cemented unto him A little to unfold this resemblance I will only mind you of three things 1. The holy Ghost doth make mention in the records of the Scripture of a twofold foundation with reference to the Church 1. A doctrinal foundation 2. A personal foundation 1. A doctrinal foundation whereupon our faith is to be bottomed as upon an infallible and unmoveable ground This foundation is the Scriptures the doctrines contained in the Bible the Word of God therein revealed and in that way made known unto the children of men Eph. 2.20 Ye are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets that is Upon the doctrines contained in the Old and New Testament whereof the Prophets and Apostles were the publishers and the penmen by whom as instruments the mind of God was transmitted to succeeding generations * Gubernabit te verbum Dei ad portum coelorum te adducet spiritus sanctus Our faith Sirs is not to be bottomed on the dictates of men or the traditions of our fathers for then it would be a fickle unstable uncertain faith But it is to be built on the sure word of Prophecy The doctrines of the Bible are to be the foundation of it In this respect our Lord Jesus Christ is compared to the chief corner stone He is the principal subject whereof the Scripture treats and whereunto the doctrines tend they are appointed to discover Christ unto us and to bring us unto him and to build us up in him He is the person in whom the strength of the building lieth and through whom the two walls of the building are joyned together Jews and Gentiles are made up into one house and Church as the sides of a building are coupled together by the corner stone 2. There is a personal or essential foundation upon whom a Believer depends for life and salvation by whom the Church subsisteth and through whom it is constituted as a temple for God Thus Christ is the foundation and every Saint is a stone in the building founded upon him Isa 28.16 Behold I lay in Sion for a foundation a stone a tryed stone a precious corner stone a sure foundation Which the holy Ghost expoundeth once and again as meant of Jesus Christ And it is an excellent passage containing abundant matter of incouragement for humbled sinners to come unto Christ and to rest upon him 1. He is a Saviour of Gods appointment sufficiently authorized to be the Mediator so that if you come to God by him he will not reject you for it is the Lord 's doing to constitute him to be our Redeemer it is the way which God himself hath set open to bring sinners to salvation He is the foundation which the Lord hath laid I lay in Sion for a foundation 2. For the qualification of his person he is mighty to save able to deliver to the uttermost He is not as sand or gravel by which the building cannot be supported but a stone or rock which noteth the stability and strength of Jesus Christ he is able to bear whatever weight is laid upon him No winds or storms from earth or hell can prevail to overturn what is built upon him And this ariseth from the constitution of his person being very God as well as man 3. He is a tryed stone Do you yet question his sufficiency to save you Are you still in doubt whether you may trust in him Why do but mind the experience which he hath given of his ability he is a tryed stone Eve hath tryed him and Enoch tryed him and Noah and Abraham and David and Solomon and all the people of God in former ages have made the experiment and their expectations were not frustrated they found him such a one as he is discovered to be He is a stone of trial a foundation of proof a sure foundation 4. This is that which God would have sinners to take notice of Behold I lay in Sion for a foundation a stone c. q. d. Hear O people and give ear all ye inhabitants of the earth mind what I have done to carry on the salvation of sinners And to what end is this publication made but that we might come unto Christ and unto God by him with full assurance of faith This is the first particular I would observe under this similitude 2. This resemblance doth import That all such persons whatsoever who are knit unto Christ and built up to salvation upon his righteousness must of necessity be made conformable unto him There must be an answerableness betwixt them As the foundation is the supporter of the building so it is a rule and measure unto the building The stones which are set upon it must be proportioned thereunto the superstructure must be of length and breadth according to the foundation So it is in the spiritual building The souls of Believers who are joyned to Christ must bear a proportion to him with whom they are joyned This is the Statute-Law of the God of heaven and it is more unalterable and irrevocable than the Laws of the Medes and Persians That there is no saving interest in Christ without conformity to him Rom. 8.29 Whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son Mark It is the unchangable decree of the Lord of Hosts If you are saved in any other way or at a cheaper rate it must be by the alteration of God's decrees which are unchangeable as his nature and essence without any variableness or shadow of turning As Christ could never have been our Redeemer but he must be made like unto us so we shall never taste of the Redemption purchased by him unless â—e be made like unto him This conformity of a Believer to the Lord Jesus Christ doth mainly lie in five things viz. 1. The qualifications of his â—erson 2. The sufferings of his death 3. His resurrection and ascension into heaven 4. The holiness of his conversation 5. The troubles and persecutions which he underwent upon the earth 1. Believers must be made like unto Chist in the qualifications of his person Their judgments must concenter with Christ's judgment in the approbation of such things as he approveth and disapproving those things which he disliketh Their affections must run in the same chanel wherein Christ's affections run loving what he loveth and hating what he hateth and delighting in that wherein he taketh delight Their minds must be placed on the same objects on which
Christ's mind is placed and act in the like manner as his acteth Their hearts must be moulded into the same frame with his heart and so I might instance throughout the whole man Christ must be formed in them Gal. 4.19 And Phil. 2.5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus They must be so clothed with his divine qualities that it may be said they have put on the Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 13.14 2. There must be conformity to the sufferings of his death in a spiritual sense As Christ died for sin so Believers must die unto sin As our Lord Jesus was put to a painful lingring and ignominious death in like sort must their corruptions be mortified and killed For Mark it Sirs The death and crucifixion of our Lord Jesus is not only the meritorious cause through which sin is mortified and a strong evangelical reason why it should be mortified but it is also the pattern and exemplar according to which it is done In the very same way and manner as Christ was put to death for us so are our lusts and corruptions to be crucified within us Hereby we are rendred conformable unto his death Phil. 3.9 and planted together into the â—â—keness of his death Rom. 6.5 3. There must be conformâ—y to the Lord Jesus in his resurrection and ascension into heaven As he rose again from the dead and went up into heaven never to return to corruption any more so must the hearts of believers be raised unto spiritual objects and their affections set upon things that are above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God Col. 3.1 Their hearts must be withdrawn from sin and the world never to be ingaged upon them any more but they must live as persons that are revived and made partakers of a new life Rom. 6.4 As he was raised from the dead by the glory of the father even so must we also walk in newness of life 4. Believers must be made conformable unto Christ in the holiness of his conversation They must tread in his steps doing the same work as he did and acting upon the same principles and motives as he acted upon and carrying on the same designs as Christ carried on and serving the Lord in the like manner with cheerfulness delight and alacrity as he served him Eph. 5.2 Walk in love as Christ also loved us And Rom. 15.1 2 3. We ought not to please our selves but every one his neighbour for his good to edification for Christ also pleased not himself c. 5. They must expect to be made conformable to Christ in the troubles and persecutions that befel him upon the earth Therefore it is called a suffering with him that is the same things and in like manner as he suffered Rom. 8.17 If we will be faithful unto Christ we must look to meet with the like usage as he met with and to go through many tribulations into the Kingdom of God This is the second thing to be noted under this comparison 3. According to the purport and tenour of this similitude taken from the foundation and the building Our faith which is the uniting grace is a resting upon Christ and his righteousness The stones are joyned to the foundation by being laid upon it and there resting So when we lay the stress of our salvation upon Christ and cast our burden upon him and there stay our selves as upon a rock thereby we are united unto Jesus and made one with him By nature we are as rough unpolished stones in a quarry without any relation to Christ Now the work of conviction may be compared to the unsettling of these stones and humiliation and legal terrors upon the heart are the hewing of these stones By the first they are removed out of the Quarry and by the other their ruggedness is pared away The grace of conversion is as the fitting and polishing the stones for the building and faith is a putting them upon the foundation and their resting upon it As by the cement of love the stones are coupled one to another so by faith they are knit unto the foundation By the Spirit they are brought unto Christ and so stay upon him Isa 50.10 Who is among you that feareth the Lord and obeyeth the voice of his servant and walketh in darkness and hath no light Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God Rom. 9.33 Behold I lay in Sion stumbling stone and rock of offence and whosoever believeth on him shall not be confounded Mark it As Christ is a foundation to his people so he is a rock of offence to them that are disobedient they split themselves against this rock they stumble and fall and are broken in pieces If you would be saved by him you must by faith rest upon this foundation For whosoever believeth in him shall not be confounded 1 Pet. 2.4 5. To whom coming as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house c. See likewise Eph. 2.21 22. This is all that I shall speak under the sixth general Head for the illustration of this Mystery of Union with Christ by those similitudes which the holy Ghost hath made choice of to this purpose That which remains further is the Application of the Point CHAP. X. Inferences drawn from the Doctrine of Union with Christ The excellency and dignity of Believers The peculiarity of the providence of God towards them The miserable estate of Christless sinners FOr Application or practical improvement of this Doctrine I will manage it under these three Heads By way of 1. Information 2. Examination 3. Exhortation 1. By way of Information What are the practical Inferences which may be deduced from this Point of a Believers union with the Son of God and the necessity thereof I will not aim at the ingrossing of all that might be taken in upon this fruitful and spiritual subject Only I shall select these three Inferences which naturally arise from what hath been delivered 1. If believers are united unto Christ and made one with him in order to their salvation then hence I gather That they are the most honourable and most excellent persons upon the face of the earth Why Because they are united unto the Son of God and accordingly they should have the greatest esteem of us and be most precious and lovely in our eyes It is the character of a man that shall see the Lord in Sion that he contemneth a vile person but he honoureth them that fear the Lord Psal 15.1 4. Now here is that which maketh them right honourable above all their fellow-creatures they are intimately joyned unto Christ So that the Saints which are in the earth are the excellent of the earht Psal 16.3 more excellent than their neighbours than all that dwell round about them Prov. 12.26 You know the excellency or worthlessness of any
you bring forth the fruits of righteousness here and endeavour to be holy in all manner of conversation If you live in any course of sin or in the neglect of observing any of God's commandments it is not possible you should come to the enjoyment of God whilst you abide in that estate Never dream of being saved without holiness for such imaginations are but dreams and fancies Heb. 12.14 Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. 1 Cor. 6.9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived c. q. d. It is a plain case that the unrighteous will perish unavoidably it is a token of gross ignorance to think otherwise Do not hope for or expect salvation without righteousness for by such hopes and expectations you will but cheat your own souls Gal. 5.19 20 21. Now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these adultery fornication uncleanness lasciviousness idolatry witchcraft hatred variance emulation wrath strife seditions heresies envyings murders drunkenness revellings and such like Of the which I tell you before as I have told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Mark it if a man live in any of these sins or in any other sin like unto these whether it be filthiness of the flesh or of the spirit open or secret though not here particularly enumerated he cannot enter into eternal life It is a matter as if the Apostle had said which I have studied and the more I think of it the more I am confirmed in it I have preached this doctrine to you formerly and I am still of the same mind and therefore warn you of it again that if you be such persons you cannot be saved 2. Although I counsel you to be much in the works of righteousness yet you must despair of ever being justified or saved upon the account of your righteousness For alas what are the best of our righteousnesses to give satisfaction to the justice of God for the wrong that we have done him If you be pardoned and accepted of the Lord it must be for the sake of the righteousness of Jesus Christ and not by virtue of any thing of your own For the Seripture hath concluded all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe Gal. 3.22 3. Although you must be active and diligent in the service of God and labour to walk in uprightness before him yet you are utterly to despair of doing this in your own strength It is only strength and aflistance from Jesus Christ that will inable you to be faithful unto Christ If you trust in your own hearts they will deceive you 2 Cor. 3.5 Psal 71.15 16. * Ad evulsionem hominis à statu peccati requiritur 3. ut ex evictione conscientiae desperatiosalutis consequatur respectu nostrarum virium omnis etiam auxilii quod à creaturis haberi potest Ames de cons 4. I would counsel you to work up your hearts to an utter despair of receiving either righteousness or strength from Christ except you get into him Sit down and rest in this conclusion that unless you be united to the Son of God you cannot dwell in the presence of God There is no salvation to be had upon other terms And thus to despair of deliverance in a state of separation from Christ is an excellent means or inducement to drive you unto him Thus the Law is our School-master to lead us unto Christ i. e. by convincing us of our undone condition without him * Lex in vero suo officio est ad gratiam ministra praeparatrix prodest ad justificationem non quod justificat sed quia urgeat ad promissionem gratiae cam facit dulcem desiderabilem Luth. It pursueth us with wrath as the avenger of bloud that we may be forced to hasten into the City of refuge Gal. 3.24 This is the first Direction I intended in order to the attainment of this grace of union Direct 2. If you would be united unto the Son Get the Spirit of the Lord Jesus into your hearts It is only the holy Ghost who is sent in his name that can lead you unto him and ingraff you in him and form Christ within you And if you have not the Spirit of Christ you cannot be his Rom. 8.9 And therefore to this end 1. Be much in prayer to God for this very mercy that he would graciously send the Spirit of his Son into your souls There is an encouraging word to draw forth your fervent supplications in this behalf Luke 11.13 If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more shall your heavenly father give the holy Spirit to them that ask him It is the mercy which he delights to be sought unto for and to be dealing forth in return to the prayers of his Servants 2. Be much conversant with the word of Christ and constant in your attendance upon the Ordinances of the Gospel Be frequent in reading and studying the Scriptures make them the matter of your daily meditations lose no opportunity to acquaint your selves therewith or to wait upon Christ in the wayes of his appointment Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom Col. 3.16 For it is the word and institutions of Jesus Christ which are designed as conduit-pipes to convey the spirit of sanctification into mens hearts And therefore the word hath the promise of conversion annexed unto it because the spirit of conversion worketh in and with and by the word Psal 19.7 The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul Jam. 1.18 Of his own will he begat us with the word of truth As the word cannot work savingly without the concurrent operation of the holy Ghost So the holy Ghost doth not ordinarily work without the word For the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth Rom. 1.16 And when our Saviour prayeth for them that should be gathered unto him it is under this expression For them that shall believe on me through their word Joh. 17.20.3 Take heed that you resist not the Spirit by quenching his motions or rising up in contradiction against the convictions that he is pleased to work upon your hearts Readily hearken to his call and comply with him in the tenders of grace If you repel him by the frowardness and perverseness of your spâ—rits you know not when he will return Joh. 3.8 Take therefore the Apostles advice Eph. 4.30 Grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption Direct 3. If you would be knit unto Jesus and so have an interest in him endeavour after the uniting grace of faith in his bloud cast your selves upon his righteousness for salvation according to the proposals
the uttermost 2 Cor. 5.14 Do we make void the law through faith God forbid yea we establish the law Rom. 3.31 But now as it is a Covenant of life and doth promise justification unto the observers of it so the death of Christ doth deaden us unto the law it is of notable force and efficacy to take off a man from building and bottoming upon his own legal performances For this very topick the Apostle argueth with the Galatians cap. 3.1 O foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you Mark it the great matter wherein the Galatians fell from the truth of the Gospel was by adhaering to the law and seeking righteousness therein Now saith the Apostle a man would have thought the doctrine of Christ's death and crucifixion might have been a strong fence against that error unless you had been under a kind of fascination and witchcraft upon your spirits Hath the great fundamental principle of the death of Christ been so plainly and faithfully preached unto you and set forth amongst you in such lively colours as if he had been crucified before your eyes and are you still so foolish as to rest upon the law Certainly this is an argument of abundant sottishness and madness or else you have quite forgotten the doctrine of Christ's death and neglect to make a due improvement thereof The death of Christ will be of notable use to deaden a man to the law by making a threefold discovery 1. By discovering the sinfulness and damnableness of the evil of sin or transgressionof the law of God in that it could be expiated at no lesser rate than by the crucifying of the Son of God It is not any corruptible thing as silver and gold could make satisfaction for sin but the precious blood of the Son of God and therefore certainly it is an evil of a very heinous nature Thus my brethren a real sight of the greatness of the evil of sin would sooner convince a man of the insufficiency of all his legal righteousness to satisfie for the wrong that is done unto God by it If men think to recompence the Lord by any obedience of their own for the sins whereof they are guilty it is because they have low and slight thoughts of the evil of their sins Now the death of Christ may serve to rectifie such thoughts and to set forth the damnableness of the nature of sin And indeed it was one of the ends which God aimed at in the death of Christ as to save the sinners so to damn the sin Rom. 8.3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh He condemned it that is he made it thereby to appear what a deadly destructive and damnable nature it is of how odious and abominable a thing it is in his sight * He condemned it of that capital crime that it was the meritorious cause of the death of Christ who was most innocent Engl. Annot. By what way was this made to appear Why because nothing could appease his wrath but the crucifying of the Lord Jesus Undoubtedly it must needs be a very accursed thing for which Christ himself was made a curse 2. The death of Christ is of use to deaden a sinner to the law by making discovery of the inexorableness of the justice of God of his severity and strictness in requiring the utmost farthing that is due for satisfaction He did not spare his own Son when he had iniquity laid upon him but he was put to a painful cursed ignominious and reproachful death so that let not the children of men ever expect to be spared if they lie under the guilt of the least ungodliness God the Father did not abate his own beloved Son any part of the punishment surely he will never make abatement unto his adversaries And this was another end of Christ's death to set forth the exactness and inexorableness of the justice of God that he will by no means clear the guilty Rom. 3.25 26. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God To declare I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus * Deus justitiam suam dicitur oftendisse quia non aliter remisit peccata hominum quam pretio iusto redemptionis accepto non ab ipsis hominibus sed a Christo pro nobis satisfaciente Justum ergo se Deus exhibuit in nostro justificatione liberalem seu gratiosum Justitia fuit relatione ad Christum gratia vero relatione ad nos Tolet in Rom. 3. Lastly the death of Christ will serve to take off a man from seeking justification by the law by making a full discovery that there is no other way imaginable to make reconciliation for sin and to deliver sinners from the wrath to come but the death of Christ only For Sirs if there had been any other way could have been found out undoubtedly God would have spared the dearly beloved of his soul he would never have striken and bruised his only begotten Son For as the Apostle argueth If there had been a law given which could have given life verily righteousness should have been by the law Gal. 3.21 q. d. Had that way been sufficient to save men and women from everlasting destruction God would have taken that way and prevented the sorrows and sufferings of his Son He would never have sent him into the world in such a low and despicable condition nor have brought him into such strairs and agonies as made him sweat drops of blood not would he have poured out upon him the vials of his wrath for the accomplishment of that which might have been otherwise accomplished So that to test for justification upon the law is in effect to frustrate and make void the grace of God in the death of the Mediator For if righteousness come by the law then Christ is dead in vain Gal. 2.21 Thus much for the fifth Proposition touching the way of a sinners union or conjunction with the Lord Jesus 6. Propos 6. The way of the actual conjunction between Christ and his people when they are thus divorced from sin and deadned to the Law may be conceived thus The Lord Christ by his Spirit taketh possession of them and dwelleth in them and Believers through faith of the operation of the Spirit take hold of Christ and get into him and so they are knit together and become one For this conjunction you must understand is a mutual conjunction * Abide in me and I in you And again He that abideth in me and I in him By which