great courtesie to bee taken into some Corporation or Society amongst men in some Towne City or Colledge and esteeme it a great aduancement when a poore Mayden is married to a Prince or to some mighty rich man what fauour then hath God shewen vs how highly hath hee graced vs how great is our happinesse seeing hee hath giuen vs vnto his one eternall and only Sonne to whom wee are fast vnited with whom wee are clothed whose spirit grace and merits we do participate and from whom nothing shall be able to disioyne and part vs no not the gates of hell What shall wee render vnto the Lord for his loue vnto vs what praises shall wee sing vnto him O Lord what is man that thou shouldst so regard him or the son of man that thou shouldst so aduance him Man is a worme the son of man is a worme dust and ashes sin shame and confusion What are we all euen the best of vs all but vapors shadowes dreames glasses and very vanity yet as base as wee be the great God of heauen hath lookt downe vpon vs and not scorn'd vs. O Lord how shall we praise thee where shall wee beginne or how shall we make an end The Angels which transgressed thou hast passed by and wouldst not giue thy Son vnto them Thou dost punish their pride against thee and their enuie at our felicity They fell without a Tempter and they perish without a Sauiour But man poore man distressed wretch who being fallen by Sathans subtiltie had no strength left him to rise againe and with himselfe ouerthrew all his issue thou hast out of pure pity relieued and raised vp againe and a many also of his children euen as many as thy grace made choyce of On him thou didst bestow thy Son thy deare and onely childe Thou hast espoused and knit vs to him His we are who once were Satans hee is our life our crowne our hope our happinesse In him we haue all things and he is all things in and to vs. Wee poore wretches are sicke and wounded but he is our phisique and Phisician in him we find perfit health and soundnesse We are weake and feeble but he is our fortitude and strength We are naked hauing nothing on vs but rotten ragges and stinking patches but he is rayment for vs and doth aray vs and preserue vs from cold and nakednesse We are hungry and thirsty empty and hollow yea euen famished for lacke of meate but hee is meate and drinke Pabulum Pastor our food and feeder our nurriture and our nurse Esca mentis non ventris meate indeed for the soule not for the belly Meates are for the belly and the belly for meates and God will destroy both it and them but this foode is for the soule and the soule for it and the soule shall besaued by it if it doe receiue it and shall not be destroyed All refections are in him if we haue him we can lacke no meat to strengthen vs no drinke to coole vs no wine to cheere vs no dainties to content vs no waters to reuiue and comfort vs. All the aqua vitae aqua caelestis aurum potabile all the waters wines drinks in the world cannot quicken a dead man or preserue a liuing man that he see not death much lesse then are they able to reuiue a dead soule and to saue soule and body from hell fire and raise a dead body from his dust But our Lord Iesus Christ in whom we are and he in vs whose flesh wee eate whose bloud we drinke he he is able fully able to do all this for vs. He is the Fountaine of the gardens the well of liuing waters the Leader of captiuity captiue the death of death the destruction of the graue and the Author of life grace and immortalitie to all his body When we were cast forth in our nakednes and bloud and lay as forlorne and dead he I say he came to vs took pity vpon vs and clothed vs and said vnto vs liue and we are become aliue He hath crucified our sinnes washed our soules reconciled vs to God quieted our mindes saued vs from hel giuen vs his Spirit the Spirit of life and comfort of grace and holinesse and when the fulnesse of time is come he will raise vp our dead bodies and make vs triumph ouer death and hell and sin and all our infernall enemies in eternall and euer-blessed glory with him his holy Name be praised for euer and for euer Amen The Time wherein we are first ioyned vnto Christ actually the time I say in which he is first actually in vs so as hath been said and wee actually in him is at our effectuall calling and turning vnto God then when wee are first actually incorporated by the Spirit into his body As concerning Gods eternall counsell and fore-knowledge and purpose of adoption and incorporation wee were in Christ and Christ in vs before the foundations of the world were laide but we are not actually knit vnto him he is not actually giuen to vs and we to him vntill we be actually regenerated or called Euen as Eue was not actually vnited to Adam till God made her and gaue her to him and hee receiued her And our being in Christ by eternall foreknowledge saues vs not without our actuall calling and adoption and our reall incorporation in time into his body which is perfit in him the head whence all the body by ioints and bands hauing nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth with the increase of God The time when our Vnion and Contract with Christ shall be solemnly celebrated is at the latter day then when our dead bodies are restored aliue and glorious vnto vs and when all our enemies shall bee actually troden vnder our feete and for euer Against which day hee prepare and fit vs for himselfe who hath prepared it for himselfe and vs. Come ô Lord Lord Iesus come quickly take vs to thee The man that is vnited vnto Christ and is partaker of him and of his benefits that man I say may discerne this his blessed vnion with Christ and Christs abode within him by these notes ensuing Our blessed Lord and Sauiour saith if a man loue me he will keepe my wordes and my father will loue him and wee will come vnto him and make our abode with him He therefore that loueth Christ and keepeth his word hath Christ in him and is in Christ Againe behold I stand at the doore and knocke if any man heare my voice and open the doore I will come into him and sup with him and he with me He therefore that heares Christ speaking to him in the ministery of the word and good motions of the Spirit and opens the doore of his heart that this glorious King may come into him for hee will not breake in like a Theife or Murderer by
A THEOLOGICAL DISCOVRSE OF THE gracious and blessed Coniunction of Christ and a sincere Christian By THO TVKE Preacher of Gods word 1. COR. 6. He that is ioyned vnto Christ is one spirit The blessed Virgin Mary brought foorth Christ the Catholique Church brings foorth all true Christians LONDON Printed by Edw Griffin dwelling in the little Old-baily neere the signe of the Kings head 1617. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE SIR FRANCIS BACON Knight Lord Keeper of the great Seale of England Right Honourable THere is no sound reason why any man should glorie in himselfe being Alone and I thinke no man that is compos animi doth desire it seeing no man can be compleat and happie no not in this world without a Fellow It is no mans vnitie in himselfe but his Vnion and Communion witb others that makes him blessed Woe therefore vnto him that is alone But amongst all our Vnions one with another there is none to be compared with our Coniunction with our blessed Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ For Princes Parents Patrones Husbands Wiues Children Kinsfolkes Friends Neighbours and all others also with whom wee are conioyned are but the spoyle of Time and a prey for Death Adam and all his Children are but Eatrh Some of them indeede stand aboue their Brethren like Mountaines yet these Mountaines as well as Mole-hills are but earth and earth will to earth though all the world say nay But our Lord Iesus Christ hath mastered the graue in the graue and ouercome death in death hee is aliue and liues for euer And whereas no other Vnion no not all the Vnions in the world together can assure the soule of Gods fatherly grace and giue it a true Title to euerlasting life this can and doth in so much that hee which is ioyned to Christ may say and say truely with Saint PAVL I am dead to the Law I am crucified with Christ but I liue yet not I any more but Christ liueth in mee And in that I now liue in the flesh I liue by the faith of the Sonne of God who hath loued me and giuen himselfe for mee A happie man indeede clothed with Christ partaker of his merits indued with his Spirit and transformed into him by his grace This man cannot perish out of doubt but Christ who died for him and liueth in him must also perish with him which cannot be There is good reason therefore to iudge an vnfeigned Christian the Only blessed man indeede and to make more account of this Coniunction then of all earthly things how glorious how great or how good soeuer A Discourse hereof I doe here offer vnto your Honourable Lordshippe and it comes cheerefully to you as being bold vpon your generous spirit and loue to learning though in it selfe it be vnworthy of so learned and iudicious a Person and comes it may be also out of season your Lordshippe being full of great and weighty businesses But yet I beseech you grace it with your kinde acceptance and vouchsafe to pardon my boldnesse with your Lordshippe Go on right noble Lord go on As you doe inioy your Fathers Honours so continue as you haue begunne to expresse his noble Vertues that while you liue not onely your owne Friends and Followers but that many a poore Priest that hath waited long at Altar and done faithfull seruice in the Church a prentishippe or perhaps two or three and could neuer come by Benefice either for want of friends or through the cruell and cursed corruption of sacrilegious Patrones and not such onely but that all which loue learning godlinesse truth and equitie may loue you and honour you and blesse God for you and that when you shall depart from hence you may inioy his Happinesse in heauen and leaue as honourable a Name behinde you here on earth The great God of Heauen and Earth double his graces in you and grant you health and long life for the good of this Church and State and the comfort of all those that loue your Person and honour your Vertues May 24 1617. Your Lordships euer humbly THO TVKE Of the Coniunction of CHRIST and a Christian OVr Lord Iesus Christ is God and Man God of God light of light very God of very God Man of the seede of Dauid borne of a woman at the fulnesse of time a virgin-man of a virgin-mother the great Sauiour of the world the King Priest and Doctor of the Church which is his mysticall body and deerest Spouse A true Christian is he that belieues truly in Christ and expresseth his confidence in him by constant obedience to his law which is his light and by sincere loue vnto him and vnto his members Hee is vnworthy the name of a Christian that is not indued with the faith of a Christian He doth really deny Christ and his Lordship that will not that Christ raigne ouer him Hee doth deny him that denies to serue him And he doth not loue him that doth not loue his seruants He is indeed a Christian faith Saint Augustine who sheweth mercy vnto all who feeles another mans sorrow as his owne who denies no poore man his meat who is contented to be inglorious before men that hee may glory before God and his Angells who despiseth earthly things that he may haue heauenly who succours the miserable and is mooued to weepe by the teares of others A true Christian is the true sheepe of Christ now the Sheepheard best knowes his owne sheepe and is best able to describe them and shew with what markes they are branded and are to be discerned Ye belieue not saith Christ for yee are not of my sheep My sheepe heare my voice and I know them and am knowne of mine and they follow me A true Christian is Christs true Disciple one that heares his word gladly and conformes himselfe vnto it carefully delighting to heare the things that are worthy to be done and to doe the things that are worthy to be heard accounting it to learne well to liue well and to know well to belieue well Now true Christian charitie discouers the true disciple of Christ By this saith Christ shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if yee haue loue one to another For sure hee loues not the Master that hates the Scholler neither deserues he the name of a scholler in the schoole of Christ that loues not the learning of Christ wherwith all his schollers are both knowne and graced and this is Charitie the poore mans riches the rich mans honour and the great mans crowne without which rich men are worse then beggars learned men viler then idiots and they that thinke themselues highest are lower then the lowest euen nothing iust nothing worse then nothing for nothing can neither doe hurt nor take hurt So then true Faith in Christ true knowledge and acknowledgement of Christ true and right hearing and discerning of the voice of
then the Temples of Venus Flora Cupid mounting vp into the highest heauens where are perfect pleasures pure delights immortall ioyes and euerlasting contentment But Christ loueth his Church truely expressing his loue to her by laying downe his life for her He was so desirous to clense her that he spared not his owne bloud his best bloud his heart bloud but washt her in it Here was loue indeed Hee did not loue her because she was faire or rich for she was of her selfe till he came preuented her with his grace and made loue to her poore naked polluted wretched and inglorious but by his loue he hath made her louely and louing by his ornaments hee hath made her shining by his purity he hath made her cleane by his beautie he hath made her gracious and with his blessednesse shee is made an happy woman She was once as blacke as pitch but shee is now as white as the driuen snow The Kings daughter is all glorious within her clothing is of broydred gold She is so faire and louely in his eye as that his loue will suffer him to spie no blemish in her as it is written He seeth no iniquitie in Iacob nor transgression in Israell For indeed he hath couered all her sinnes and washt her from all her foulenes ridding her of all her wrinckles freckles and deformities by the merit and vertue of his owne blood Behold his owne speeches of her praises which he speakes vnto her and mockes her not Thou art all faire my Loue and there is no spot in thee Who is she that looketh foorth in the morning faire as the Moone and pure as the Sun How beautifull are thy goings with shooes thou Princes daughter How faire are thou and how pleasant art thou O my loue in pleasures Yea to expresse his full contentment in her hee speakes somewhere to her like a man rapt out of himselfe and ouercome of loue My Sister my Spouse thou hast wounded mine heart thou hast wounded mine heart with one of thine eies and with a chaine of thy necke My Sister my Spouse how faire is thy loue How much better is thy loue then wine and the sauour of thine ointments then all spices Thy lips my Spouse drop as hony-combes hony and milke are vnder thy tongue and the sauour of thy garments is as the sauour of Lebanon It is certaine that the power of ruling appertaines vnto the Husband but yet sometimes hee wants wit to rule himselfe and some wiues are now and then sicke of the vnruly euill being very thwart and foolish But Christ being the Wisedome of God and the very fountaine of goodnesse and commiserations performes the office of a wise and tender-hearted Husband alwaies to his Church his Spouse which is not morose scornefull and vnruly but humble gentle and obedient And therefore the Apostle exhorting women to be submissiue to their Husbands propoundes vnto them the example of the Spouse of Christ Therefore saith hee as the Church is subiect vnto Christ so let the wiues bee to their owne husbands euery thing And when he would perswade the men to loue their wiues and to vse them tenderly hee prouokes them to it by the practise of Christ who loues the Church and nourishes and cherishes it as a man his owne flesh It is allowed to one man to haue one wife at once and no more then one For God gaue Adam but one Though he had abundance of spirit yet he made but one but one woman of one ribbe for the helpe comfort and contentment of one man Therefore he saith by his Prophet keepe your selues in your spirit that is bridle your affections and keepe your selues within your compasse and let none trespasse against the wife of his youth Our Lord likewise hath but one wife or Spouse our Head hath but one Body For though euery godly man bee vnited vnto Christ and bee a member of his body yet all the godly in the world that either haue beene are or shal be being all ioyntly considered together doe make that one and onely Spouse or wife of Christ who shall raigne at his right hand with him in all honour and glory for euer and euer This is she that is his and his onely and no others with him This is his Doue his Loue his louing Hinde and pleasant Roe Her eies doe hold him her breasts doe satisfie him her loue contents him in her and in her loue hee delights continually Yet truely may euery true Belieuer say Christ is my Head Christ is my Husband for he is vnited to him But yet is Christ husband and head to one so as he is Head and Husband to the rest as Iacob was a father equally to all his sonnes as a mans head is the head of all his members the feet as well as the hands or as a King is head and husband ciuill vnto all his Subiects indifferently without respect of persons But Christ doth much more to the Church then the Husband can vnto his Wife A man may as our Seruice-booke speakes worship his wife with his body that is hee may honour her with his body which hee doth in that hee doth appropriate it to her making her the Mistris of it for as the Apostle sheweth the Husband hath not the power of his owne bodie but the wife But no man is able to giue his wife his spirit or soule Though a man and his wife may liue so louingly and peaceably together specially a time as that a body would almost thinke and say there were but one soule in both their bodies yet in truth each of them haue their owne priuate spirits the mans soule is not in the woman nor the womans in the man His animates and possesses him and hers animates and possesses her one of them truely differing from the other not in kinde but in number not in substance but in accidents But our Lord Iesus Christ hath bestowed his Spirit on his Church She liues not by her owne life but by his life She is not ruled by her owne spirit but by his Spirit Yes euery man vnited to Christ hath the Spirit of Christ The very soule of man is not more common to all his members then the holy Ghost is to all the godly And whereas some mens wiues haue beene and I would none were now possessed with an euill Spirit being very torments and trouble houses the Spouse of Christ is possessed with the good Spirit of God which is the Spirit of peace gentlenesse and loue who susteines comforts instructs leades her and dwelleth with all those that can truly call her Mother There is a certaine transcendent and strong coherence betwixt Christ and his Church He cleaueth to her as an husband to his wife and shee to him as a wife to her husband but yet so as that one of them cannot be broken from the other one of
wee may yet further our knowledge of the Coniunction that is betwixt Christ and vs it will not be amisse to consider of three other similitudes vsed in the holy Scriptures to set it foorth vnto vs. The first is of a Vine the second of a Body the third of a Building And this I will do with the help of Christ I am faith Christ the Vine yee are the Branches Now wee know that the Vine and her Branches are ioyned fast together by nature and not as boards are in a shippe with pinnes and nayles by Arte but a great deale closer For the branches shoot forth of the Vine are animated with the spirit of the vine liue the life of the vine are fed nourished and susteined of the vine and abiding in the vine bring foorth fruits according to the nature of the vine out of which they grow and in which they liue Euen so are we coupled and ioyned vnto Christ and so fast that wee cannot be rent or broken in peeces from him by violence as branches may be from a vine We grow out of Christ as an heauenly root from whom by the fauour of God and influence of his grace we doe all as new creatures or heauenly branches arise and spring foorth Adam is the root of all men as men and when God created Adam he created vs. And as many as are sprung from Adam haue in themselues the root out of which they spring Euen so the children of God haue Christ as a second Adam from heauen for a certaine celestiall and blessed root whose progenie and branches they are by regeneration or heauenly birth And the good Spirit of Christ is from Christ deriued to them all who doth animate consolate and susteine them And from Christ they receiue food and nourishment by the which they are refresht and cheered and preserued from death by the worke of the Spirit True it is that life and all good gifts and graces are from the father as from the originall or beginning of them all but they come not to vs but by the Sonne in whom Life is and in whom are hid all the treasures of wisedome and knowledge who is the Sunne of righteousnesse with healing in his wings and hath gold rayment and eye-salue and all other medicines to enrich vs cloth vs and cure vs of all our soule-diseases But yet none of all these things come vnto any of vs in particular but by the holy Ghost and therefore the Apostle saith The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ and the loue of God and the fellowshippe of the holy Ghost And being now indued with the holy Spirit of Christ they liue a spirituall and Christian life They liue indeed and yet not they but Christ and his Spirit liue within them Christ is in his Spirit and his Spirit is in him And where the Spirit of Christ is there is liberty They liue then and liue free deliuered and out of feare And for because Christ is in them and they in him and for that the spirit of Christ is not idle in them euen as the soule is not idle in the body or as a vigilant Prince is not idle in his kingdome but is busie as a Bee working like a carefull and prudent husbandman his holy workes within them therefore also they are not barren and take vp roome in vaine but beare and bring forth fruite as God by the influence of his grace doth giue increase For neither is he that planteth any thing neither that watereth but God that giueth the increase Whence it is that our Sauiour spaith Abide in me and I in you As the branch cannot beare fruit of it selfe except it abide in the vine no more can ye except ye abide in me He that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth foorth much fruite And the fruits they yeeld are such as become the vine Christ Iesus whose branches they are and whose spirit makes them beare For vine-branches bring foorth vine-fruites vine-berries grapes and not soure slowes crabbes or hawes Euery tree brings foorth fruit according to his owne kind euen as euery man beast bird and fish begetteth and produceth according to his owne species kinde and image But although the faithfull bee in Christ and Christ in them yet they do not all equally draw vertue from Christ but as one branch receiueth more from the vine then another and as some are stronger fairer and fuller of fruits then some others are euen so one Belieuer receiues more grace and vertue from Christ then another and as Christ doth more or lesse impart himselfe vnto vs so we sucke more or lesse vertue from him and so also are more or lesse fruitfull in good workes Sure it is that God doth giue all his children his spirit and that this spirit resideth in them but this spirit worketh not equally in them all nor alike at all seasons but in some more and in some lesse and at one time more sensibly then at an other as the Sun doth in the heauens or a workeman in his shoppe God dwelleth in all his children they in him and they are all truely one as well as another partakers of the diuine nature but yet God doth not manifest and expresse himselfe in the same degree vnto all as neither Parents to their children not that hee could not but because he will not for causes iust but best knowne vnto himselfe and hereupon it comes to passe that one is more vertuous and better then another fuller of good workes and more like vnto himselfe as that childe is vnto his father into whom his father hath more fully and more happily powred foorth of himselfe into him in generation tending him like wife afterwards with a more carefull ingenuous education Whence is it saith S. Austin that some bee holier then others are but because that God doth dwell in some more plenteously then in others Christ is the Sunne the light that giueth light of nature grace and glory vnto the world Euery Christian man is a starre receiuing light from Christ who shineth into his soule now as one starre is brighter then another according as it receiueth more light from the Sunne then another euen so one Christian excells another in the light of grace and good workes according as hee receiues more plentifully from Christ and is more neerely ioyned with him and partaker of his light and spirit And thus of the first similitude I come to the second Christ and the Catholique Church are a certaine Mysticall or spirituall bodie Christ himselfe is the Head of that bodie And euery true Belieuer is a member of it Wee are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones saith S. Paul And this is a great mysterie The Head is not a perfit body of it selfe alone For no mans body is all head Neither is
affect the righteousnesse of Christ Oh that we could feele our heauy sinnes our sinnes that oppresse our soules and haue swallowed vs vp that Christ might deliuer vs from them and giue vs ease Oh that we could feare that we might come to hope and sorrow that wee might reioyce in Christ They that would haue much ioy must first haue much sorrow there is no way to sound ioyes but by bitter sorrow and a little sorrow will sustaine but a little ioy Of short sorrow arises but short ioy of counterfet sorrowes but counterfet ioyes He that would hope must feare the true way to hope is by true feare and they that would hope much must fear much they that would build high must digge low the tallest trees haue the deepest roots a little feare will support but a little hope a little distrust but a little confidence Oh that we could and at last would distrust our selues that wee might repose all trust in Christ He that beleeueth in him shall not be ashamed Oh that wee could sorrow lament and howle for our vilenesse and weepe bitterly for our sinnes with Peter and euen wash our Sauiours feete with our teares as that poore penitent woman did Oh that the fountaines of sorrow were broken vp within vs that whole flouds of teares might gush out from vs then all our sorrowes should be turned into ioyes our mourning into merriment and our teares into songs O that we could goe downe into the deepes the deepest deepes and cry out as Ionah did out of the belly of hell Then our feares would be chang'd inhope and our sighes would end in solace Oh that our soules did faint within vs and that wee were euen brought vnto true despaire of our own strength and valour that wee might onely trust in Christ and seeke to him for succour For all other helpes are but as a sliding foote a rotten tooth and a silly reede And they that waite vpon lying vanities forsake their owne mercie Behold we the spirit of S. Paul who was able to say for himselfe as much as another yet seeing his owne necessities and the perfections of Christ hee was content to cast off himselfe to put on Christ to cast downe himselfe to build vp himselfe in Christ to vilifie himselfe to be made glorious in Christ to become nothing in himselfe to bee something euen that whole thing which he is in Christ and euen to lose himselfe in himselfe that hee might finde himselfe safe in Christ What things saith hee were gaine to me those I counted losse for Christ Yea doubtlesse and I count all things but losse for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ my Lord. For whom I haue suffered the losse of all things and doe count them but dung that I may winne Christ and be found in him not hauing mine owne righteousnesse which is of the Law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousnesse which is of God by faith that I may know him and the power of his Resurrection and the fellow-ship of his sufferings being made conformable vnto his death if by any meanes I might attaine vnto the resurrection of the dead Secondly to gaine Christ Iesus and his graces and gracious blessings wee ought to apply our selues to the Ministery of the Word and Sacraments For these are the golden pipes through which the oyle of the spirit is conuayed and brought vnto vs and by which we become enriched with the merits and vertues of our Sauiour For as concerning the Word it is the word of truth by which we are begotten in Christ to God by the Spirit who worketh by it It is the good word of God a word that conuerteth the soule and giueth wisdome to the simple It is the word of grace the word of life the word of faith an wholesome word the word of peace the word of saluation able to saue the soule in which it is engrafted It is a word that shewes vs our poornesse nakednesse blindnesse and wretchednesse and is withall that happy organ of grace and glory in the which God shewes vs his Sonne in whom we may haue remedy and holds him out vnto vs willing vs to take him of him and by receiuing of which word we may come to enioy that substantiall and thrice-blessed Word who is our life and glory And as touching the Sacraments they are not onely memorials signes and testimonies but effectuall meanes and instruments not naturall but morall not humane but diuine by the which God when wee take the Sacraments deliuereth vnto vs Christ Iesus and his merits and that grace that is needefull to saluation By these wee are put into possession of Christ of his spirit and grace both imputatiue and inhesiue In these our Lord Iesus Christ God and Man comes vnto our soules and applyes himselfe vnto vs and worketh in vs as he pleaseth Yet to speake properly by Baptisme wee receiue but the beginning of those graces the increase and confirmation whereof wee receiue afterwards by the often receiuing of the Lords Supper Wee receiue Christ Iesus in Baptisme once as the Author and first Beginner in the Communion often as being by continuall degrees the Finisher and Perfecter of our life When wee receiue this Sacrament the spirit is sent a new into vs not as if he mooued place for he is euery where whole all the world ouer but because he is now to beginne some new grace or to confirme and augment some formerly begun or to raise vp some languishing or to giue some ioy some comfort where either none was or was scarcely felt or is decayed So then that healing and sauing grace which Christ originally is or hath as the fountaine of life and grace for the good of the whole Church hee doth seuerally by Sacraments diuide and deriue into euery particular member thereof Neither doth hee ordinarily bestow the grace of Sacraments on any but by Sacraments But yet this grace which wee receiue by the Sacraments organically wee receiue not from them energetically but from him as they that looked vpon the brazen serpent were not healed by that they saw but by the Lord their Sauiour But yet it is very iust and more then probable that they which contemne or neglect the Sacraments should bee without the grace of the Sacraments Christ is the kernell of the word and Sacraments they that would eat the kernell must cracke the shell These are the vestiments in which hee comes vnto vs. They are worthy to goe without him that will not vse the meanes to get and keepe him Without doubt it is either ignorance or worldlinesse or wantonnes and presumption or something that is naught that makes men contemne and passe by these holy ordinances of Christ I assure my selfe their stomackes are full their hearts a sleepe and their mouths out of taste something doubtlesse is amisse that they haue so small desire to them and feele so
little sweetnesse in them Something doth bewitch them that they can neither see nor feele their own wants nor that superabundance of supply that is offered to them in Christ who stretcheth foorth himselfe and exhibits his spirit and all his merits in these holy mysteries Questionlesse these men lacke faith in steade whereof their heads are filled full of fansies For had they faith they would flie to the Communion and presse on themselues as she in the Gospell in her issue whose faith made her come to Christ and goe behinde him tho but to touch the outer garment of Christ And what followed vertue went foorth of Christ shee was instantly cured Christ Iesus is offered vnto vs in the Sacrament Now if wee would come to it as shee did to his garment we should finde grace But how came she her body was consumed her bloud was spent her purse was emptied and all this shee felt and was well affected with Further she saw all her helps failed her Shee doth despaire of the skill of all Physicians And for herselfe shee saw there was no hope of helpe in nature which dayly decayed in her she saw she could not long hold out in this estate What does she then kill her selfe or run out to wizards Oh no but shee bethinkes her selfe of Christ whose miracles shee either had seene or heard of To him she trudges and touched the hemme of his garment For shee sayd in her selfe If I may touch but his garment onely I shall bee whole And shee was made whole at that same instant In like manner the Scripture reports of the men of Gennazaret that when once they knew Christ they sent all the sick people about them to him and besought him that they might touch the hemme of his garment only And as many as toucht it were made whole See these people knew by sense the misery of sicknesse and diseases as wee say the oxe knowes not the losse of his horne till hee hath lost it they also knew Christ and beleeued his power and they were well perswaded of his gentle nature neither were they so simple as to thinke his garment able of it selfe to heale them but they knew that the vertue came from him but yet they desired onely to touch his garment because they knew it was a testimony or signe sufficient of their confidence in him Questionlesse Christ is the onely Physician of the soule the onely fountaine of life and grace And in the Sacrament hee tenders himselfe vnto vs as he is both God and Man He is the same that euer he was as potent as gracious as easie to be entreated And we for our parts are full of defects Fâ—ther therefore that men neglect the Sacrament or make light regard thereof it it because they are ignorant of Christ and beleeue not in him but either deny his might or else his mercy or both or else it is because they are insensate and ignorant beasts without knowledge and feeling of their owne miserable wants and beggerly basenes or they do not vnderstand beleeue what the Sacrament is and what may bee obtained by touching tasting and receiuing it in a faithfull penitent and humble manner But if wee came preparedly to the Sacrament with good beleefe and vnfeigned desire of grace touched with a thorough feeling of our wants wee should certainely obtaine his Spirit and receiue grace by the taking and tasting of the Sacrament which grace proceedeth originally from his Godhead which dwelleth personally in his flesh which is there with his whole person and all his merits exhibited to the faithfull and humbled soule Faith then wee see is a gift of great importance for by faith wee come to Christ by faith wee loue Christ by faith we receiue Chirst by faith we rest in Christ by faith wee are iustified by the bloud of Christ by faith our harts are purified by faith we liue by faith we walke by faith Christ dwelleth in our hearts by faith wee become the Sonnes of God by faith wee resist the Deuill by faith wee ouercome the world by faith wee are saued What shall I say more Without faith it is impossible to please God without faith the word will be vnprofitable in vs the Sacraments likewise without faith a man cannot enioy Christ for none shall haue him but such as doe receiue him and none receiue him but such as put their confidence in him and rest contented in his loue And in a word In Christ Iesus neyther circumcision auaileth any thing nor vncircumcision but faith which worketh by loue A man lackes nothing that hath himselfe but he hath himself that hath Christ and hee hath Christ that beleeueth in Christ in the power of Christ in the grace of Christ in the worde of Christ rests himselfe in his doctrine regency and saluation Hee that hath faith hath all things but hee that is without faith hath nothing but in the middst of all things round about him is nothing All the riches treasures honours and learning in the world come short of the worke the worth and efficacy of true Christian Faith This is enough to make it esteemed because by it he dwelleth in our hearts who hath riches for vs if we be poore sight for vs if we be blind hearing for vs if we be deafe apparell for vs if we be naked bread for vs if wee be hungry drinke for vs if wee bee thirsty strength for vs if we be weake health for vs if we be sicke freedome for vs if we be in bonds and sufficient meanes of satisfaction if we be in debt and will come by faith and seeke vnto him for his grace O Lord increase in mee faith and helpe mine vnbeleefe O Lord open my blind eyes that I may see my wretchednesse and beholde thy glory Touch me with a liuely sence thereof that I may flye to thee for succour Come downe to me and make mee to goe vp to thee Seeke me vp that I may seeke thee and seeking thee may finde thee Let me finde no rest in my selfe till I doe finde rest in thee Vnite me fast vnto thee that I may enioy thee and in enioying thee enioy my selfe Hold mee that nothing may withhold thee from me With-hold mee that nothing may intise or draw me from thee Giue me thy selfe O Lord yea giue me thy selfe that I may giue my selfe vnto thee Pardon my sinnes O Lord O Lord pardon all my sins and purge me with thy holy spirit Guide me that I may follow thee and follow mee that I may not goe away from thee Thou art the way giue me grace to walke in thee Thou art the Trueth learne me to know thee and perswade mee to loue thee Thou thou art the Life make mee to come to thee and to continue stedfast in thee Thou art the onely Sauiour saue mee O Lord I beseech thee for thy mercy sake and vouchsafe
violence against a mans will he hath Christ in him and hee is himselfe in Christ For Christ is in no man as a Sauiour but in him who as a man saued is in Christ And hee is a Sauiour to none but such as entertain him for their Lord and will be ruled by him as obedient and louing Subiects Further He that belieueth in me hath euerlasting life Therefore by true faith in Christ a man belieuing may see his vnion and fellowship with Christ For no man hath eternall life but he that is in Christ and hath Christ For Christ is the life euen eternall life life euen euerlasting is in him and floweth from him Yea Christ expressely saith Hee that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud dwelleth in me and I in him But qui credit edit he eateth that belieueth Why preparest thou thy teeth and thy belly saith Saint Austin Belieue and thou hast eaten Crede manducasti He eateth him which belieueth in him Noli parare fauces sed cor make not ready thy chaps for the matter but thine heart For a good soule is a good stomach a good minde is mouth inough it is no matter tho the teeth be rotten and the gummes be naught if the faith bee sound or tho the mouth be shut if the heart be open Moreouer he that dwelleth in God God in him dwelleth in Christ and Christ in him For Christ is in God and God in him I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfit in one Now we may know that God dwells in vs and we in God by obedience to his precepts by mutuall loue one towards another and by his holy spirit 1 By obedience For who so keepeth his word in him verily is the loue of God perfited hereby know we that we are in him Hee that keepeth his commandements dwelleth in him and he in him 2 By mutuall loue if we loue one another God dwelleth in vs and his loue is perfit in vs. God is loue and he that dwelleth in loue dwelleth in God and God in him 3 By his holy Spirit Hereby we know that he abideth in vs by the Spirit which he hath giuen vs. And againe Hereby know we that we dwell in him and hee in vs because hee hath giuen vs his spirit True it is that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus But who are they Euen they that walke not after the flesh but after the spirit Certain it is if any man haue Christ the same hath the spirit of Christ For if any man haue not the spirit of Christ the same is none of his And the spirit is knowne by his works as a strong wind by his effects as a tree by her fruits or the soule by her actions in the bodie But the fruit of the spirit is loue ioy peace longanimity gentlenesse goodnes fidelity meekenes temperance And as the body is dead without the spirit so is the soule without the spirit of Christ a mans faith godlines without good works which doth manifest it as the light doth the sunne or as the heat doth the truth of fire Many men abuse themselues with their owne fansies thinking they haue the spirit of Christ in them whereas in truth they liue in the flesh follow the flesh daunce after the Deuils pipe run when the world whoops liuing in ignorance and pride in presumption security of the flesh delighting in one knowne euill or other and will not be separated from it but cleaue vnto it let Iohn Baptist say what he will as Herod to Herodias his brothers wife But the truth is the spirit of God dwells in none but those that are not in the flesh but in the Spirit in none but those that are led by the spirit and not by the flesh And they that are Christs haue crucified the flesh with the lusts thereof It is no such difficulty for a man to distinguish his friend from his foe for a Woman to know her owne husband from a stranger or for a man to know his owne head from another mans Neyther is it indeed so hard a matter for a true Christian to know Christ to be his and himselfe to be Christs Indeede Epicures Atheists Mammonists malicious Idiots Hypocrites and Christians onely in name finde it not onely difficult but impossible or else like melancholy fooles and franticke men they feed fill themselues with foolish fantasies For he that would know himselfe to be in Christ must needs first bee in Christ as shee that would know her selfe to be such a mans wife must first bee his wife or as a man must haue wealth or health before hee know hee hath it and must bee aliue before hee knowes hee is aliue and can tell another that he is aliue In vaine doe they say that they are in Christ which doe not the works of Christ and haue not his holy Spirit but a spirit of vncleannesse in them And in vaine doe they imagine or tell folkes that they haue the spirit of Christ when they adhere vnto Antichrist or while they follow and fulfill the lusts of the flesh as adultery fornication vncleannesse lasciuiousnesse idolatry witchcraft hatred variance emulations wrath strife seditions heresies enuyings murders drunkennesse reuellings and such like which whosoeuer doth shall not inherit the kingdome of God and therefore plainely declare that they are not in Christ and Christ in them The course that men should take to become partakers of Christ and his benefits is this First duely to consider and bitterly to lament their wretchednesse out of Christ and to hunger and thirst eagerly after him For vnlesse we see and feele our miserable and fearefull estate without him wee shall make no reckoning of him Vnlesse we know and acknowledge our indigence of him and that hee is aboundantly able to supply our wants wee shall not esteeme and desire him What should hee doe with a friend or surety that sees no need of him Or what should shee doe with a husband that knowes not what a husband meanes Or what should they do with money that knowes not what to doe with it or with cloathes that know not how to put them on or what they should doe with them like the wilde Virginians that count them cumbersome vnto them choosing to goe naked A full stomacke loathes an honny-combe contemnes all sorts of delicates but true hunger makes a man desire and seeke for meate The sence of sickenesse and nakednesse makes a man desire health and cloathing The feeling of pouerty and lacke mooues a man to seeke riches and supply The pinching of could weather makes a man runne to the fire and leaue the open ayre The smart of paines causeth a man to seeke ease The miseries of warres make men seeke peace and pursue it Oh that we could see our vnrighteousnes that wee might