more in favour with God then we can hope to be But then what shall we need to look to any other besides Christ for as St. Ambrose saies well Who is dearer to the Father Quis charior Patri filio de quo ipse Pater dixit Hic est filius meus dilectus in quo mihi complacitum est In Rom. 1. then the Son of whom the Father himself saies This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Who will make use of the mediation of any Courtier to the King when he hath the Kings dearest Son to intercede for him He is fully and richest furnished in his humane nature with all gifts by which he is fitted for the execution of his threefold Office what then should hinder but that we should fully rest upon his mediation upon his Kingly power to defend us against all enemies upon him as a Prophet to instruct us in all things needfull to be known believed and done to salvation upon him as a Priest by his death on the Cross to obtain pardon of sins reconciliation and peace with God and finally everlasting salvation and by vertue of his intercession at his Fathers right hand to speed in our prayers and to be accepted in our praises and thanksgivings and in all acts of Holinesse and Righteousnesse and Charity which in obedience to his command we endeavour to perform But further in this name Messiah or Christ it s implied as we have heard that he hath made us Kings and Priests and Prophets let us therefore walk as such let us carry our selves as Kings not giving way to our lusts but labouring to subdue them as Kings strive to subdue Rebels rising against them Mortifie saies the Apostle your members on the earth Col. 3 5 1 Pet. 2.5 Psal 141.2 Heb. 12.15 Heb. 13.16 Rom. 12.1 Psal 51.17 Let us behave our selves as Priests offering up spiritual Sacrifices the Sacrifice of Prayer the Sacrifice of Praise the Sacrifice of Almes the Sacrifice of our Bodies the Sacrifice of a broken and contrite Spirit What becomes Christians better being spiritual Priests then to offer up these spiritual Sacrifices daily finally let us do the workes of Prophets Col. 3.16 Heb. 10.24 Heb. 3.13 1 Thess 4.18 Jude Ver. 20 teaching and admonishing one another considering one another to provoke to love and good works exhorting one another daily comforting one another and in general Edifying one another in our most holy faith Finally As hath been said in this name Messiah or Christ it s implied that from him grace is conveyed unto every member of the Church rendring them able to serve and honour God and to be useful to others Let us therefore wanting grace in any kinde or measure seek to Christ for it and by an act of faith draw from his fulnesse grace for grace Having grace in any kind or degree let us be humble not arrogating any praise to our selves for it but giving the glory of it to Christ from whom we have received it and saying with the Psalmist Not to us Lord not to us Psal 115.1 but to thy name give the glory And finally having received from Christ whatsoever grace we have in whatsoever proportion it be let us employ it to the advantage of Christs honour by using it to the benefit of others for there is reason that what we receive from Christ we should use it to his honour from whom we have received it and answer his expectation in the use of it now what his expectation is 1 Cor. 12.7 the Apostle tells us saying That the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every one to profit withall And thus using the grace which is given us we shall provide for the honour of Christ while we shall give them occasion to blesse Christ that hath given such gifts unto men And now shall Christ say to us at that great day Matth. 25. Well done good and faithful servant PARALLELS LIB II. CHAP. I. HAving in the former Book dispatched the Parallels between Christ and the Types by which he was fore-shadowed in the Old Testament I shall now in this Book present you with the Parallels between him and those other Resemblances by which he is set forth in the Old or in the New Testament And in laying them down I shall not stand upon any accurate Division but onely observe the Alphabetical Order Christ compared with Bread and Wine Thus doth our Saviour set forth himself and that in regard of his flesh and blood for so he says plainly I am the Bread of Life and then he adds John 6.35 48 The Bread that I will give is my flesh John 6.51 which I will give for the Life of the World And therefore in the first Institution of the blessed Eucharist Our blessed Saviour took Bread Matth. 26.26 and said of it This is my Body Not that it was properly his Body for there is a vast difference between them nor that it was by Transubstantiation changed into his Body for even when it comes to the act of eating it remains still Bread but the word is is as much as it signifies And so Tertullian expounds the words Christ says he taking Bread Christus acceptum panem distributum Discipulis suis corpus suum illum fecit dicendo Hoc est corpus meum i. e. figura corporis mei Contr. Marc. l. 4. Haec oblatio figura est corporis sanguinis Christi De Sacra l. 4. c. 5. Non dubitavit Dominus dicere Hoc est corpus meum cum signum daret corporis sui Tom. 6. contr Adimant c. 12. and distributing it to his Disciples made it his Body saying his is my Body that is a figure of my Body And so Saint Ambrose This Oblation says he is a figure of the Body and Blood of Christ And so Saint Austin The Lord did not doubt to say This is my Body when he gave the sign of his Body And this was in regard of the excellent harmony between the Body of Christ and Bread between the Blood of Christ and Wine which ye may see in sundry Particulars I. In some common Things As 1. Bread and Wine are necessary things there is no living without them we are taught to pray for Bread as the staff of our lives All Bread and no Drink or all Drink and no Bread were either of them unkindly Hear we what the Psalmist says Wine to cheer the heart of man Psalm 104.15 and Bread to strengthen mans heart All the Wealth of the World would do a man small pleasure if he were debarred of the use of either or both of these So the Body and Blood of Christ are of absolute necessity to a Christian there is no possibility of living eternally without these It is most true that our Saviour says If any man eats of this Bread Iohn 6.51 he shall live for ever and it 's no less true of drinking
his Blood but yet there is an absolute necessity of this Bread and Liquor of Life to Salvation so that without them perishing is unavoydable Iohn 6.53 Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man says our Saviour and drink his blood ye have no Life in you 2. There is as an absolute so a continual necessity of these creatures of Bread and Wine Bread to be eaten and something to be drunk And in this respect our Saviour teaches us to make it our dayly suit Give us this day our dayly Bread Matth. 6 so there is a dayly and continual necessity of Christ that we should feed upon his Body and drink his Blood and apply unto our selves the Merits of his Death For both it 's true There is no man that lives and sins not 2 Chro. 6.36 Iam. 3 2 and so the Apostle says 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In many things we offend all and also there is no day in which the best man that is sins not in which respect we have dayly need of Christ and the Merits of his Death to be applyed unto us 3. Bread is so convenient and excellent food that under it our blessed Saviour comprehends all things necessary for the body As indeed Matth. 6 if a man have good Bread and good Drink he may make a good shift to live though he hath nothing else So if by a true and living Faith we lay hold upon Christ eating his flesh and drinking his blood we shall want nothing that is needful unto Salvation Whosoever says our Saviour shall drink of the Water that I shall give him Joh. 4.14 shall never thirst And I am the Bread of Life John 6.35 He that comes unto me shall never hunger and he that believes in me shall never thirst And no marvel for Col. 3.11 as the Apostle says Christ is all and in all 4. There is nothing which in the composition of it doth more resemble the Body and Blood of Christ then do these creatures of Bread and Wine Consider it a little The Corn which is the matter of Bread is cut down with the Sickle hurried in the Cart threshed with the Flail fanned and winnowed in the Wind ground to powder in the Mill kneaded with the Hand and strength of the Arms and finally must endure the heat of the Oven and all this before it be Bread The Clusters also of Grapes must be bruised and troden and prest that the Liquor may run out for us to drink So our Lord Jesus Christ before his Body could be Bread of Life to feed us to Eternal Life and his Blood Wine for us to drink was fain to pass through a World of Miseries Hear that Evangelical Prophet Isai 53.5 He was wounded c. He was bruised c. The chastisement of our Peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed Verse 7 He was oppressed He was afflicted Verse 3 He was despised and rejected of men a man of Sorrows and acquainted with Griefs Hear the Apostle He made himself of no reputation Phil. 2.7 8 he took upon him the form of a Servant and was made in the likeness of a man and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to Death even the Death of the Cross He was incarnate God becomes Man Infinite becomes Finite 2 Cor. 8.9 Matth. 4.2 John 19 Luke 22 Rich becomes Poor He hungered he thirsted he was tempted He suffered an extream Agony in the Garden which made him to sweat drops of blood He was buffeted scorned scourged spit upon Mat. 26 27 crowned with Thorns nailed to the Cross Hand and Foot where he trod the Wine-press of his Fathers Displeasure Matth. 27 1 Cor. 2.8 Acts 3 Rom. 9.5 Galat. 3.13 which made him to cry out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me The God of Glory was crucified the Prince of Life was murdered God blessed for ever was made a uâ—se Nay after that he had given up the ghost his side must be pierced by the rude Soldiers Spear John 19 and his precious Heart-blood must be let out before he could be spiritual nourishment unto us See in all these the excellent analogy between bread and wine and the body and blood of Christ II. But see it further in the particulars 1. The Analogy between bread and the body of Christ 1. The life of the body is sustained by the bread which we eat and so the life of the soul by the body of Christ fed upon by faith so saies our Saviour The bread of God is he that comes down from Heaven Joh. 6.33 and gives life unto the world And afterwards in the same Chapter I am the living bread c. Vers 51 if any man eates of this bread he shall live for ever and the bread which I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world 2. Bread allaies hunger so the body of Christ eaten by faith alaies the hunger of the soul Joh. 6.35 He that comes to me saies Christ shall never hunger which is so to be understood as Rollock well explaines it Not that we shall never hunger at all after this heavenly food is once given to us Non quod non esuriemus omnino postquam semel nobis datus fuerit cibus ille caelestis sed quod non prius de siderabimus quam accipiemus Beati qui esuriunt sitiunt justitiam quoniam ipsi saturabuntur Matth. 5.6 In loc but that we shall not sooner desire it then we shall receive it according to that of our Saviour Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousnesse for they shall be satisfied 2. The analogy between wine and the blood of Christ 1. Wine as other liquor hath a power to asswage natural thirst so the blood of Christ drank by faith the thirst of the soul Psal 104. 2. Wine cheeres and comforts a man that is ready to droop through faintnesse and weaknesse so the blood of Christ hath a cheering and a refreshing power how shall it not cheer and refresh the soul weary and heavy laden with the sense of sin to know that Christ hath shed his precious blood whereby he hath made infinite satisfaction to the justice of God for the sins of the world So it s a comfort and cheering to a man that is deeply indebted for which he is in danger of prison to know that his friend and surety hath paid the debt and satisfied the Creditor It s true that St. Paul saies Heb. 9.22 without blood there is no remission but it s no lesse true 1 Joh. 1.7 that St. John saies the blood of Christ shed upon the crosse for us doth cleanse us from all sin though of a crimson or scarlet dye Isa 1.18 from the guilt and punishment of them A Creditor cannot without manifest injustice impute a debt to a
man nor cast him into prison for it his freind and surety having already discharged it And now how shall not this blood of Christ shed for us it being that by which we obtain remission comfort and cheer the soul for so we see that God giving the Prophet a commission to comfort his people Isa 40.1 Vers 2. instructs him also by what argument to comfort them Say unto Jerusalem her iniquity is pardoned And so our Saviour by the same argument Son Matth. 9.2 be of good cheer Thy sins are forgiven thee 3. Wine takes coldnesse from the body and heates and warmes it so the blood of Christ drunk by faith is a notable mean to take away the coldnesse of love to God and to our brethren and to make our love to both more fervent for when we consider the great and ardent love of God to us giving his Son to dye and shed his blood for us and of Christ actually and voluntarily dying and shedding his blood for our benefit how can it do other then increase the heat of our love to God and to our brethren for his sake for it s most true that our Saviour saies Joh. 15.13 Greater love hath no man then this that a man lay down his life for his friend And now if we have any sparke of ingenuity how can it be but that we shall thus argue If God if Christ hath shewed such fervent love to me as to think nothing no not his onely begotten Son too good to give to us and for us what can I do lesse then return fervent love to God and to Christ what shall I think too good for God and for Christ what shall I think too much or too hard to do or to suffer for them for as the Apostle argues We love him because he loved us first 1 Joh. 4.19 so the serious thought of the fervency of the love of Christ shedding his blood for us cannot but stirre us up to fervency of love unto God and to Christ And so for love to our brethren If God saies the Apostle hath so loved us 1 Joh. 4.11 we ought also to love one another And if God if Christ hath born to us such a fervent love we ought also to love one another fervently 1 Pet. 1.22 4. Wine quickens the body and makes it active so the blood of Christ being received by faith quickens us to all good works Christs shedding of his blood for us is as hath been said a singular fruit and evidence of Christs love unto us and now we hear what the Apostle saies The love of Christ constrains us 2 Cor. 5.14 Believing therefore that our dear Saviour hath out of his immense love to us shed his precious blood for us how shall it not make us active in all good works how shall not our hearts hereby be so enlarged as to make us run the way of Gods commandments readily performing all duties which God requires of us 5. Wine makes men bold and couragious In praelia trudit in ermes Horat. The Poet will tell us that it will thrust a man into the war even naked and without armes and there are some who being to perform some Scholastical exercise to embolden themselves have taken a cup or two of wine Of this use is the blood of Christ in spiritual respects namely being received by faith it hath a power to make us secure and confident in respect of God and bold in confession before men Nor is there cause to wonder that it is thus useful how shall it not be a just ground of holy security towards God to know that though by our sins we have incurred Gods just displeasure and for them might justly expect the dreadful effects of it yet Christ hath by his blood made an attonement for us having thereby fully satisfied his infinit Justice infinitely offended by our sins and how shall not the sense of Christs love to us in shedding his blood for us make us bold to confesse his name before men choosing rather to expose our selves to any hardship to the extreamest torments that the malice of men or divels can inflict upon us then through cowardice and faintheartednesse to betray the cause of Christ This this it was that led those triumphant Martyrs under the Heathen or Arrian Emperors and under That man of Sin through all their torments with so much courage and resolution that Stetere torti torquentibus fortiores Cypr. epist as it is in St. Cyprian In their torments they stood with more courage then their tormentors they thought they could never suffer too much for his honour that had shed his blood for their salvation Meditate we of the great love of God unto us giving us his Son his flesh and blood to be spiritual nourishment to our soules to nourish us unto everlasting life what nourishment is comparable to this how then shall this love be parallel'd we had perished for ever had not God provided such nourishment for us See the great and transcendent love of our dear Saviour in that for our good namely to be such fit spiritual nourishment for our soules he did voluntarily submit him to be so humbled to be incarnate to be despised yea to dye and that such a death so painful so shameful so accursed and that for us rebells and enemies to make us his friends 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oh depth well might St. Paul call it a love passing knowledge Eph. 3.18 19. and an height length depth and bredth such as Zophar the Naamathite speaks of speaking of the knowledge of God higher then heaven deeper then hell Job 11.8.9 longer then the earth broader then the sea Well may we be ravished with the thought of it Let us seek for Christ Cry we out as they Lord give us evermore of this bread Joh. 6.34 but we shal not need to seek far for him he is offered unto us in the Word and Sacraments let us wait upon God in the use of these ordinances and bring hungring and thirsting desires after him and so we shall be sure to have our desires satisfied Christ himself hath given us assurance in this respect Matth. 5.6 Blessed saies he are they that hunger and thirst after righteousnesse for they shall be satisfied We shall not need many words to perswade an hungry soul to accept of bread when it s offered or a thirsty soul of drink why should we need to use so many words to perswade men to accept of Christ for he is food of transcendent excellency not for the body but for the soul and hear what our Saviour saies Joh. 6.49 50 Your Fathers did eat Manna in the Wildernesse and are dead but this is the bread which came down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not dye yea he adds he that eats of this bread Vers 51. shall live for ever Oh therefore receive this food and feed
Christ He shall devide the spoiles of the mighty for He hath destroyed his enimies while for sin he condemned sin in the flesh making good his promises of the spoiles not according to merits but rendring good for evil to the miserable Pergens sampson ad diem festum hebraei populi uxorem ejus viro alii parentes tradiderunt hoc faciunt leves animae quae consortium unici sponsi Christi easto fidelique corde minime retinentes cuilibet se haereticae tradunt doctrinae Ibid. He goes on Sampson going to his people his wife was by her parents given to another man and this do unstable soules which not keeping the communion of Christ with a chast and faithfull heart give themselves up to every heretical Doctrine Proceeding in the history he addes further Reversus Sampson cum cognosceret uxorem suam viro alteri conjunctam trecentis vulpibus apprehensis earum in invicem caudas innectens faces his ardentes posuit Compendio succendit Dicit quidem noster fortis Dominus haereticos signans capite nobis vulpes pusillas exterminantes vineas quibus sunt faces incenndii potius erroris quam divini amoris c. Ibid. Sampson returning when he saw that his wife was given in marriage to another man having taken three hundred foxes tying their tailes together and putting firebrands between he suddenly burnt their country And our valiant Lord sayes meaning Hereticks Take us the little foxes that marre our vines which have also firebrands rather of error then of divine love c. He proceeds in the story continuing the Parallel between Sampson as the Type and Christ as the Truth The same Sampson sayes he loved another woman of that people to whom while he was going Idem Sampson in illo populo aliam dilexit mulierem quam dum pergit accipere transeunti viam inimicorum insidiae irruerunt Cui virtus divina statim adfuit Apprehensa enim asini maxilla mille viros ex ea prostravit caeterosque in fugam vertit Qui cum siti praeliando deficeret invocato Deo ex rima illius maxillae aqua profluens virtuti priscae reddidit satiaetum eumque adversariis superatis fecit esse victorem Si nostrum fortem dominum respicias hoc animali vectatum ampliorem numerum ab eo prostratum invenies Sitienti corpori illius ex latere tanquam ex rima sanguis aqua manavit qua satiata omnis anima Christiana dicit Super aquas refectionis educavit me De promiss c. part 2. c. 22. his enemies laid wait for him but the divine power was present with him for taking the jaw-bone of an Ass he slew with it a thousand men and put the rest to flight And when he was ready to faint with thirst calling upon God water flowing out of an hollow place in the jawbone restored him being satisfied with it to his former strength and made him a conqueror his enemies being overcome If ye look at our valiant Lord riding upon an Asse you shall finde a farre greater number vanquished by him And to his body ready to perish with thirst water and blood issued out of his side with which every Christian soul being satiated says He led me out to the waters of comfort Venditur Christus in Joseph ante legem venditur in Sampson sub lege venditur à Juda Judaeis sub gratia Ibid. And a little after he adds Christ was sold in Joseph before the Law he was sold in Sampson under the Law he was sold by Judas to the Jews under the Gospel Sivit se Sampson nervis recentibus colligari dicente ei Dalila Philistim super te Sampson ita illa vincula virtute dissolvit tanquam stupa cum tetigerit ignem adversosque omnes vertit in fugam Noster etiam Dominus fortitudinis apud Hierusalem velut his vinculis se ligari permisit Adducunt enim ad eum mulierem in adulterio deprehensam et dicunt tentantes Magister modo hanc deprehendimus Moses jussit hujusmodi lapidari Tu vero quid de ea statuis Nervorum velut ex lege vinculis se crediderunt legasse Jesum maxime recentâ—um cum dixerunt modo Quae noster Jesus hoc responso disrupit Qui vestrum inquit sine peccato est prior in illam lapidem mittat quo audito unus post alterum discesserunt ut illud vinculum ita solveretur sicut fluit cera à facie ignis Ibid. He goes on Sampson suffered himself to be bound with green wyths that were never dryed but when Dalilah said the Philistims be upon thee Sampson he brake the cords as a thred of tow is broken when it touches the fire and put all his enemies to flight And our strong Lord suffered himself at Hierusalem to be bound with such cords for they bring to him a woman taken in Adultery and tempting him say Master we found this woman in the very act of Adultery and Moses commanded such to be stoned but what sayest thou Joh. 8.3 4 5. And now they thought they had bound him fast But our Jesus broke these cordes with this answer Verse 7. Who among you is without sin let him cast the first stone at her which when they heard they departed one after another so that the cord with which they had bound him was broken as wax melts before the fire And again Ligatus fuit funibus novis Cumque id fieret Adversarii ad te inquit Sampson At ille repletus spiritu disrumpens funes a brachiis suis tanquam filum spargit omnesque fugavit adversarios Ligari se sinit noster Dominus dum veniunt ad eum Pharisaei dicentes Magister scimus quia in veritate doces nullius personam accipis Licet tributam dare Caesari annon Sed fortis noster nodos omnes ista voce disrupit Quid tentatis me hypocritae Adferte mihi numisma census At illi attulerunt ei denarium Et ait Dominus cujus est imago superscriptio Dixerunt Caesaris Reddite ait Dominus Caesari quae sunt Caesaris Deo quae Dei sunt His dictis mira celeritate vincula illa disrupit ille susceptus homo qui Deo suo canit in Psalmis Dirupisti omnia vincula mea Ibid. Sampson was bound with new cords and when that was done Dalilah said the Philistims be upon thee Sampson But he being filled with the spirit brake them from his armes like a thread And our Lord suffefered himself to be bound when the Pharisees came and said unto him Master Thou teachest in truth and regardest not the person of any Is it lawful to give Tribute to Caesar or not Matth. 22.16 17. but Christ broke all the knots with that word why tempt ye me ye hypocrites shew me the tribute mony and they brought him a penny and he said whose image and superscription is this they said Caesars Render sayes the Lord to Caesar the
2. Separatus fuit ab aliis in custodia servatus ad mactaticnem sine macula masculus anniculus haec omnia referebant Christi perfectionem exemptionem ab omni peccato fuit separatus à peccatoribus fuit agnus immaculatus innocens impollutus Masculus fuit in quo nil molle effoeminatum ita ut simul agnus fuerit leo unius anni quod etiam ad perfectionem refertur agni enim unius anni spatio in perfectam aetatem adolescunt and of an year old All these did shadow forth Christs perfection and exemption from sin He was separate from sinners he was a Lamb unspotted innocent and unpolluted He was a Male in whom there is nothing of delicacy nothing effeminate so that he is together and at once a Lyon and a Lamb and of an year old And this also belonged to his perfection for Lambs in the space of an year come to their perfect age 3. The Lamb was to be killed and roasted 3. Mactandus fuit assandus in quo typus fuit Christi qui passus fuit mortuus 1 Cor. 5. Assus agnus significabat Christum virum dolorum ignibus afflictionum tostum qui amore nostri captus acerbissimum supplicium tulit in quo nil habuit aquae id est nihil mitigationis nihil solatii in which it was a Type of Christ who suffered and dyed 1 Cor. 5. The roasted Lamb signified Christ a man of sorrows and as it were roasted with the fire of afflictions who out of the great love which he bears towards us suffered for us most bitter punishment in which he had no water that is no mitigation no solace 4. Debet manducari circa vesperam agnus etiam inter duas vesperas mactatus sic Christus in consummatione seculorum ad abolendum peccatum per immolationem sui patefactus est Heb. 9.26 Per vesperam enim dies novissimos intelligi recte Hieronymus notat in Marc. 14. Vespera inquit dies finem mundi indicat 4. The Lamb was to be eaten about the Evening being also killed in the Evening so Christ was made manifest in the End of the World to take away sin by the offering of himself For Jerom well observes on Mark 14. That by the Evening of the day the last days are signified The Evening of the day says he signifies the End of the World 5. On the fourteenth day of the Month 5. Decimo quarto die lunae quo suo ad Solem suum accessu lumen Lunae decrescere incipit cujus numeri similitudo innuit intelligentiae nostrae naturalis lumen propiore ad Christum accessu imminui oportere si nova luce agni velimus illustrari on which the light of the Moon begins to decrease by her approach to the Sun to shew That the light of our natural understanding must be diminished by our neerer approach to Christ if we will be enlightened with the new light of the Lamb. 6. Postes sanguine ejus fuerunt aspergendi nempe in testimonium indulgentiae Remissionis quae est in effusione sanguinis purificantis conscientias nostras Heb. 9.14 in signum certae salutis per sanguinem Christi conferendae Sanguis hic super utrumque postem hodie ponitur quando non solum corporis ore sacramentum sed ore cordis sanguis hauritur Distinxit sanguis agni inter Israelitas Aegyptios Baptismus quo abluimur Christi sanguine distinguit filios Dei à profanis qui sunt extra Rem pub Israelis sed apud Deum haec distinctio fit non tam externo signo quam ipsa resignificata 6. The Posts were to be sprinkled with the blood of the Lamb namely in testimony of Remission which is in the sheding of the Blood that purifies our Consciences Hebr. 9.14 and in sign of certain Salvation to be conferred by the blood of Christ The blood is now put upon both Posts when not alone with the mouth of the Body we drink the Sacrament but also the blood with the mouth of the Soul The blood of the Lamb distinguished between the Israelites and the Egyptians And Baptism in which we are washed by the blood of Christ distinguisheth between the Children of God and those that are profane and strangers from the Common-wealth of Israel but with God this distinction is made not so much by the external sign as by the thing it self which is signified 7. The Destroyer passed over the Houses that were marked so they that are sprinkled with the blood of Christ 7. Transiliit interfector aedes signatas sic tinctos sanguine Christi nulla attingat condemnatio nec mors in eos habebit potestatem are freed from Condemnation and Death shall have no power over them 8. The Lamb was to be eaten in the several Families 8. Manducandus fuit agnus in singulis Familiis ab omnibus domesticis circumcisis sic per fidem applicandus Christus unicuique qui vult particeps esse vitae aeternae by all of the Families that were circumcised so Christ is to be applyed by Faith by every one that would partake of eternal life 9. The Lamb must not be eaten raw nor sod in water 9. Crudus non debuit edi non elixatus aqua ut doceremur Christum esse cibum qui alio non indiget condimento extra seipsum nil esse cum eo admiscendum Qui per humanam sapientiam sacramenta Divinitatis Humanitatis evacuant qui olim Legem cum Christo voluerunt conjungere qui nunc traditiones humanas qui merita sua satisfactiones illi coquunt agnum cum aqua to teach us That Christ is food that needs no other seasoning besides himself that nothing is to be mingled with him They that by humane Wisdom make voyd the Mysteries of the Divinity and Humanity they that once joyned the Law with Christ they that now joyn humane Traditions or their own Merits and Satisfactions these all seethe the Lamb with water 10. Totum assare oportebat comedere ut integra in Christum fides assereretur Christus non divideretur omnes articuli fidei conjungerentur 10. The whole Lamb was to be roasted and eaten to teach us to have an entire Faith in Christ not to divide Christ but to joyn together all the Articles of our Faith 11. Manducari debuit Agnus fine fermento Christus sine hypocrisi malitia 11. The Lamb was to be eaten without Leaven and Christ without Hypocrisie and Malice 12. It must be eaten with bitter Herbs 12. Cum herbis amaris Christus cum tolerantia crucis nostri ipsius abnegatione Indicatum etiam fuit neminem dulcedinis Remissionis peccatorum per Christum fore participem nisi eorum amaritudinem antea corde compuncto senserit so Christ with the bearing of the Cross and Self-denyal It shews also
Resemblance holds excellently between Christ and the Head of the natural Body and that in sundry Particulars 1. The Head hath conformity of Nature with the Body and the Members of it else it 's a Monster It were a strange sight to see an Head and a Body like the Image which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his Dream Dan. 2.32 33 His Head of fine Gold his Brest and Arms of Silver his Belly and Thighs of Brass his Legs of Iron his Feet part of Iron and part of Clay It were altogether ridiculous to see a Painter to joyn an Horses Neck to a Mans Head Humano capiti cervicem jungere equinam Pictor si velit c. Horat. de arte Poetica We see therefore that it 's always so such an Head such a Body Head and Body of the same nature It is easie to see in Christ such conformity of Nature with his Church We are partakers of flesh and blood Hebr. 2.14 and he partakes of the same so that it is most true even in this respect that the Apostle says Verse 11 16 Both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one for He took not the nature of Angels but he took the seed of Abraham Nor is it otherwise with Christ now since his Resurrection in this respect then before his Death for even after he was risen from the dead he could say of himself Luke 24.39 Behold my Hands and my Feet that it is I my self handle me and see for a Spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me to have And as he took Humane Nature into Unity of Person with himself so he doth in some sort communicate unto us and makes us partakers of his Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 which is not so to be understood as it the Divine Nature and Essence were transfused into us but that the manifold Gifts and Graces of God which are in God nothing but his Essence are imparted unto us in our proportion So Paraeus expounds it We are made Partakers of the Divine Nature Non transformatione naturae humanae in divinam sed participatione donorum quibus conformes efficimur divinae naturae In loc not by a Transformation of the Humane Nature into the Divine but by a Participation of Gifts by which we are conformed to the Divine Nature And so Zâ—nchy Id est divinarum perfectionum sapientiae bonitatis sanctitatis similium quibus donat electos Deus De nat Dei l. 2. c. 2. q. 1. He hath made us Partakers of the Divine Nature that is of those Divine Perfections of Wisdom Goodness Holiness and the like which God gives to his Elect. And this in both kinds the Ancients will have to be shadowed out by that which befell Adam in the Creation of Eve when God took a Rib out of Adam Gen. 2.21 and closed up the flesh in stead of it Costa robur significat divinitatis caro infirmitatem humanae naturae The Rib say they signifies the strength of the Divinity the Flesh the infirmity of Humane Nature So there is a conformity of Nature between Christ and the Church as there is between the Head and Members of the natural Body 2. The Head hath the same Soul with the Members and not the Head one by it self and the Body another one Soul quickens and enlivens Head and Members onely the Head is the proper seat of it and from thence it exercises all its operations for the guidance and government of the whole Body and all the Members of it As a King in his Kingdom so is the Soul in the Body The Kings ordinary residence is in his chief City the Metropolis of his Kingdom but yet he exercises his Authority for Rule and Government not there onely but also throughout his whole Kingdom sending out his Edicts and Proclamations from thence through all the parts of his Dominions So though the Soul hath the Head for its special place of residence yet the same Soul that guides the Head guides the Hand also in working and the Feet also in going It 's so here The same Spirit that is given to Christ is given also to Christians See what the Prophet says of Christ Isai 61.1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me And Saint Paul says of all Christians We have received the Spirit that is of God 1 Cor. 2.12 The same Holy Ghost Matth. 3.16 that descended upon Christ in his Baptism in the likeness of a Dove descended also on the Apostles in the day of Pentecost in the likeness of fiery cloven Tongues Acts 2.3 4 and the same is given to all even to the meanest Christians Eph. 1.13 14 and received by them as the earnest of their inheritance The Holy Ghost is that Vnction 1 John 2.20 Psalm 45.7 which we have received from that Holy One and that Oyl of gladness with which himself was anointed though herein Christ hath a double pre-eminency he is in Christ first and principally not in us but at the second hand Psalm 133.2 and by his means as the holy Oyl was first poured on the Head of Aaron and thence descended to his Beard and so to the skirts of his garments And to Christ this Spirit is given not by measure but to us in measure and in different proportions according to our several stations in the Church as the Apostle saies To every one of us grace is given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. So that its most true Eph. 4.7 that the holy Psalmist sings Prophetically of Christ and to him God even thy God hath annointed thee with the oyl of gladness above thy fellowes for it pleased the Father Joh. 1.16 that in him all fulnesse should dwell as befitting the head and of his fulnesse we have all received as members from the head 3. The head and members aim at the same end the conservation of the whole person this the head plots for and this the several members in their several places endeavour and seek for It s so here the whole study of Christ and of the whole Church is for the same end which is the Eternal glory and happinesse of whole Christ Mystical consisting of Christ and the whole Church This was the care of Christ the head Those which thou gavest me saies he I have kept Joh. 17.12 And again Father I will that they may be with me Ver. 24. where I am And to this end he sticks not at the enduring of any indignities but became obedient to death Phil. 2.8 even the death of the Cross And this no lesse is the care of every godly and true-hearted Christian See it in St. Paul for himself I press towards the mark saies he Phil. 3.14 for the price of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ And so was he minded in respect of others Brethren saies he my hearts desire and prayer