Selected quad for the lemma: blood_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
blood_n	eat_v	flesh_n	lord_n	8,965	5	4.3327	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59819	A discourse concerning the nature, unity, and communion of the Catholick Church wherein most of the controversies relating to the church are briefly and plainly stated / by William Sherlock.	Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707.	1688 (1688)	Wing S3291; ESTC R25626	35,974	70

not explain how the whole Church is but One must be false because the Unity of the Church properly belongs to the whole and not to a part Now as this Unity respects the whole Church it is impossible there should be any other Head of Unity but Christ any other medium of Unity but the Gospel-Covenant nor any other kind of Unity but the Unity of one Spiritual Body Communion or Society that we are all united by the Gospel-Covenant in One Body to Christ the one and Onely Head of the Universal Church 1. The Unity of the Church must consist in its Union to some one Head. This is acknowledged by all Christians and therefore I need not prove it and it is as evident that none can be the Head of the Universal Church but only Christ and that for this plain reason because it is Union to Christ alone which makes the Christian Church The Church is the Church of Christ and therefore he alone is the Head of his own Church This the Romanists themselves grant that Christ alone is the Head of his Church and that the Bishop of Rome is only a vicarious Head Christ's Vicar on Earth But when we speak of the Unity of the Universal Church part of which is translated to Heaven and part still militant on Earth it must be united in Christ alone for as he needs no Vicar in Heaven where he himself is immediately present so there can be no Vicar on Earth as a common Head of Unity for the Church on Earth and in Heaven and therefore the Unity of the whole Church cannot consist in its Union to such a vicarious Head as I observed before and then there can be no other Head of Unity but only Christ. 2. It is as evident also that the only Medium or Bond of this Union between Christ and the Church is the Gospel-Covenant for that is the Foundation of our relation to Christ He is our Head and Husband our Lord and Saviour we his Subjects Disciples Spouse and Body by Covenant And therefore the Sacraments of the New Covenant Baptism and the Lord's Supper are the Federal Rites of our Union to Christ Baptism is our Regeneration or New Birth whereby we are incorporated into his Body in the Lord's Supper we spiritually eat his Flesh and drink his Blood which signifies and effects as intimate an Union to him as there is of our Bodies and the Food we eat and this proves that there can be no other Head of Unity but only Christ because the Gospel Covenant unites us to none else which I take to be St. Paul's meaning when he reproves the Corinthian Schism 1 Cor. 1. 12 13. Now this I say that every one of you saith I am of Paul and I of Apollos and I of Cephas and I of Christ. Is Christ divided was Paul crucified for you or were ye baptized in the name of Paul That is that there is no other Head to whom we can be united but only Christ who purchased the Gospel-Covenant by his Death and into whose Name we are baptized His alone we are to whom we are united by Baptism we are in Covenant with none else and therefore belong to him alone if they might have owned any other Head besides him who died for them and into whose Name they were baptized if Christ had made Peter the vicarious Head of Unity as the Romanists pretend St. Paul's Argument against these Sidings and Factions that one said he was of Paul another of Apollos a third of Cephas or Peter had not been good for at least those who were united to Peter were in the right but St. Paul knew no other Head of Unity but only Christ because the Gospel-Covenant which is the only Medium and Bond of Union unites us to no other Head and therefore those who said they were of Peter or belonged to him as their Head and Center of Unity which is the case of the Church of Rome at this day were as great Schismaticks as those who said they were of Paul. Now this Covenant extends to the whole Church and therefore unites the whole Church to Christ. For those who are translated into Heaven are still united to Christ by the same Covenant with the Church on Earth There are several Duties indeed of this Covenant which the Saints in Heaven are exempted from because their state and condition there is above them Their Faith and Hope is turned into Sight and Enjoyment their Spiritual Warfare is accomplished for there is no Devil nor Flesh nor World to tempt them the Mystical Supper of our Lord is celebrated by them not in external Symbols and Figures but in a more divine manner in the immediate presence of the Lamb but thô the Duties of the Covenant change with their state and condition of life yet the Covenant is the same still by this Covenant it is that they are in Heaven and still expect the completion of their happiness in the Resurrection of their Bodies immortal and glorious and by the same Covenant it is that we hope when our Warfare is accomplished also to get to Heaven and to rise together with them at the sound of the last Trumpet And therefore the whole Church in Heaven and Earth is One by being united to the same Head by the same Covenant 3. The Unity then of the Universal Church can consist in nothing but this that the whole Church both in Heaven and Earth is united in One Body to Christ. For since there is no other Head of Unity for the Church but Christ the formal reason of this Unity must consist in the Union of the whole Church to Christ which makes the Universal Church the One Body of Christ and this is the Unity of the Church For I think it is no less than a demonstration that the Unity of the Universal Church which is part in Heaven and part on Earth cannot be the Unity of an organized Body which must consist in a regular Subordination of different Ranks and Degrees of men as the Church on Earth does For the Church on Earth and in Heaven which is the One Church of Christ is no such one common governed Society and therefore the Unity of the Church cannot consist in the Unity of one External Government But how then is the whole Church but one Body Truly I know no other way but that they are all united to Christ in the same Covenant and all who are thus united to him Christ accounts his One Body Thus Christ as bearing his Church is compared to a Vine all whose Branches we know are united only in the Stock or Root 15 John 1. and to an Olive-Tree 11 Rom. 17. and to a Sheepfold which consists of single and individual Sheep which are one Fold only because they are under one Shepherd 10 John 16. It is true indeed the Church is called also the Body and the Spouse of Christ but as that relates to the Universal Church it does not

signifie an organical Body though that the Church on Earth is also by Christ's own institution of which more hereafter but it is so called for mystical reasons which I shall briefly explain to you 1. Now I first observe that the Relation between Man and Wife is but an Emblem and Figure of that Union which is between Christ and his Church Hence the Apostle exhorts Husbands to love their Wives even as Christ loved his Church and tells us of Marriage It is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ and his Church 5 Ephes. 25. 32. 2. That to be the Body and the Spouse of Christ signifies the same thing Hence the Apostle argues That men ought to love their Wives as their own bodies 28 v. For no man ever hated his own flesh but nourisheth and cherisheth it even as the Lord the Church 29. For we are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones 30. So that the Wife is the Body the very Flesh of the Husband and so is the Church of Christ. 3. To understand this matter why the Church is called the Body and Spouse of Christ we must enquire why the Wife is called the Body of the Man Flesh of his Flesh and Bone of his Bone and the reason of that is because the Woman was formed out of the Man. God at first formed Man with an entire humane Body of the Dust of the Earth and out of Man while he slept he formed the Woman who though a distinct separate Person yet was part of the Man Flesh of his Flesh and Bone of his Bone And this was a natural Marriage for two were by nature one Flesh and this was the natural and fundamental reason of the Matrimonial Union For this cause shall a man leave his Father and Mother and cleave to his Wife and they two shall be one Flesh. For though other Women are not made as Eve was no more than other Men are made as Adam was yet the Woman being originally of the Man the reason holds as to the whole kind and in subsequent Marriages a legal Ceremony and Contract does what a natural Formation did at first that is unites two into one Flesh. Thus the blessed Jesus out of great pity and compassion to fallen man intending to marry us unto himself and thereby to recover us out of a state of sin and misery first marries our Nature to himself by an hypostatical Union as Man was created first and then the Woman formed out of him Christ took a humane Body of the substance of a pure Virgin which signifies that it was an Espousable Nature which he took and was a Pledge and Earnest and Medium of our Marriage to him For though we cannot be married immediately to the Divinity yet to a God Incarnate we may For Marriage requires that Husband and Wife be of the same nature But this is not enough that the Husband and Wife partake of the same Nature but the Woman must be formed out of the Man which makes her Flesh of his Flesh and Bone of his Bone. And thus accordingly the Church is formed out of the Body of Christ and is in a mystical sense his very Flesh and Bones as St. Paul speaks We are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones For the Sufferings of Christ in the flesh gave life and being to the Church he purchast to himself a Church by his own Bloud that is he formed to himself a Church out of his broken Body as Adam's Body was broken and a Rib taken out of him to form the Woman And therefore as the Woman was made of the same Flesh with Adam so the Sufferings of Christ in his humane nature purchased a Church not of Angels but of Men of the same nature with himself as the Apostle observes 2 Heb. 16 For verily he took not on him the nature of Angels but he took on him the Seed of Abraham and therefore is not the Saviour of Angels but of men is not married to the Angelical but to the humane nature And to make the Analogie still more compleat as the Woman was formed out of Adam's side so was the Church out of Christ's side for when he was pierced with the Souldiers Spear there came out of his side both Water and Bloud 19 John 34. and the Evangelist sets a peculiar remark upon it He that saw it bare record and we know that his record is true and he knoweth that he saith true that ye might believe 35 v. and this is especially observed and great weight laid on it 1 John 5. 6. This is he that came by water and bloud even Jesus Christ not by water only but by water and bloud This some think signifies no more but that it was a demonstration that he was truly dead in that his heart was wounded where there is a Capsula called the Pericardium which contains water which being pierced water came out together with bloud but the water and bloud came out distinct though from the same wound which was never known before and cannot be done again by the greatest Artist and though this might be a reason why St. John might take notice of it in his Gospel where he gave an account of his death yet it does not seem a sufficient reason why he should lay such weight on it in his Epistles This is he who came by water and bloud not by water only but by water and bloud and therefore I doubt not but the ancient Fathers were in the right who tell us that the two Sacraments of the new Covenant flowed out of his side which are the formation of this spiritual Spouse his Church the birth and the nourishment of it Baptism and the Lords Supper which came from his wounded body and have both of them a peculiar respect to his Death and Passion Thus we see the Church is called Christ's Body and Spouse for mystical reasons because it is formed out of his broken Body his Death and Sufferings giving life and being to the Church and therefore it is but one Body because all those who are redeemed by his Bloud and united to him by Covenant which is a kind of Marriage-Vow and Contract are his Body and Spouse And therefore the Sacraments of the new Covenant Baptism and the Lords Supper do no otherwise unite us to each other than they unite us all to Christ which makes us all one Body or as the Apostle speaks with respect to the Lords Supper For we being many are one bread and one body for we are all partakers of that one bread We all partake of the same Body of Christ which is therefore called the Communion of his Body and Bloud and therefore we all are but one Body so that it is a vain thing to inquire after any other Principle of Unity for the whole Church but the Union of all Christians to Christ who are one Body by their Union to one Head. But it may be