him that bear not fruit hence to distinguish all true Christians from such Hypocritical Professors he adds and I in you that is my words abide in you Ver. 7. if my Doctrines and Precepts take fast hold of your wills and affections they will make you fruitful in good works Thus you see that the Union of particular Christians to Christ consists in their Union to the Christian Church And hence it is that the Ancient Fathers interpret all those Metaphors which decypher the Union between Christ and Christians to signifie the entire love and Unity of Christians among themselves Thus St. Chrysost. expounds Eph. 2. 19 20 21. where the Apostle speaks of that spiritual building which is erected on the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles Iesus Christ being the chief Corner Stone to signifie the Unity of the Church in all Ages that both the Jewish and Christian Church are united in Christ as the several parts of the building are kept together by the Corner Stone and St. Ambrose to the same purpose tells us duos populos in se suscepit salvator secit unum in Domino sicut lapis angularis duos parietes continet in unitate domûs sirmatos i. e. That Christ united two people in himself the Iew and Gentile and made them one in the Lord as the Corner Stone unites two Walls in a building and makes it but one House Which is the plain design of the place to prove that Christ hath taken away the enmity and distance which was between the Jew and Gentile and hath reconciled them both to God in one body by the Cross Ver. 16. Thus St. Chrysost. observes on 1 Cor. 3. 9. that the Apostle to disswade them from Schisms and Factions tells them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That they were Gods building and if they were Gods building they must not be torn asunder for then they are no longer a building and if they were Gods Husbandry they must not be divided from each other but they must be one enclosure hedged and walled in by Unity and agreement And adds let us therefore be built on Christ and cleave to him as to a foundation and as a branch to the Vine that there may be no distance between Christ and us to interrupt this Union for if there be we immediately perish for the branch draws nourishment and fatness from the Vine by its Union to it and the building stands firm by the strong adhesion of its parts Which plainly signifies that our Union to Christ consists in our Union to the Christian Church and when we divide and separate from the Church we are broken off from Christ as a branch is from the Vine we are then like a building whose stones fall asunder and destroy the whole fabrick Thus the same Father argues on Iohn 14. 21. to perswade Christians to Peace and Unity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. for he Christ unites us to each other by many examples and patterns of the closest Union He is the Head and we the body and the whole body by the Union of its several parts must be firmly united to the head He is the foundation we the building He the Vine We the branches He the Husband We his Spouse He the Shepherd We his Sheep He the way we those who are to walk in that way We are a Spiritual Temple and He it is who dwells in us He is the first born we his Brethren He the Heir we fellow Heirs with him He the life we those who live by him He the Resurrection we those who rise with him He the light and we are all enlightned by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All these metaphors describe the nearest and closest Union of Christians to each other and of all to Christ which will not admit of the least distance and separation so that according to the sense of this Holy man particular Christians are united to Christ by means of their Union to the Christian Church otherwise I cannot understand how our Union to Christ can be an argument to Unity and Concord among ourselves if we are immediately united to the Person of Christ without being first united to his Church Which I wish those men would seriously consider who boast so much of their Union to Christ and yet rend his Church into a thousand little factions tear the members of his body from each other and yet pretend to be united to the head make new enclosures in the Husbandry and Vineyard of God and when Christ hath broken down the middle Wall of Partition and made Jews and Gentiles but one Church do now erect more Partition Walls in the Christian than ever were in the Iewish Temple But we need not depend on Authority for the confirmation of this notion that the Union of particular Christians with Christ consists in their Union with the Christian Church for those Sacraments our Saviour hath Instituted as Symbols of our Union with him are a plain demonstration of it Our first undertaking of Christianity is represented in our Baptism wherein we make a publick profession of our Faith in Christ and it is sufficiently known that Baptism is the Sacrament of our admission into the Christian Church and if any one should deny this we have the Authority of St. Paul for the proof of it 1 Cor. 12 13. For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body In which the Apostle seems to allude to Baptism which confers the same holy Spirit on us all and thereby makes us all members of that one body of Christ which is his Church but more expresly in Eph. 4. 4 5. There is one Body and one Spirit as you are called in one hope of your Calling one Lord one Faith one Baptism that is the Christian Baptism is but one and is a Sacrament of Union making us all the members of that one body of Christ this is called being Baptized into Christ i. e. admitted into the Christian Church by a publick profession of our Faith in Christ. Thus the Lords Supper is a Sacrament of Union and signifies that near Conjunction between Christ and the Christian Church and the mutual fellowship of one Christian with another hence the Apostle calls the Cup of Blessing the Communion of the blood of Christ and the Bread the Communion of the body of Christ for we being many are one bread and one body one body represented by this one bread for we are all partakers of that one bread 1 Cor. 10. 16 17. For the Intention of our Lord and Saviour in what he did and suffer'd for us was not meerly to reform and save some single Persons but to erect a Church and to combine all his Disciples into a publick Society to unite them by holy Mysteries and to engage them to a mutual discharge of all Christian offices whereby the whole body may edifie it self in love and therefore our Saviour does not owne any relation to particular men as
Body that whereas in former Ages the Church of God seemed to be confined to the Iewish Nation now it pleased the Father that Christ should be the Universal Shepherd and Bishop of Souls by him to reconcile all things to himself and this too is the meaning of that Phrase The fulness of him who filleth all in all therefore the Church is called his Fulness because he filleth all in all that is doth not confine his care and providence and the influences of his Grace to any one Nation or People but extends it to the whole World Thus the fulness of Christ signifies in Eph. 4. 13. Till we all come in the Unity of the Faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the explication of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to a perfect man That is to that perfection of faith and knowledge which becomes the Christian Church For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying the age and growth and stature of a man the fulness of Christ cannot so properly be understood of any thing as of the Christian Church This is all that I can find in Scripture concerning the fulness of Christ which either signifies the perfection of his Gospel or the Universality of his Church which is a plain demonstration of those mens skill in expounding Scripture who make this fulness a Personal Grace in Christ and apply it to every thing they can find or fancy in him All the furniture that he received from the Father by the Unction of the Spirit for the work of our Salvation The fulness of his Divine and Humane Nature the fulness of Love in Christ the fulness of habitual Grace fulness of Satisfaction fulness of Merit fulness of Power and Vertue a fulness of Iustification and a fulness of Sanctification which fulness I am sure hath confounded mens notions of Religion and made them look upon Christ only as a Fountain from whence they must drink grace and mercy and pardon justification and eternal life Let us now consider in what sense Christ is called our life and he is so called with respect to his Doctrine his Sacrifice and that Power he is invested with to raise us from the dead He is called Life with respect to his Doctrine because he preached the Word of Life and hath brought Life and Immortality to light by the Gospel hence in Ioh. 1. 4. the Evangelist tells us In him was life and the life was the light of men That is he preached the Word of Life which enlightned the dark minds of men for it is not imaginable how Life should be light in any other sense than as this Word of Life which Christ preached enlightned their minds and dispelled all the Mists of Errour and Ignorance hence Christ tells his Disciples I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me Ioh. 14. 6. that is I declare the true and only way to life and happiness and no man can throughly understand the will of God nor consequently be a true Worshipper of him without learning of me thus he calls himself the Bread of life Ioh. 6. with respect to the Doctrine he preached Vers. 33. and with respect to that Sacrifice he offered for the life of the World Vers. 51. I am the living Bread which came down from Heaven if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the World Thus Christ is called our Life because he hath power and authority to bestow immortal life upon all his sincere Followers Ioh. 11. 26 27. I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and he that liveth and believeth in me shall never dye That is he hath power to raise the dead and will actually raise all those who believe in him and reward them with eternal life To the same purpose our Saviour speaks in Ioh. 5. 25 26. The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live for as the Father hath life in himself so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself That is he first raises those who are dead in sin to a new spiritual life by the power of his Doctrine then hath Authority to raise them to an immortal life This is the meaning too of that expression in Col. 3. 3 4. You are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God when Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory That is you profess your selves to be dead to this World in conformity to the death of Christ and though that immortal life which you expect to enjoy with Christ who is now risen again from the dead be at present concealed from your view yet when Christ who is the Author of eternal life and hath power to raise us from the dead shall appear the second time to judge the World then shall ye appear with him in glory So that when Christ is called our Life the meaning is that he hath published the Word of Life to us which contains the most express promises of a blessed Immortality and the most plain and easie directions how to attain it and that by his death he hath expiated our sins and confirmed all these promises to us and being risen from the dead himself hath now power to raise us We must not dream of fetching life from the Person of Christ as we draw water out of a Fountain but if we would live for ever with Christ we must stedfastly believe and obey his Gospel which is a Principle of a Divine life in us and then we may joyfully expect that when our Lord and Saviour comes again to judge the World he will raise us from the dead and reward our Faith and Patience and Obedience with Immortal Life Thus to proceed Christ is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God which these men call Personal Graces too But I have already shewed you at large that Christ is the Wisdom of God with respect to those Revelations he made of Gods will The Gospel of Christ is the Wisdom and Power of God 1 Cor. 1. 24. Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God that is the Doctrine of a crucified Christ as will appear from the verses before The Iews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom but we preach Christ crucified to the Iews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness but to them who are called both Iews and Greeks Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God The Jews were all for Signs and Miracles the Greeks were for curious Philosophical Speculations which might gratifie their inquisitive minds and therefore
be possest with the same love of vertue and goodness which appeared so eminently in him which is much to the same sense with that expression of Christs being formed in you Gal. 4. 19. My little Children of whom I travel in birth again till Christ be formed in you that is till you be thoroughly instructed in the Doctrine and Religion of Christ and are thereby moulded into his likeness and image Hence in the 1 Cor. 6. 17. the Apostle tells us He that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit that is herein consists our Union to Christ that we have the same temper of mind which he had for there can be no Union betwixt Souls and Spirits without this that they are acted by the same Principles and love and chuse the same things bodies are united by an external adhesion of parts but Souls by an harmony and consent of wills This makes two one Spirit when there is a perfect likeness of disposition when they agree in the same designs as much as if the same Soul animated them both when we love God and men as our Saviour did when we are meek and humble and patient and contented as he was we are as closely united to him as if he dwelt in us and we in him as if we had but one Spirit in us both But Thirdly there is a closer Union still which results from this which consists in a mutual and reciprocal love When we are transformed into the image of Christ he loves us as being like to him and we love him too as partaking of his nature He loves us as the price of his blood as his own workmanship created to good works and we love him as our Redeemer and Saviour Now love is the great Cement of Union which unites interests and thereby does more firmly unite hearts hence when our Saviour had told his Disciples At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you Joh. 14. 20. he explains the meaning of it in v. 21. He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self unto him That is God and Christ and Christians are all united by a mutual and reciprocal love founded on a likeness of dispositions and actions on obedience to those Laws which are but a Copy of the Original Holiness of God and of the life of Christ. To the same purpose Christ prays for his Disciples Ioh. 17. 21. that they may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us Which refers to their agreement in doctrine and love Thus according to the Scripture phrase love makes us one with God and Christ and with each other Fourthly This Union is exprest in Scripture by resembling the Christian Church to Gods Temple wherein he dwells as formerly he did in the Temple at Ierusalem while that typical and ceremonial Worship was in force God was pleased to dwell in a Temple made with hands there he placed the Symbols of his Presence from thence he gave forth his Oracles there he received their Sacrifices and Oblations and returned an answer to their prayers But since Christ hath introduced a more manly and spiritual Worship God dwells no longer in a Temple of wood and stones by such visible signs of his presence as formerly he did but hath chosen the society of devout minds and pure souls for the place of his residence and abode Thus in the 1 Cor. 3. 16. Know you not that ye are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you and Chap. 6. vers 19. Know you not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which ye have of God and 2 Cor. 6. 16. Ye are the Temple of the living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in or among them and I will be their God and they shall be my people To the same purpose we find in Rev. 21. 3. that after the description of the Holy City the New Ierusalem coming down from God out of Heaven which signifies the state of the Christian Church there was heard a great voice out of Heaven saying Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God Now all this must be expounded in allusion to the Temple at Ierusalem that as the Temple was the place of Gods peculiar presence with that people signifying that he was always ready at hand to assist them in their distress to supply their wants to defend them from their enemies to hear all the pious prayers they put up to him that is that he would be their God and they should be his people as the Apostle expounds it thus it is now with the Christian Church they are the only society of men whom God hath a peculiar regard for with whom he is always present whom he protects and defends by a vigilant and more particular providence whom he hath chosen for his peculiar people to dwell among them And as in the Temple God placed the Mercy-seat and the Cherubims as Emblems of his Majesty and Presence for which reason he is so often said to dwell betwixt the Cherubims so he hath now bestowed his holy Spirit on the Christian Church which is a surer pledge of his dwelling among them than those Types and Shadows were as the Apostle speaks Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you or among you that is this is a sufficient evidence that ye are the Temple of God in that God hath given his Spirit to dwell with you which primarily refers to those extraordinary gifts of the Spirit which God in that Age bestowed on the Christian Church this was the true Shecinah or divine glory resting on them for which reason he is called the Spirit of Glory 1 Pet. 4. 14 The Spirit of Glory and of God resteth on you that is that Spirit of God which is the visible manifestation of his glory in the Christian Church of which that visible glory which sometimes filled the Jewish Tabernacle was an Emblem Hence S. Paul tells us that the glory of the new Covevant which is the ministration of the Spirit which was confirmed by such miraculous and plentiful effusions of the holy Spirit did far exceed the glory of the first Covenant written and engraven in stones though that was so glorious that the Children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance 2 Cor. 3. 7 8. for this was a glorious manifestation of a divine Presence with the Church that God did indeed dwell with them and walk among them and though these extraordinary gifts are now ceased yet
the vertue and glory of them still remains they are a lasting demonstration of Gods peculiar presence with his Church in all Ages as they are of the truth of the Christian Religion for the Christian Church in all Ages since Christ and his Apostles is but one and therefore still inherits the glory as well as the Religion of former Ages In allusion to this the Christian Church is called Gods Building 1 Cor. 3. 9. and Eph. 2. 20 21 22. and are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Iesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth into an holy Temple in the Lord in whom ye are also built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a Spiritual Temple in opposition to the material Temple at Ierusalem which S. Peter calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a spiritual House or Temple 1 Pet. 2. 5. all which refers to this notion that the Christian Church is Gods Temple wherein he dwells Now though all this do most properly belong to the Christian Church as a spiritual Society that they are the Temple of the living God yet it is accommodated in Scripture to particular Christians and Philo also alludes to it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the mind of a wise and good man is in truth and reality the Palace and Temple of God every devout Soul is Gods Temple wherein he dwells an enlightned mind which is stored with all the treasures of divine wisdom and knowledge is his Debir or Oracle a pure heart is his Altar and devout prayers are spiritual incense and sweet perfumes the body it self is a consecrated place and is also called the Temple of God which must therefore be preserved pure and undefiled 1 Cor. 6. 19. nay our bodies are Sacrifices too which we must offer up to God by devoting them to his service Rom. 12. 1. for the Scripture loves to allude to the Temple and Aliar and Sacrifices of the Law which in a moral sense may very well be accommodated to the Christian Worship and Service as in their Typical signification they prefigured Christ whose Body was the true Temple where the Divine Glory dwelt who was both Priest and Sacrifice and by his death put an end to that Typical Dispensation only we may observe that when the Scripture mentions Gods or Christs dwelling with particular Christians it uses a more familiar style and seems rather to allude to a private house than a publick Temple Thus in Ioh 14. 23. If any man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him and Rev. 3. 20. Behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me This is all I can find in Scripture concerning the Union betwixt Christ and Christians and that this is the true account of it besides what hath been already urged will evidently appear from those Institutions of our Saviour which are the Instruments and Symbols of our Union to him which we commonly call Sacraments Baptism and the Lords Supper which represent and signifie both our external and real Union with him First our external Union Thus Baptism is a publick profession of the Christian Religion that we believe the Gospel of Christ owne his Authority and submit to his Government We are baptized in the Name of Christ that is we publickly owne him for our Instructor and Governour to believe whatever he hath taught and to do whatever he hath commanded And the Lords Supper is a foederal Rite which answers to the Feasts on Sacrifices under the Law whereby we renew our Covenant with our Lord and vow obedience and subjection to him hence these Institutions were by the Ancients called Sacraments in allusion to that Oath which Souldiers took to be true and faithful to their Prince when they were listed into his Army which was called Sacramentum Militiae or the Military Oath of this nature are Baptism and the Lords Supper a Vow and Covenant to be subject to Christ as our Head and Husband wherein our external and visible Union consists Secondly They signifie also our real Union to Christ thus Baptism signifies our profession of becoming new men our profession of conformity to Christ in his Death and Resurrection We are buried with Christ by Baptism into death that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life Rom. 6. 4. that is Baptism or our immersion under water according to the ancient Rite of administring it is a figure of our burial with Christ and of our conformity to his death and so signifies our dying to sin and walking in newness of life for the death of Christ must be considered not barely as a natural death a separation of soul and body but as a Sacrifice for sin to destroy the power and dominion of it and so our dying to sin that is ceasing from the practice of it is the truest conformity to the death of Christ and we must consider his Resurrection not only as his returning to life again but as his living to God his advancement into his spiritual Kingdom the design of which is to promote the interest of Religion and a divine life and so our walking in newness of life a vertuous and religious life is our conformity to his Resurrection makes us the true Subjects of his spiritual Kingdom which the Apostle tells us gives us an abundant assurance of a glorious resurrection that we shall in a proper sense rise with him because this new life wherein our spiritual Conformity to the resurrection of Christ consists is an immortal principle of life which can no more die than Christ can die again now he is risen from the dead Thus Baptism is called putting on Christ Gal. 3. 27. He that is baptized into Christ hath put on Christ that is hath engaged himself to be conformed to his image and likeness to adorn his mind with all those vertues and Graces which appeared in our Saviours life Thus the Lords Supper is a spiritual feeding on Christ eating his flesh and drinking his blood which signifies the most intimate Union with him that we are flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone Eph. 5. 30. That as we are redeemed by his Death and sufferings are the purchase of his blood and so as it were taken out of his Crucifyed body as the Woman was taken out of the Man so by this spiritual feeding on Christ we are transformed into the same nature with him as much as if we were of his flesh and bones This is a Sacrament wherein we celebrate the love of our dying Lord and express our most passionate love and devotion to him The memory of what he hath done
after Christ. That is lest their minds be corrupted through Philosophical Speculations or Traditionary superstitions in worshiping Daemons and Angels c. which are inconsistent with the Gospel of Christ and owe their original only to the folly and superstition of Mankind And then he adds for in him that is in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily so that this must refer to that compleat and perfect Revelation of the Gospel which needs not be supplyed by the Philosophy or Traditions of men And to understand the Reason of this Phrase and the force of the Apostles argument we must consider that this is an allusion to Gods dwelling in the Temple at Ierusalem by Types and figures which were the Symbols of his presence for the Tabernacle or Temple was Gods House wherein he dwelt and the mercy seat and Cherubims c. were the Emblems of Gods presence there and this Symbolical presence of God in the Temple was very agreeable to that Symbolical and Ceremonial worship which he then instituted and commanded He dwelt among them by Types and figures and fore instituted a Typical and figurative Religion and this was an imperfect and obscure Declaration of himself to the World But now God hath sent his Son to Tabernacle among us Iohn 1. 14. the Deity it self now dwells in the Temple of Christs body not by Types and figures as formerly he dwelt in the Temple at Ierusalem but by a real and immediate presence and Union and therefore those Revelations which are made by Christ are answerable to the Inhabitation of the Godhead in him contain a true and perfect Declaration of Gods will in opposition to the imperfect Rudiments and obscure Types and figures of the Law So that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or bodily is opposed to figurative and Typical and this is a plain demonstration of the perfection of the Gospel Revelation that the fulness of the Deity dwelt substantially in Christ and we need not doubt but that so excellent a Prophet as he was in whom the Deity it self inhabited hath perfectly revealed Gods will to us All the figures of the Temple were accomplisht in Christ's Person he was that in truth and reality which the Temple was a figure of God dwelling among us and his Religion answers the greatness of his Person The Godhead dwelt in him bodily not by Types and figures and his Religion is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too all truth and substance The Law was but a shadow of things to come but the Body is of Christ Ver. 17. his Religion is Body truth and substance So that this place is exactly parallel with Iohn 1. 14. The word was made flesh and dwelt among us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tabernacled among us herein the figure of the Tabernacle was fulfilled that God dwelt in our flesh and the Revelations he made of God's will did agree with the manner of his appearance were full of Grace and truth not a Typical and figurative but a plain and perfect Declaration of Gods will And as the Evangelist tells us That of his fulness we have all received that we are perfectly instructed by him in the will of God so our Apostle adds here and ye are compleat in him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 filled in him you need no other Instructor but Christ who hath revealed as much of Gods will as is necessary for us to know So that this fulness of the Godhead dwelling bodily in Christ does ultimately resolve it self into the perfection of the Gospel-Revelation for since the fulness of the Deity did inhabit in Christs Person we need not question but he was able to acquaint us with the whole mind and will of God and that he would do so The force of which Reason our Saviour himself takes notice of Iohn 3. 34 35. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God that is declareth his whole will to us for God giveth not the Spirit by measure to him It is not with him as it was with meaner Prophets who had only some particular Revelations of the Divine will but the fulness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hands Thus the fulness of Christ you see signifies the excellency and perfection of the Gospel and in other places this fulness signifies the Church of Christ. Eph. 1. 22 23. And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the Church which is his body the fulness of him that filleth all in all Where the Church is called the fulness of Christ which makes him as it were compleat and perfect for he cannot be a perfect Head without a Body hence the Church is called Christ. 1 Cor. 12. 12. For as the body is one and hath many members and all the members of that one body being many are one body so also is Christ that is the Christian Church as it immediately follows for by one spirit are we all baptized into one body whether we be Iews or Gentiles whether we be bond or free and Beza tells us that this is the the reason of that phrase which so frequently occurs in the New Testament of being in Christ that is being members of the Christian Church Now the Church is called the Fulness of Christ with respect to its extent and universality that it is not confined to any particular Nation as the Jewish Church was but takes in Iews and Gentiles Bond and Free for this I take to be the meaning of Col. 1. 19. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell which words are commonly expounded to the same sense with Col. 2. 9. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily but if we consult the Context we shall see reason for a different sense and Beza observes that some Expositors by his fulness in this place understand the Church for Vers. 18. the Apostle tells us that He is the head of the body the Church who is the beginning the first-born from the dead that in all things he might have the preheminence for it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell where fulness must be expounded of the Church that it pleased God to unite his Church into Christ for the Apostle assigns this as the reason of Christs being the Head of the Church And if you would know why the Church is called Fulness and all fulness said to dwell in Christ the reason follows in 20 21. And having made peace through the blood of his Cross to reconcile all things by him I say whether they be things in Earth or things in Heaven And you who were sometime alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled This is that fulness that dwells in Christ that he is made the Head of the Universal Church both in Heaven and Earth that Jews and Gentiles are now united in one
primarily refer to the Christian Church not to every individual Christian. Thus Christ is called a Head but he is the head of his Church which is his body as a Husband is the head of the Wife Eph. 5. 23 24. No particular Christian is the body of Christ but only a member in this body Christ is called a Husband but then the whole Church or Society of Christians not every particular Christian is his Spouse as St. Paul tells the Church of Corinth 2 Cor. 11. 2. For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousie for I have espoused you to one Husband that I may present you as a chast Virgin to Christ. Christ is a Shepherd and the Christian Church is his Flock Iohn 10. For the relation between Shepherd and Sheep doth primarily concern the whole Flock Christ is the Rock upon which his Church is built the chief Corner Stone and the Christian Church a Holy Temple so that all these Metaphors in their first and most proper use refer to the whole Society of Christians and are designed to represent the Union between Christ and his Church Secondly I observe further that the Union of particular Christians to Christ is by means of their Union to the Christian Church the Church is the body of Christ and every Christian by being united to this body becomes a member of Christ as the Apostle tells the Corinthians 1 Cor. 12. 27. Now you are the body of Christ and members in particular The Church is the Temple of God built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Iesus Christ being the chief Corner stone and every Christian is a lively stone in this spiritual building The Church is Christ's Flock and every Christian who is of this fold is one of Christ's Sheep The Church is Christ's Spouse and every Christian is a member of that Society which Christ ownes for his Spouse but every Christian is not Christ's Spouse He is a great Enemy to Polygamy and hath but one Spouse as he hath but one body and one Church which quite spoils the prettiness and fantastical Wit of a late Exhortation to young Women to chuse Christ for their Husband because he is rich and beautiful and kind and hath all the properties of an excellent Husband which would have sounded much better in a Popish Nunnery than among such pretenders to reformation for this is the great Art whereby those cunning Priests wheadle silly Girls into a profession of perpetual Virginity by perswading them that in so doing they are marryed to Christ And to give every one their due the Papists are the most generous sort of Suiters for Christ for they perswade them to forsake all other Husbands for Christ which is more honourable and meritorious Thus to proceed Christ is called the Vine and Christians the branches in that Vine Iohn 15. which must be expounded to the same sense with what goes before where Christ speaking of himself saith I am the true Vine The meaning is that Church which is founded on the belief of my Gospel is the true Vine I signifies Christ together with his Church which is his body upon which account the Church is elsewhere called Christ as I observed above And my reasons for this exposition are these First Because the Jewish Church is frequently in the Old Testament compared to a Vine Isaiah 5. Ier. 2. 21. Hosea 10. 1. Now a Vine being the metaphor whereby the Church useth to be described we cannot reasonably understand it otherwise here I am the true Vine that is the Church which is founded on the belief of my Gospel is the only true Church which God now owns He having rejected the Iewish Synagogue as proving a degenerate Vine Especially when we consider that Christ himself applies the Parable of the Vineyard to the State of the Gospel Math. 21. 33. c. and the Christian Church is called an Olive Tree and the members of it expresly called branches Rom. 11. 17 18. which metaphor hath the very same nature and signification with the Vine and branches Secondly Because God is called the Husband-man who takes care to dress this Vine which cannot be understood of Christ but of the Church which is therefore called God's Husbandry Thirdly Christ speaks of such branches in him as bear no fruit now there can be no such branches in the Person of Christ for our very Union to his Person as those men acknowledge who talk of such an Union of Persons between Christ and believers will make us fruitful and therefore being in him can signifie no more than being members of his visible Church which is made up of Hypocrites as well as sincere Christians But fourthly To confirm all this and to prevent objections it is evident from this very Chapter that when Christ speaks in the first Person I and In me he cannot mean this of his own Person but of his Church Doctrine and Religion according as the circumstances of the place require thus in the 5. Ver. I am the true Vine ye are the branches he that abideth in me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for without me ye can do nothing I would willingly learn what sense can be made of this if we understand it of the Person of Christ for it is not very intelligible how we can be or abide in the Person of Christ and it is more unintelligible still how we can be in the Person of Christ and the Person of Christ at the same time be in Us which is a new piece of Philosophy called Penetration of dimensions and that our fruitfulness should depend upon such an Union to the Person of Christ is as hard to my understanding as all the rest But if by He that abideth in me we understand the Christian Church he who makes a publick and visible profession of Faith in me and continues in Society with those who do so and by I in him the Christian Doctrine both the sense and Reason of it is very evident the sense is this That Church which owns my Doctrine and Religion is the true Vine and all you who make a publick profession of Faith in me of a belief of my Gospel and live in Communion with one another are the branches in this Vine and whoever of you continue stedfast in this profession and Communion and do not only make a visible profession of Faith in me but suffer my Doctrine and Precepts to dwell and abide in you to govern your will and affections and to direct your Conversation in the World all such of you will be very fruitful in good works for without such a sincere and hearty belief of my Gospel it is impossible you should do any thing that is good So that to abide in Christ is to make a publick and visible profession of Faith in Christ to be the members of his visible Church but because many are so who do not much credit their profession being branches in
such but as they are members of his body for he is the Saviour of the body and Redeemed his Church with his own blood Hence St. Iohn tells us in his first Ep. Ch. 1. Ver. 3. That which we have seen and heard the whole Doctrine and History of the Gospel declare we unto you that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Iesus Christ. First that ye may have fellowship with us become members of the Church of Christ by which means you have fellowship and Communion with God and Christ. And therefore those publick censures whereby rotten or dead members are cut of from the body of Christ consist in casting such persons out of the Society of Christian people in debarring them from the Communion of Prayers and Sacraments and all Religious offices which is a plain demonstration that our Union to Christ is not an Union to his Person of which more hereafter but consists in a sincere and spiritual Communion with the Christian Church otherwise this external Communion with the Church could be no visible signification of our Union to Christ nor could our excision from the visible Church signifie our separation from him But thirdly It will be requisite now to explain more particularly the nature of this Union between Christ and the Christian Church which is not a natural but a Political Union that is such an Union as is between a Prince and his Subjects Christ is a spiritual King and all Christians are his Subjects and our Union to Christ consists in our belief of his Revelations obedience to his Laws and subjection to his Authority Hence our Saviour tells the Jews if you continue in my words then are ye my Disciples indeed John 8. 31. which is the same thing with being in him and by keeping his Commandments we abide in his love Iohn 15. 10. 14. 21. and to have his word abide in us is a description of the closest and firmest Union to him Iohn 15. 7. As obedience to our Prince is the strongest bond of a Political Union which is dissolved and broken by disobedience and Rebellion Thus our Saviour calls himself a Shepherd and Christians his Sheep Iohn 10. to signifie that Authority he hath over his Church which bears some Analogy to the government of a Shepherd which is oft-times used as a name of power and Authority as God is styled the Shepherd of Israel Psalm 80. 1. and Kings are frequently called Shepherds both by prophane and sacred Writers Though this name is most commonly given to Prophets who feed and instruct the Church which includes power and Authority and so does very properly belong to our Saviour who erected this spiritual Kingdom on the Foundation of his Doctrine and Laws and by the exercise of his prophetical office for which Reason he is called the Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls Thus he is called a Head and the Church his Body a Husband and the Church his Spouse which two metaphors signifie the same thing and are both of them names of power and Authority as appears from Eph. 5. 23. c. For Husbands are said to be the head of their Wives as Christ is the head of the Church and are commanded to love their Wives as their own bodies as Christ loves his Church so that a Husband as a Husband represents the head and the Wife the body and what the meaning of all this is the Apostle plainly tells us that Christ is called the Head and Husband because he hath the Rule and Government of us and therefore exhorts Wives to be subject to their Husbands as the Church is subject unto Christ the Spiritual Head v. 24. For because the Head in the natural body hath the command and government of all the members hence Head is a common name for Princes and Governours Deutr. 28. 13. The Lord shall make thee the Head and not the Tayl and thou shalt be above only and thou shalt not be beneath that is thou shalt rule and govern Psalm 18. 43. Thou hast made me the Head of the Heathen and a people whom I have not known shall serve me And therefore the Apostles always expound this metaphor of Christ's being a Head by power and Authority Eph. 1. 20 21 22. Hath set him at his own right hand in Heavenly places far above all Principalities and Powers and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be Head over all things to the Church which is his body Col. 1. 18. And he is the Head of the body the Church who is the beginning the first born from the dead that in all things he might have the preheminence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is that he might not only excel other things but that he might rule and govern them for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies him who hath the first place of Authority because government is naturally entailed on the greatest excellency and perfection Thus Christ is the Head of all Principalities and powers that is their Lord and Governour Col. 2. 10. This is the true explication of this relation betwixt Christ and his Church He is the Head and Husband because he is invested with Authority to govern and the Church is his body and Spouse because it must be obedient to his Laws and subject to his Government as we know it is very familiar to call a Society of men who live under the same Laws and Civil Government a body Politic which signifies their subjection to the same Authority as a body hath but one Head and that regard they must have to the preservation of the whole and their mutual care of each other as members of the same body Now the true Reason why this spiritual Kingdom of Christ is described by the Authority of a Shepherd over his Sheep and of a Head and Husband over his body and Spouse is to signifie the mildness and gentleness of his government and that great and near concern he hath for the welfare of his Church that he governs his Church with the care and tenderness of a Shepherd that he defends and ransoms his Church with his own blood as a good Shepherd lays down his life in defence of his Sheep Iohn 10. That he loves his Church with the natural kindness of a Head or Husband that his Government is only for the good of his Church not for his own private advantage as a kind Husband exerciseth no other Authority over his Wife but what is for her good as well as his own or as the Head hath no other concern but that all his members be preserved in their natural State and vigour and perform their proper and natural offices and therefore we may be secure that his yoak is easie and his burden light that he will be gentle in his Discipline and favourable in his censures especially when we consider how dearly he hath purchast this relation to his Church
that he gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word Eph. 5. 25 26. Upon which account we may well be called the Members of his Body of his Flesh and of his Bones vers 30. the Church being as it were taken out of his crucified Body as the Woman was taken out of the Man as Christ is said to have reconciled the Gentiles that is taken them into his Church in the body of his flesh through death Col. 1. 21 22. because the Covenant of Grace which is the Foundation of the Christian Church and receives Gentiles as well as Jews was sealed with the blood of Christ so that the Church is taken out of the crucified body of Christ which in the mystical sense answers to the Womans being taken out of the Man which seems to be the Apostles meaning in that place For the same reason Christ ownes himself our Friend Ioh. 15. 14. Ye are my friends if you do what soever I command you which does not signifie such an equality betwixt Christ and us as there is betwixt friends nor encourage any rudeness and unbecoming familiarity in our addresses to him but acquaints us with the nature of his government that he will rule his Church with the same care and tenderness which one friend expresseth to another So that all this is a description of the state of the Gospel in which our Lord and Master is our Shepherd our Head and Husband our Friend and Saviour who hath redeemed and purchased us with his own blood who laid the Foundation of his spiritual Kingdom in the most surprising and astonishing goodness and exerciseth his authority in all the methods of love and compassion Upon which account God also hath now laid aside in a great measure that severe name of a King and calls himself our Father to assure us of his fatherly care and government and to signifie that liberty of Sons we now enjoy under the Gospel in opposition to the bondage and servitude of the Law of Moses But then we must observe farther that though Christ be our Lord and Governour he doth not govern us immediately by himself for He is ascended up into Heaven where he powerfully intercedes for his Church and by a vigilant Providence superintends all the affairs of it but hath left the visible and external conduct and government of his Church to Bishops and Pastors who preside in his name and by his authority in the first Ages of Christianity Christ conferred such extraordinary gifts on men as qualified them for so great an office Eph. 4. 8. c. But though these miraculous gifts ceased when the Gospel was fully published and sufficiently confirmed yet the offices still continue for the instruction and government of the Church though managed in more ordinary and humane ways Christ now governs his Church by men who are invested with his authority which is a plain demonstration of what I discoursed above that the Union of particular Christians to Christ is by their Union with the Christian Church which consists in their regular subjection to their spiritual Guides and Rulers and in concord and unity among themselves For if our Union to Christ consists in our subjection to him as our Lord and Master our Head and Husband and this authority is not immediately exercised by Christ himself but by the Bishops and Pastors of the Church it necessarily follows that we cannot be united to Christ that is cannot owne his authority and government till we unite our selves to the publick Societies of Christians and submit to the publick Instructions Authority and Discipline of the Church as no man can be said to submit himself to his Prince who denies subjection to those subordinate Magistrates who act by his Princes Commission for the Union of Bodies Politick such as the Christian Church is consists in Order and Government when all the Members keep their proper places and are knit to each other by a faithful discharge of their several offices and trusts Schismaticks are in the Church just as Rebels are in the Kingdom not as part of it but as open and profest Enemies but the Apostle tells us wherein the Unity of the Church consists in Eph. 4. 16. Christ is the Head from whom the whole body fitly joyned together and compacted by that which every joynt supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part maketh increase of the body to the edifying of it self in love That is the supreme power is invested in Christ as Head to whom the Church is obedient and subject but to make this Union firm and lasting there must be a regular subordination of the several Members and a mutual discharge of all Christian offices which is the most effectual way to advance their spiritual growth in all Christian graces and especially to increase that love and friendship which is the very life and soul of the Church This indeed supposes a visible Society of Christians professing the Faith of Christ and living in communion with each other for if there be no such visible Society as it may happen in times of persecution or some great degeneracy of the Church it must of necessity alter the case our Union to Christ then consists in an acknowledgment of his Authority and Subjection to his Laws which makes us Members of the Universal Church though there be no particular Church to communicate with but when there is a visible Church we are under the necessary obligations of a visible Communion because herein our subjection to the Authority of Christ and consequently our Union to him consists And this by the way gives a plain account of the only cause that can justifie our separation from any Society of Christians for our Union with the Christian Church being the Medium of our Union to Christ while the Church we live in acknowledges the Authority and submits to the Laws of Christ we are bound to live in Communion with it because this unites us to Christ. When nothing is made the condition of our Communion which is expresly forbid by the Laws of our supreme Lord we acknowledge his Authority in our subjection to our spiritual Guides and we disowne his Authority in disowning and affronting theirs as our Saviour tells his Apostles He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me Luk. 10. 16. But when any Church prevaricates in the Laws of Christ corrupts his Religion and undermines the fundamental design of it which is to make men good and vertuous when we cannot obey our spiritual Rulers without disobeying the express Laws of Christ the reason of our Communion with such a Church ceases because it doth not answer nay contradicts the end of Christian Society which is to have fellâ—wship with the Father and with his Son Iesus Christ. For in this case we cannot owne their authority but we must