as the fickle Will of Man doth that standing there is an Election that falling there is none and so toties quoties as often as it pleases man to shew himself variable Election will be something or nothing as it happens This Opinion doth not ascribe Eyes and Hands to God as the gross Anthropomorphites did but it assimilates him to the filly turnings and windings of the Creature But to speak more directly to the Author God's electing Love antecedes all Goodness in in Men and if his elect Vessels fall into great sins as holy David did and this after their Conversion however the Light of God's Countenance be for a time suspended however their habitual Graces be weakned and their Consciences wounded yet the Foundation of God stands sure electing Love remains unvariable and will revive them again by Repentance When God elected a People to himself he did not as Mr. Shaw speaks in allusion to the words of the Apostle use lightness or purpose according to the flesh after the manner of men unsteady and wavering in their determinations no the foundation of God standeth sure the Lord knoweth those that are his But if the Love of Christ be infinite Mr. Sherlock eternal unchangeable fruitful I would willingly understand how sin and death and Misery came into World for if this Love be so because the Divine Nature is so then it was always so for God always was what he is and that which is eternal could never be other than it is now And why could not this Love as well preserve us from falling into Sin Misery and Death as love Life and Holiness into us for it is a little odd first to love us into Sin and Death that then he might love us into Life and Holiness which indeed could not be if this Love were always so unchangeable and fruitful as the Dr. perswades us For if this Love had always loved Life and Holiness into us how should it happen that we should sin and die The gracious Decree of Election is Answer as becomes the Divine Nature eternal unchangeable fruitful yet was it a free Act terminating upon what Object it pleased Hence God saith Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated he infallibly brings his Elect to Glory But no man may be so vain or presumptive as to limit the holy One or chalk a Way or Method for him to walk in who works all things according to the counsel of his own will But how then came sin and death into the World Why surely it came in by Man's Transgression and under God's-Permission But why could not this eternal unchangeable fruitful Love preserve us from falling I doubt not at all but God who is Almighty could have kept up Man and all his Posterity in their primitive station as well as he did the standing Angels but if you ask on Why did he not do it I have nothing to answer but that it was not his pleasure God loves no man into sin the Expression is too odd for a Christians Mouth or Ear but he suffers his very Elect to fall into sin yet is his Love eternal unchangeable fruitful towards them if I may allude to that of Hezekiah Isai 38.17 He loves them from the pit of corruption he fetches them out of the corrupt Mass of Mankind by his effectual Grace and though afterwards they have many falls and lapses yet electing Love sets to its hand again and revives them by a fresh Repentance shewing it self fruitful in their recovery and safe conduct to Heaven and all this is managed in a way of unaccountable Sovereignty Not that I deny that the Love of God is eternal Mr. Sherlock unchangeable fruitful that is that God was alwayes good and alwayes continues good and manifests his love and goodness in such wayes as are suitable to his nature which is the fruitfulness of it but then the unchangeableness of Gods love doth not consist in being alwayes determined to the same object but in that he alwayes loves for the same reason that is that he alwayes loves true virtue and goodness where-ever he sees it and never ceases to love any person till he ceases to be good and then the immutability of his love is the reason why he loves no longer for should he love a wicked man the reason and nature of his love would change and the fruitfulness of Gods love with respect to the Methods of his Grace and Providence doth not consist in producing what he loves by an omnipotent and irresistible power for then sin and death could never have entered into the world but he governs and doth good to his Creatures in such wayes as are most suitable to their Natures he governs reasonable Creatures by Principles of Reason as he doth the material World by the necessary Laws of Matter and bruit Creatures by the instincts and propensities of Nature After all the rest Answer the Author himself confesses that there is in God an eternal unchangeable fruitful Love how so There is a Love of Virtue and Goodness and is there not a Love of Persons too The Scripture is express in it St. Paul is a chosen vessel Act. 9. Jacob was loved and that before he was born or had done any good at all Rom. 9. The Lord knoweth those that are his 2 Tim. 2. He calleth his sheep by Name Joh. 10.3 Some are drawn of the Father Joh. 6.44 Some are called according to purpose Rom. 8.28 On some God will have mercy when he hardens others Rom. 9.18 All which places places prove that electing Love is of particular persons who as St. Austin hath it certissimè liberantur are certainly saved when others are left in massa perditionis Unless this be owned that great Design of a Church which is the Master-piece of Providence must be carried on in such a lame and imperfect manner as if God which is unworthy of him should say I would have a Church but I intend not who shall make it up Such a Jeofail is hardly to be found in a prudent Man But saith the Author The Vnchangeableness of God's Love doth not consist in being determined to the same Object but in that he always loves for the same Reason that is he always loves true Vertue and Goodness where-ever he sees it and never ceases to love any person till he ceases to be good he always loves for the same Reason where Goodness is there he loves where Goodness is not there he loves not This is the Author's meaning this is loving for the same Reason But if this had been so what could have become of Man corrupt lapsed Man in whom as our Church tells us there is not a spark of Goodness How desperate must his case have been Divine Love could not possibly have let out a drop of Mercy to such an one much less have shewed forth it self in such an unparalle'd Act as the Mission of his own Son for our Redemption there
that it stands faster than the Pillars of Heaven and Earth and must be so as long as God is God and Man Man The Reason of Man must be bound in duty to point to God as the Primum Verum and the Will of Man to resign to him as the Primum Amabile these are Foundations never to be shaken The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Law amounts to so much more than the inherent Righteousness of all Saints put together that it is no were to be found but in the perfect spotless obedience of Christ neither can that be made ours but by imputation Hence Christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mr. Sher-Jock the end of the Law the perfection and accomplishment of it for Righteousness to them that believe Rom. 10.4 That is the Gospel of Christ requires that Rightcousness of us which the Law did only typifie and represent that holiness and purity of mind which is the perfection of all legal Righteousness For that Christ should be the end of the Law by imputation of his Righteousness to us hath no foundation in the Text. The Apostle explains what he means by this in the following verses where he gives us a description of the righteousness of the Law and the righteousness of Faith The righteousness of the Law is an external conformity to the letter of the Law the man that doth them shall live in them that is shall enjoy all the Temporal Blessings of Canaan which were promised to the observance of the Law But the Righteousness of Faith is a firm and stedfast belief of the Divine Authority of Christ that he is the Lord and more particularly a belief of his Resurrection from the dead as the last and great confirmation which God gave to the divinity of Christ's Person and Doctrine This is that Faith that overcometh the world and purifies the heart and transforms us into the likeness of God which is the perfection of all the ritual righteousness of the Law Vpon this account Christ is said to be made to us Righteousness 1 Cor. 1.20 He of God is made to us Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption He is our Wisdom as he is our great Prophet who instructs us in true Wisdom our Righteousness as we are justified by Faith in him by a sincere belief of his Gospel which is the only Righteousness acceptable to God our Sanctification because the law of the spirit of life in him makes us free from the law of sin and death our Redemption as by these means he bath delivered us from the bondage of the Jewish Law from the idolatrous Customs of the Heathens and the tyranny of wicked Spirits and the wrath of God which is the merit of sin Christ is the end of the Law Answer even of the Moral Law and what did that call for Not external Conformisty only but all Holiness and Righteousness and that in pure sinless perfection this our Faith or inherent Graces because imperfect can never amount to The Law therefore hath its end only in the perfect spotless Righteousness of Christ and that being made over to Believers by Imputation Christ is truly said to be the end of the Law for righteousness to the believer The man that doth them shall live in them Rom. 10.5 that is saith the Author shall enjoy the temporal blessings of Canaan Indeed the Racovian Catechist will go no further Nusquam in Lege Mosis reperies vitam aeternam promissam saith he But we find the Saints in the Old Testament fixing their Faith upon eternal Life My Redeemer liveth and I shall see him saith Job Job 19.25 and 27. Abraham desireth a better country that is an heavenly Heb. 11.16 The just shall live by his faith Hab. 2.4 which is interpreted of eternal Life Rom. 1.17 Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved Joel 2.32 that is with eternal Life as it is applied Rom. 10.13 Paul said no other things than the Prophets and Moses did Act. 26.22 and yet surely he spake of eternal Life Moses and the Prophets are frequent in promising the Messiah and in him all the Promises are contained Do this and live is meant of eternal Life a Curse that is eternal Death is threatned to the violaters of the Law Gal. 3.10 therefore Life and that eternal is promised to the keepers of it When the Lawyer asked What shall I do to inherit eternal life our Saviour answered him that he must keep the Law Luk. 10.25 28. If the Law did not promise eternal Life then it did not threaten eternal Death and by consequence Christ who redeemed us from the Curse of the Law redeemed us only from a temporal one But to pass on Christ of God is made unto us righteousness 1 Cor. 1.30 that is saith the Author we are justified by Faith in him by a sincere belief of his Gospel That we are justified by Faith in Christ I acknowledge but not in the Authors sence he makes Faith properly and as an Act to justifie he makes the nature of Faith to consist only in a firm assent But I have before proved that Faith justifies as it receives Christ and his Righteousness and that justifying Faith over and above assent includes in it a fiducial Recumbency Christ is made to us righteousness one of these two ways either by the Graces of his holy Spirit imparted to us or else by his perfect Obedience imputed to us He is not made Righteousness to us by the Graces of his Spirit imparted to us for with respect to these he is made Sanctification to us and Sanctification and Justification must not be confounded As we have holy Graces from him to sanctifie us so we have Righteousness from him to justifie us He is therefore our Righteousness because his perfect Righteousness by Imputation becomes ours Bellarmine speaking of this place at sâ—â—â—interprets it of the inherent Righteousness in us which comes from Christ but afterwards as convicted of the truth De Jusiâ—â— 11.2 cip 10. he saith Nobis imputari Christi justitiam merita cùm nobis donentur applicentur ac si nosipsi Deo satisfecissemus That the Righteousness and Morits of Christ are imputed to us when they are given and applied to us as if we our selves had satisfied God Further our Author upon this Text saith That Christ is our wisdom as he is cur Prophet our Righteousness as we are justified by believing the Gospel our Sanctification as we have the Law of the Spirit of life and our Redemption as by these means he hath delivered us I see not what room is left here for the redeeming Blood of Christ nevertheless I suppose the Author meant to include the same This is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mr. Sherlock the foundation of all other mistakes that by the Righteousness of the Law and the Righteousness of Works most men understand an internal Holiness and then conclude That if this Righteousness will
Moses under which they never were God sent forth his Son made of a woman Answer made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons Thus the Apostle Gal. 4. 4 5. The Son of God was made of a woman in his Incarnation made under the Law under the rule of it in his active obedience under the curse of it in his passive and the end of all was that he might redeem us that we who were captives under the wrath of God might be redeemed ones And further that we might receive the adoption of sons that we who were children of wrath might be sons of God and so heirs of eternal life and that it may be thus indeed that Christ's being under the Law his active and passive obedience may procure such a redemption and adoption such an exemption from wrath and title to heaven for us His obedience must be applyed to us and become ours which cannot be but by imputation But saith the Author This us is not in the Text it is not to redeem us but to redeem them that were under the Law that is the Jews But was not Christ a Redeemer of the Gentiles also Or is he not their Redeemer within this Text Yes surely observe the words of the Apostle To redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the adoption of sons The Apostle alters his phrase and turns them into we which takes in the Galatians into the adoption and by consequence into the redemption too and to make it more clear he alters his phrase again and turns we into ye in the next verse which hangs upon the former And because ye are sons vers 6. ye Galatians ye Gentiles are sons and ye Galatians ye Gentiles are redeemed ones within the Text Otherwise which is very strange the Apostle should argue from the Redemption of the Jews only to the Adoption of the Gentiles But to go on Christ saith the Author redeemed the Jews from the bondage of the Mosaical Law that is I suppose the Ceremonial Law and introduced a better Covenant the adoption of sons To which I answer Christ did indeed redeem from the bondage of Mosaical Rites and Ceremonies But is this all the Redemption within the Text If we stop here we fall in with the gloss of Socinus who understands only a freedom A jugo legis De servat part 2. cap. 24. ut Spiritûs servilis loeo filialem spiritum adipiscerentur The Redemption here is not to be restrained to a freedom from Mosaical Ceremonies only Christ was made under the whole Law and the Redemption which must be parallel to his being under the Law must not only be a Redemption from the Bondage of the Ceremonial Law but a Redemption from the curse of the Moral of which the Apostle had discoursed but a little before Gal. 3.13 Our Saviour was never made under the whole Law to redeem from a part of it only Again Redemption from the Ceremonial Law was peculiar to the Jews But the Redemption here spoken of reaches as far as the Gentiles also who as I before noted have a share in the Adoption of Sons as well as the Jews The Redemption here spoken of is not a part or piece of Redemption but Redemption in its fulness and excellency Christ by coming into the flesh introduceth a better Covenant that is the beams of Evangelical Light were purer and the effusions of the holy Spirit larger than before But still we must remember that the Covenant of Grace was for substance one and the same under both Testaments Under the Old Testament true Believers had the Law in their heart the Adoption of Sons the free Spirit and a true title to eternal Life And on the other hand under the New Testament unbelievers have the Law and Gospel too but in the Letter their bondage is far greater than that of beggarly Elements The unclean spirit dwells and works in them and the dreadful wrath of God abideth on them Christ's being under the Law saith the Author is his being such a person as should exactly answer all the Types and Figures of the Law Unto which I add His being under the Law is his being such a person as should exactly answer all the demands of the Moral Law in its mandatory and minatory parts I shall now examine what influence the Sacrifice of Christ's Death Mr. Sherlock and the Righteousness of his life have upon our acceptance with God And all that I can find in Scripture about this is that to this we owe the Covenant of Grace that God being well pleased with the obedience of Christ's Life and the sacrifice of his Death for his sake entred into a new Covenant with mankind wherein he promses pardon of sin and eternal life to those who believe and obey the Gospel This is very plain with reference to Christ's death Hence the Blood of Christ is called the blood of the covenant Heb. 10.29 And Christ is called the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls through the blood of the everlasting covenant Heb. 13.20 And the Blood of Christ is called the blood of sprinkling which speaks better things than the blood of Abel Heb. 12.24 which is an allusion to Moses his sprinkling the blood of the Sacrifice whereby he confirmed the Covenant between God and the children of Israel Heb. 9.19 20 21. For when Moses had spoken every Precept to all the people according to the Law when he had declared the terms of this Covenant to them he took the Blood of Calves and Goats with Water and scarlet Wool and Hysop and sprinkled both the Book and all the People saying This is the blood of the testament which God hath ordained to you Thus the Blood of Christ is called the blood of sprinkling Because by his Blood God did seal and confirm the Covenant of Grace as the sprinkling of the blood of beasts did confirm the Mosaical Covenant Hence we are said to be justified by the blood of Christ Rom. 5.9 that is by the Gospel-Covenant which was confirmed with his Blood Christ is called a propitiation through faith in his blood Rom. 3.25 that is by a belief of his Gospel Hence the Scripture uses these phrases promiscuously To be justified by Faith and to be justified by the faith of Christ and to be justified by Christ and to be justified through Faith in his blood to be justified and saved by grace Nay by believing that Christ is the Son of God Joh. 20.31 And that God raised him from the dead Rom. 10.9 All which signifie the same thing that we are justified by believing and obeying the Gospel for faith or faith in Christ signifies such a firm belief of the Gospel as brings forth all fruits of obedience and the Grace of God is the Gospel of Christ expresly so called Tit. 2.11 As being the effect of Gods Grace and Faith in the Blood of Christ
Union and what better proof can be of it than that divine Life which issues from thence Our Saviour hath put it out of all doubt He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him Joh. 6.56 And in another place he tells them Abide in me and I in you Joh. 15.4 What can be more emphatical and expressive of our Mystical Union If such words do not signifie it what can We are said to be in him that is true even in Jesus Christ 1 Joh. 5.20 And Christ is said to be in us the hope of glory Col. 1.27 And how full are these Expressions This our Saviour prayed for in that solemn Prayer Joh. 17. As thou Father art in me and I in thee that they may be one in us This he promised At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you Joh. 14.20 Surely that Union which is set forth by the Union of the Father and the Son in the blessed Trinity must be a mystical one The Bonds of this Union are no less pregnantly expressed touching the holy Spirit which as Bishop Davenant tells us is Primaria Commissura by which Christ and we touch the Scripture speaks negatively If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Rom. 8.9 that is he hath no Union or Communion with him and positively or affirmatively He that is joyned unto the Lord is one Spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 Hereby we know that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his Spirit 1 Joh. 4.13 Touching Faith which as the Learned Vsher saith is the Soul of all other Graces the Scripture teaches us that Christ dwells in our hearts by faith Eph. 3.17 and that Faith comes receives leans on puts on feeds on and in a word possesses Christ In one place Gal. 2.20 we have both these Bonds together I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me that is by his Spirit and I live by the faith of the Son of God these two Make up the Mystical Union The Name of this Union is also expresly in Scripture Fancy did not baptize it Mystical but the holy Ghost This is a great mystery to be members of his body of his flesh and of his bones Eph. 5.30 32. Nay The riches of the glory of the mystery is Christ in us the hope of Glory Col. 1.27 The ancient Fathers were no strangers to this Union that of Ignatius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epist ad Eph. points it out to us In the times of St Cyprian and Julius Bishop of Rome the Church in the Lord's Supper which is a divine Seal of this Union used over and above to note it out by mixing Water with the Wine Hence St. Cyprian saith Cypr. E. pist 63. Decret Julii in Concil Quando in calice vinum aquâ miscetur Christo populus adunatur credentium plebs ei in quem credidit copulatur conjungitur And Julius saith Si sit vinum tantùm est Christus sine populo si aqua sola populus sine Christo St. Hilary and St. Cyril of Alexandria compare our Union with Christ with that high Union which is between the Father and the Son St. Cyril upon John tells us as I have him quoted by the Noble Sadeel that Christus per fidem ingreditur in nos per Spiritum sanctum inhabitat St. Basil speaks of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an intellectual mouth in the inner Man by which we feed upon Christ the Bread of Life St. Chrysostom saith Hom. 11. in Ephes that there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Spirit flowing from above which touches all the Members of Christ Diximus fratres saith St. Austin hoc Dominum commendasse in manducatione carnis suae potione sanguinis sui Tract 27. in Joh. ut in illo maneamus ipse in nobis maneamus autem in illo cùm sumus membra ejus manet ipse in nobis cùm sumus templum ejus And in another place De peccator Mer. cap. 31. Homines sancti fideles ejus siunt cum homine Christo unus Christus unus Christus caput corpus magna est mira dignatio Theophylact saith In Joh. 15. that a man is by Faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 part of the Root united to the Lord and incorporated in him And to name no more generally those Sayings of the Fathers which the Papists plead for an oral Manducation of Christ are so many proofs of the Mystical Union The Schoolmen concurr in the same thing Aquinas saith that Christ and his Members are but una Persona mystica And Barthol Medina expresses it fully In 3. partem Thom. qu. 8. Cùm efficimur membra sub Capite Christo mirabili quâdam Spiritûs sancti operatione unimur transimus in Christum induimúsque illum deiformi quâdam insitione atque Vnione illi inserimur Modern Divines go the same way to name but a few Bishop Vsher saith Imman pag. 50. The Bond of this Mystical Vnion between Christ and us is on his part the quickning Spirit and on ours Faith Est inter Christum omnia Christi Membra continuitas quaedam ratione Spiritûs sancti qui plenissimè residens in Christo Capite In Col cap. 1. ver 18. unus idem numero ad omnia ejus membra diffunditur vivificans singula uniens universa so Bishop Davenant The Spirit knitteth us as really though mystically Life of Christ 457. unto Christ as his Sinews and Joynts do fasten the parts of his sacred Body together thus Bishop Reynolds But I shall shut up all with the Authority of our Church In the Lords Supper there is no vain Ceremony no bare Sign nor untrue Figure of a thing absent but the Table of the Lord the Bread and Cup of the Lord the Memory of Christ the Annunciation of his death the Communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord in a marvellous Incorporation 1. Hom. of the Sacrament which by the operation of the holy Ghost the very Bond of our conjunction with Christ is through Faith wrought in the Souls of the faithful the true Vnderstanding of this Fruition and Vnion between the Body and the Head between Believers and Christ the ancient Catholick Fathers perceiving themselves and commending to their people were not afraid to call this Supper the Salve of Immortality a Deifical Communion pledge of eternal health and food of immortality This Mystical Union we see is no Fancy no very great moments depend upon it Tota veraejustitiae salutis vitae participatio ex hâc pernecessariâ cum Christo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pendet saith the Learned Zanchy Without it how should Christ profit us which way should his blood wash or righteousness cover us What illapses of the holy spirit or vital influences of Grace could we look for in a state
collectio sed fideles singuli rectè appellantur Templum quia in ipsorum mentibus Spiritus Dei habitat Mr. Sherlock Eaptism and the Lords Supper represent and signifie both our external and real union to Christ Baptism doth signifie to all baptized an admission into the Church Visible Answer and to Believers it seals the Mystical Union with Christ Thus the Apostle speaking of Believers such as are the children of God by faith in Christ Gal. 3.26 saith As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ you are mystically united to Christ and Baptism seals up that Union to you The Lord's Supper doth import to all receivers a Communion with the Visible Church and to Believers it seals the Mystical Union hence the cup is the Communion of Christs blood and the bread is the Communion of Christ's body 1 Cor. 10.16 The Greek word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and why was it not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 St. Chrysostome upon the words answers Because the Apostle would shew something more even 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great Conjunction with Christ Baptism signifies our profession of becoming new men Mr. Sherlock 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 Baptism signifies our dying to sin and walking in newness of life He that is baptized into Christ hath put on Christ Gal. 3.27 that is hath engaged himself to be conformed to Christ's image and likeness Baptism signifies our profession of Conformity to Christ very well Answer But first of all it signifies our Union to him without which there can be no participation of his Death and Resurrection nor conformity thereunto In that place Gal. 3. putting on of Christ imports an Union with him and in that Rom 6. after that discourse of Conformity to Christ's Death and Resurrection the Apostle immediately raises up himself to the Fountain of that Conformity and tells us that we are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 implanted in the likeness of his death and resurrection ver 5. Aptissimâ translatione arctissimam illam nostri cum ipsa Christi substantiâ conjunctionem vivificam illam virtutem inde in nos manantem expressit saith Beza on the place The Apostle by that Metaphor of a Plant expresses our intimate Conjunction with the very Substance of Christ and the quickning virtue flowing from thence unto us to assimilate us to his Death and Resurrection Thus the Lord's Supper is a spiritual feeding on Christ Mr. Sherlock eating his flesh and drinking his blood which signifies the most intimate Vnion 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 so taken out of his crucified Body 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 eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ when the visible figures of his death and sufferings affect our minds with such a strong and passionate sense of his love to us and excite in us such a firm hope in God as transforms us into a divine Nature And this is our real Vnion to Christ In the Lord's Supper all true Believers feed upon Christ Answer Those words of our Saviour He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him Immanuel 52. Joh. 6.56 declare as the most Reverend Vsher hath it That by a mystical and supernatural Vnion we are as truly conjoyned with him as the meat and drink we take is with us And what this Mystical Union is the same Author tells us That it is made by the Spirit and Faith But saith our Author This spiritual feeding on Christ is when we are transformed into the divine Nature But I take it that transformation cannot possibly exist without a Mystical Union to Christ who is the great Treasury of Grace nor without the Spirit and Faith which are the bonds of that Union Therefore our Saviour tells us He that eateth me shall live by me Joh. 6.57 Spiritual Life follows after eating or Union to Christ No man saith the Reverend Vsher can participate in the benefits of Christ Serm. before the Commons 1620. except he first have comunion with Christ himself We must have the Son before we have Life and eat him we must that is as truly be made partakers of him as of our food if we will live by him The Apostle tells us how the divine Transformation comes Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord we are changed into the same image from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. 3.18 The heavenly Change is from the two bands of the Mystical Union that is from the Spirit which is called the Spirit of the Lord and from Faith which is set forth by a transformative View of Christ Excellent is that of Calvin and by him quoted out of St. Chrysostome Inst l. 4. c. 17. Vinculum istius conjunctionis est Spiritus Christi cujus nexu copulamur Et quidem veluti canalis per quem quicquid Christus ipse est habet ad nos derivatur The Spirit of Christ is the Bond of Vnion between Christ and us and the Chanel of derivation whereby Christ and all that he hath is conveyed to us 1 Joh. 1.3 Mr. Sherlock That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that you may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ Observe that our fellowship with the Father and Son is first founded on our fellowship with the Christian Church 1 Cor. 1.9 God is faithful by whom ye are called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord where the fellowship of Christ can signifie no more than the fellowship of the Christian Church whereof Christ is Lord and Head and therefore the Apostle adds in the next Verse Now I beseech you Brethren by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all speak the same thing that there be no divisions or schisms among you but that you be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and in the same judgment Where he argues from the nature of their Faith in Christ to the Obligations of Peace and Vnity which plainly evinces that this fellowiship with Christ is that relation we stand in to him as Members of the Christian Church whereof he is Head The true Notion of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is plain 2 Cor. 6.14 where the Apostle disswades from fellowship with heathen Idolaters where we have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all which Expressions decypher to us the Nature and Foundation of Fellowship The
are By our Marriage to Christ his personal excellencies cannot be ours though his person were In Marriages there are private contracts and the truth is Christ hath not made such an absolute settlement of himself upon us as these men dream he hath for the Gospel contains the Articles of this Marriage and there we must learn to what purposes and upon what conditions Christ gives himself to us and must challenge no more from Christ by vertue of our Marriage to him than what the Gospel the Marriage Covenant promises and we find nothing there of his personal Righteousness to be made ours And for what they tell us That a woman under covert is not liable to an arrest at Law but all must fall upon her Husband It is true as to matters of debt but does not extend to crimes if a woman kill or rob her being under covert secures her not from the Gallows How secure soever any man may fancy himself of his Marriage to Christ I would nâ—t advise him to venture too much upon it for if he be guilty of any gross wilful sin there is some danger that the Law or Gospel may condemn him unless he timely repent and reform When the Scriptures calls Christ our Husband and the Church his Spouse it means no more but that Christ is our Head and Governour who rules his Church with as great kindness tenderness and compassion as an Husband exerciseth towards his Wife and that we are to pay the same Love Duty and Obedience to Christ that Wives owe to their Husbands And here we must have done with the Metaphor unless we will turn Religion into a Romance Christ being our Husband his Righteousness is ours Answer the Law cannot take hold of us our Husband must be responsable for our faults But this is a very hard Law saith the Author and the Husband in a very ill case In truth our Husband though the eternal Son of God was made under the Law wounded bruised cast into a bloody sweat made a curse and as the Septuagint hath it Isai 55.3 he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a man set in the stroke of Gods wrath But all this he was not by chance or fortune but out of choice and unparallelled Love to his Spouse The essentials of Marriage lie in a narrow room a consent per verba de praesenti does it but the just necessary consequents of it are as the Civilians tells us Consortium omnis vitae divini humani juris communicatio the Wife participates of his sacred and civil good things neither can it be otherwise where there is as there is in Marriage such an intimate union of minds and bodies there must needs be a communio bonorum nature and reason tells us that the Wife in so near an union must have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alimentum indumentum food and raiment out of the Husbands estate Nay and all things in a decorum thereunto and can we think that Christ should do less for his Spouse when her necessities exceed all those in nature Will he who infinitely transcends all humane Relations leave his Spouse to the rags of her own Righteousness or suffer her to perish in an eternal prison for debt and that when he hath fulfilled the Righteousness and bore the curse of the Law on purpose to cloth her and satisfie for her The whole Book of Canticles is a divine Ditty which under the parable of Marriage streams all along as a full torrent of Spiritual Love interchangeably passing between Christ and his Church Well might the Doctor bring his proof from thence Christ calls his Spouse all fair and without spot Cant. 4.7 She was not so naturally but by Marriage neither is she so in this life by inherent Graces but by the Righteousness of Christ put upon her by a gracious imputation Christ calls her from Lebanon from the top of Amana Shenir and Hermon from the lyons dens from the mountains of the Leopards vers 8. That is from the brutish lusts and idolatries of the World and he calls her thus Come with me with me my Spouse as if he had said that he would provide for her as a Spouse and therefore she should come away with him But saith the Author Personal virtues in the Husband were never settled on the Wife for a Joynture by our Marriage to Christ his personal excellencies cannot be made over to us To which I answer the Righteousness of Christ cannot be made ours so as to inhere in us But it may be made ours by imputation or if not neither can his blood be imputed to us and by consequence there can be no such thing as satisfaction or redemption through his Blood But for the truth of imputed Righteousness these men desire to appeal no further than the Articles or Marriage Covenant contained in the Gospel beyond this they desire to claim nothing from Christ their Husband and Saviour But saith the Author A woman under covert is not liable to debts but she is to crimes I answer Our debts are crimes and that above Felonies they are High-treasons against the God of Heaven and if these fall not on our Husband Christ they must fall upon us and then who where is the man that can stand before the Divine Tribunal What room can there be for the least drop of mercy or forgiveness Remarkable is the form that in Anselms time was used in the Visitation of the sick the weak man is there directed thus Si Dominus Deus te voluerit judicare dic Domine mortem Domini nostri Jesu Christi objicio inter me tuum judicium alitèr tecum non condendo si tibi dixerit quia peccator es dic Domine mortem Domini nostri Jesu Christi pono inter me mea peccata He was not to contend with God but to put the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between himself and God's Tribunal and to put it between himself and his sins unless our Husband had undertaken to discharge our debts we could never have had any possibility of Salvation Christ and Believers are legally united Mr. Sherlock Dr. Jacomb tells us That Christ is the Saints 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Surety he struck hands with God as the words imports put himself into their stead took their debt upon himself and bound himself upon this account to make satisfaction to God Now in the Law the debtor and surety are but one person the Law looks on them as one and makes no difference between them and therefore both are equally liable to the debt and if the one pay it is as much in the eye of the Law as if the other had paid it Thus it is with Christ and us he is our Surety he took our debt upon himself engaged to pay what we owed upon this Christ and we are but one person before God and accordingly he deals with us for he makes over our sins to Christ and