euen the holy Ghost who is breathed from him vpon his whole body and euery particular member thereof This Spirit is that odoriferous North-winde and Southwinde which blowes vpon the Garden of Christ Iesus which is the Church that the spices thereof may flow out These wholesome and sweete windes do nip and kill the naughty swelling humours of our spirits and doe also mollifie supple refresh and comfort vs. So that if any man would haue these windes to blow vpon him let him abide in this Garden If any man would inioy this Spirit let him abide in Christs body For as Irenaeus saies well Where the Church is there is the Spirit and where the Spirit of God is there is the Church and euery grace And the spirit is truth So then a godly Christian is more than a man and farre better then a sinner He is become a new Creature a new man a Saint on earth a tree transplanted out of an ill ground out of the world the Diuels territorie and translated into the kingdome of Christ a brand taken out of the fire a Lamb plucked out of the Lions mouth a man taken out of Adam and incorporated into Christ a man baptized that is regenerated and ingrafted into that One Body whereof Christ is Head euen the head of the whole Church Militant Triumphant throughout the World From whom the whole Body fitly ioyned together and compacted by that which euery ioynt supplieth according to the effectuall working in the measure of euery part maketh increase of the Body vnto the edifying of it selfe in loue Euery true Christian therefore is a liue-man a liuing limme of Christs body a man reuiued reformed and as it were transformed into Christ and may say with Saint Paul I am crucified with Christ Neuerthelesse I liue yet not I but Christ liueth in mee and the life which I now liue in the flesh I liue by the Faith of the Sonne of God who loued mee and gave himselfe for me Who now would not be a member of this Body who hath so glorious an head and is indued with such an excellent Spirit Behold all the heads of the world naturall heads politicall heads oeconomicall heads Ecclesiasticall heads what are they all euen dust earth and ashes A learned head is but learned earth a wise head is but wise earth a great head is but a great clot of earth a noble head is but noble earth Emperors and Kings the great commanders and swayers of the world they are but earth imperiall earth royall earth Earth and ashes will one day lay them euen with their Subiects The finest heads it 'h world what are they else but handfuls of dust make the best of them They are but fine dust and ashes For all flesh is grasse all flesh is not one manner of flesh But there is one manner of flesh of men another of beasts another of birds another of fishes But the flesh of all men as well as of all beasts birds and fishes is but grasse very grasse lesse then grasse Yet behold how we admire the persons of men of great men rich men Princes Heads who are but clay but dust but dreames aliue in the morning and dead at night But Christ our head our royall head is aliue and giues life liues and will liue for euer Dust Death Diuels Men and Angels Earth and Heauen and all things are at his becke If hee say to the dead Liue they shall liue If he say to Death it selfe die be not death must die it cannot longer be What he will haue done shall be done there is no resistance Vouchsafe O Lord to looke vpon me as thou vsest to looke on those that are enamoured with thee and doe desire thee My soule thirsteth after thee Come vnto me bring me to thee and let me finde thee and enioy thee Lord Iesus come quickly and let mee feele thy grace and the ioyes of thy Spirit in me But the contemplation of our thrice excellent and most blessed head hath made mee tarry a little longer then I thought I am come at last though long first to the last similitude which I propounded for the illustration of our Vnion with Christ which is of an House of Temple wherein I promise to be plaine and breefe The Catholick Church is the Temple or House of the liuing God Christ is the Foundation thereof He is the Principall and energeticall foundation and chiefe-corner-stone thereof The holy Prophets and Apostles are ministeriall foundations and Pillars thereof For by their ministery and doctrine this house is builded and confirmed Christ also is the chiefest Architect of this building The Apostles and other Pastors of the Church are his Ministers with and by whom hee worketh and with whom hee is present to ayde and prosper them to the ende of the world They are in this House as Seruants and vnder-officers and stewards but he is in it and ouer it as a Maister being the onely begotten Sonne of God and Heyre of all things He also is the light and beauty of it This house of Christ groweth out of Christ and is ruled by the Faith of Christ The rule of the Faith is the holy Scripture The Church is the ground and Pillar of the Truth and the trueth is the ground and Pillar of the Church yea therefore shee is the ground of the trueth because the truth is the ground of her and for because the spirit of Truth inhabits and directs her which spirit because hee spake in the holy men of God is therefore best able to giue the sence of the Scripture accordingly doth teach the Church all truths therein contained needfull to saluation This house is a spirituall house a liuing Temple and Christ is the Life thereof and his Spirit possesses and keepes it All the stones of this Temple are liuing stones growing out of the liuing and life-giuing Rocke on which the Temple standeth They are all made aliue and kept aliue by the Spirit of Christ who is resident alwaies president in them There are in these diuersities of gifts and operations but the same Spirit which worketh all in all Who is seauen yea seauenty times seauen fould not in person for so hee is but one but in variety of gifts and gracious operations Now as the foundation beares vp all the house that is layd vpon it so Christ holds vp and confirmes the Church beeing rooted and built in him and stablished in the Faith And this he doth partly by his prouidence and circumspection and partly by his merits and efficacy through his Spirit And as all the parts of an house are compact together and ioyned to the foundation so are all true beleeuers all deuout and sincere Christians knit together in one ioyned vnto Christ by Faith and Charity as
Coniunction throughout all ages and generations of men In so much that no stint or limit can be set to the value vertue and merite of his sacrificed body it knoweth no bounds of efficacie vnto life but is also it selfe infinitely able to purge and saue all in any place or age on whom Christ is pleased to conferre it Wee are then vnited by the vnion of grace to our blessed Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ being locked and ioyned to him by the vnion of a singular and most blessed Dependance as hee is both God and Man For our very being as we are Christians true members of the Church his body doth wholly depend vpon him Our new life and pardon our iustice and holinesse and all our spirituall and celestiall gifts and comforts flow from him as water from a fountaine or as light from the Sunne and altogether depend vpon him so as that if any thing could come betwixt vs and him that could seuer vs from him or from the gracious operations of his Godhead or from the Cooperation and merits of his Manhead we could not wee should not continue new creatures Saints or liuing members of his mysticall body one moment of time but must needes presently become nothing dead cursed slaues fire-brands of hell and perishable I say againe the Godhead of Christ is in vs dwells in vs and we in it not onely because it fills vs as it fills all things else and is present with vs as it is throughout all the world but because cause it worketh mightily in vs and very graciously powring foorth and giuing vs all our new being life ioyes and vertues which we haue and for that it doth also susteine and keepe vs in this good estate it sets vs in In which respect we may truely say that God is absent from the reprobate and that they are separated from him And therefore also Saint Gregorie saith that All we which belieue in Christ are out of doubt his body And because he is become the head of his members by a maruellous dispensation of pietie therefore he is also onely with vs the rout of Reprobates being repulsed The Church of Christ is the chosen inheritance of Christ as Rabanus truely speaketh and therefore the Godhead of Christ visits and tends her onely with the visitation and presence of grace and mercy to saluation passing ouer the vast and drie Desarts and craggy rockes and sterilous mountaines of wicked Cast-awayes which are the heritage of Satan and confusion I say further the very flesh of Christ is in vs and we in it And that not onely Propter identitatem naturee because he hath a true humane soule and body as we haue but without sin like as the head and the body and the vine and her branches haue one kinde of substance or nature nor yet onely Propter conformitatem affectuum for conformity of affections or similitude of vertues or for because hee is in our hearts by loue and we in his which may be among faithfull louers and louing couples but also because wee are his worke and creation his fruite and edifice His very flesh doth sanctifie vs his bloud doth clense vs by the meanes and vertue whereof being the flesh and bloud of God our soules are quickned our hearts are purified our sinnes are washed away and wee nourished refreshed strengthened and preserued to life and glory From this sacred flesh of his our very bodies doe receiue that life which shall make them glorious at the latter day and for the which they are now reputed parcels of his blessed body These corruptible bodies of ours could neuer liue the life they shall liue but that they are here ioyned with his body which is incorruptible and that his is in ours as a cause of immortality a cause by remouing through the inualuable death and merite of his owne flesh that which hindered the life of ours And if a man may say the fire is in a man when the heat and vertue of the fire is in him as when he is hot burnt scorcht or scalded well then may a man truely say that Christ is in a man who partakes of his merit vertue and operations and who hath his very spirit dwelling and abiding in him who moulds him turnes him fashions him mortifies him quickens him and repaires him scorching drying consuming and burning vp the petulant and luxurious lusts and humors of sin within him Christ then both as God and Man is in vs within vs and is our Head in whom we are compleat And as from the head is conueied sense and motion into all the parts of the body And as the same soule which is in the head is in all the members of the body quickning mouing and directing them Euen so the holy Spirit of Christ is from Christ deriued into all the members of his spirituall body and from him as God and Man wee receiue our godly life and being and all those perfections wherein our godlinesse and happinesse standeth The Godhead indeed is the fountain of all grace and comforts but the manhead is the conduit-pipe by which they are from that fountain or spring-head conueyed and brought vnto vs euen as bloud is diffused by veines throughout the body from the liuer or as the sinewes do minister sense and motion from the braine But whereas sinewes veines and pipes of wood lead or other matter lacke reason iudgement and will the flesh of Christ is furnished with them in all perfections so that indeed neither the Deity without the Humanity nor the Humanity without the Deity but both do work together for our good and worke-out our life and glorie So then we participate whole Christ and the whole of Christ We participate Christ God and Man agent and patient liuing and dying descending ascending abased and exalted Hee that hath the tree hath the fruits he that hath the field hath the corne he to whom the sheep belongs is owner also of the fleece and fruite We participate Christ partly by imputation his obedience holinesse and sufferings being imputed to vs and iudged to be ours For the Suretie being ours his mony is also ours to pay our debts hauing freely vndertaken vpon him so to doe This mony is the iustice of Christ imputed to vs wherewith we buy out our iustification and liberty which we haue in Christ Iesus This as Salomon speakes of mony doth answere all things By it we obteine accesse to God pardon of our sinnes redemption from our enemies and euerlasting saluation And partly also we participate him by habituall and reall infusion as when grace is really wrought within vs and inhereth inwardly in vs true holinesse being ingrauen vpon our hearts by the finger of God whiles we liue on earth and hereafter more fully when both our bodies and our soules shall bee made like vnto his in perfit glory And because Christ worketh by his Spirit therefore hee bestowes his Spirit
great courtesie to bee taken into some Corporation or Society amongst men in some Towne City or Colledge and esteeme it a great aduancement when a poore Mayden is married to a Prince or to some mighty rich man what fauour then hath God shewen vs how highly hath hee graced vs how great is our happinesse seeing hee hath giuen vs vnto his one eternall and only Sonne to whom wee are fast vnited with whom wee are clothed whose spirit grace and merits we do participate and from whom nothing shall be able to disioyne and part vs no not the gates of hell What shall wee render vnto the Lord for his loue vnto vs what praises shall wee sing vnto him O Lord what is man that thou shouldst so regard him or the son of man that thou shouldst so aduance him Man is a worme the son of man is a worme dust and ashes sin shame and confusion What are we all euen the best of vs all but vapors shadowes dreames glasses and very vanity yet as base as wee be the great God of heauen hath lookt downe vpon vs and not scorn'd vs. O Lord how shall we praise thee where shall wee beginne or how shall we make an end The Angels which transgressed thou hast passed by and wouldst not giue thy Son vnto them Thou dost punish their pride against thee and their enuie at our felicity They fell without a Tempter and they perish without a Sauiour But man poore man distressed wretch who being fallen by Sathans subtiltie had no strength left him to rise againe and with himselfe ouerthrew all his issue thou hast out of pure pity relieued and raised vp againe and a many also of his children euen as many as thy grace made choyce of On him thou didst bestow thy Son thy deare and onely childe Thou hast espoused and knit vs to him His we are who once were Satans hee is our life our crowne our hope our happinesse In him we haue all things and he is all things in and to vs. Wee poore wretches are sicke and wounded but he is our phisique and Phisician in him we find perfit health and soundnesse We are weake and feeble but he is our fortitude and strength We are naked hauing nothing on vs but rotten ragges and stinking patches but he is rayment for vs and doth aray vs and preserue vs from cold and nakednesse We are hungry and thirsty empty and hollow yea euen famished for lacke of meate but hee is meate and drinke Pabulum Pastor our food and feeder our nurriture and our nurse Esca mentis non ventris meate indeed for the soule not for the belly Meates are for the belly and the belly for meates and God will destroy both it and them but this foode is for the soule and the soule for it and the soule shall besaued by it if it doe receiue it and shall not be destroyed All refections are in him if we haue him we can lacke no meat to strengthen vs no drinke to coole vs no wine to cheere vs no dainties to content vs no waters to reuiue and comfort vs. All the aqua vitae aqua caelestis aurum potabile all the waters wines drinks in the world cannot quicken a dead man or preserue a liuing man that he see not death much lesse then are they able to reuiue a dead soule and to saue soule and body from hell fire and raise a dead body from his dust But our Lord Iesus Christ in whom we are and he in vs whose flesh wee eate whose bloud we drinke he he is able fully able to do all this for vs. He is the Fountaine of the gardens the well of liuing waters the Leader of captiuity captiue the death of death the destruction of the graue and the Author of life grace and immortalitie to all his body When we were cast forth in our nakednes and bloud and lay as forlorne and dead he I say he came to vs took pity vpon vs and clothed vs and said vnto vs liue and we are become aliue He hath crucified our sinnes washed our soules reconciled vs to God quieted our mindes saued vs from hel giuen vs his Spirit the Spirit of life and comfort of grace and holinesse and when the fulnesse of time is come he will raise vp our dead bodies and make vs triumph ouer death and hell and sin and all our infernall enemies in eternall and euer-blessed glory with him his holy Name be praised for euer and for euer Amen The Time wherein we are first ioyned vnto Christ actually the time I say in which he is first actually in vs so as hath been said and wee actually in him is at our effectuall calling and turning vnto God then when wee are first actually incorporated by the Spirit into his body As concerning Gods eternall counsell and fore-knowledge and purpose of adoption and incorporation wee were in Christ and Christ in vs before the foundations of the world were laide but we are not actually knit vnto him he is not actually giuen to vs and we to him vntill we be actually regenerated or called Euen as Eue was not actually vnited to Adam till God made her and gaue her to him and hee receiued her And our being in Christ by eternall foreknowledge saues vs not without our actuall calling and adoption and our reall incorporation in time into his body which is perfit in him the head whence all the body by ioints and bands hauing nourishment ministred and knit together increaseth with the increase of God The time when our Vnion and Contract with Christ shall be solemnly celebrated is at the latter day then when our dead bodies are restored aliue and glorious vnto vs and when all our enemies shall bee actually troden vnder our feete and for euer Against which day hee prepare and fit vs for himselfe who hath prepared it for himselfe and vs. Come ô Lord Lord Iesus come quickly take vs to thee The man that is vnited vnto Christ and is partaker of him and of his benefits that man I say may discerne this his blessed vnion with Christ and Christs abode within him by these notes ensuing Our blessed Lord and Sauiour saith if a man loue me he will keepe my wordes and my father will loue him and wee will come vnto him and make our abode with him He therefore that loueth Christ and keepeth his word hath Christ in him and is in Christ Againe behold I stand at the doore and knocke if any man heare my voice and open the doore I will come into him and sup with him and he with me He therefore that heares Christ speaking to him in the ministery of the word and good motions of the Spirit and opens the doore of his heart that this glorious King may come into him for hee will not breake in like a Theife or Murderer by
A THEOLOGICAL DISCOVRSE OF THE gracious and blessed Coniunction of Christ and a sincere Christian By THO TVKE Preacher of Gods word 1. COR. 6. He that is ioyned vnto Christ is one spirit The blessed Virgin Mary brought foorth Christ the Catholique Church brings foorth all true Christians LONDON Printed by Edw Griffin dwelling in the little Old-baily neere the signe of the Kings head 1617. TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE SIR FRANCIS BACON Knight Lord Keeper of the great Seale of England Right Honourable THere is no sound reason why any man should glorie in himselfe being Alone and I thinke no man that is compos animi doth desire it seeing no man can be compleat and happie no not in this world without a Fellow It is no mans vnitie in himselfe but his Vnion and Communion witb others that makes him blessed Woe therefore vnto him that is alone But amongst all our Vnions one with another there is none to be compared with our Coniunction with our blessed Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ For Princes Parents Patrones Husbands Wiues Children Kinsfolkes Friends Neighbours and all others also with whom wee are conioyned are but the spoyle of Time and a prey for Death Adam and all his Children are but Eatrh Some of them indeede stand aboue their Brethren like Mountaines yet these Mountaines as well as Mole-hills are but earth and earth will to earth though all the world say nay But our Lord Iesus Christ hath mastered the graue in the graue and ouercome death in death hee is aliue and liues for euer And whereas no other Vnion no not all the Vnions in the world together can assure the soule of Gods fatherly grace and giue it a true Title to euerlasting life this can and doth in so much that hee which is ioyned to Christ may say and say truely with Saint PAVL I am dead to the Law I am crucified with Christ but I liue yet not I any more but Christ liueth in mee And in that I now liue in the flesh I liue by the faith of the Sonne of God who hath loued me and giuen himselfe for mee A happie man indeede clothed with Christ partaker of his merits indued with his Spirit and transformed into him by his grace This man cannot perish out of doubt but Christ who died for him and liueth in him must also perish with him which cannot be There is good reason therefore to iudge an vnfeigned Christian the Only blessed man indeede and to make more account of this Coniunction then of all earthly things how glorious how great or how good soeuer A Discourse hereof I doe here offer vnto your Honourable Lordshippe and it comes cheerefully to you as being bold vpon your generous spirit and loue to learning though in it selfe it be vnworthy of so learned and iudicious a Person and comes it may be also out of season your Lordshippe being full of great and weighty businesses But yet I beseech you grace it with your kinde acceptance and vouchsafe to pardon my boldnesse with your Lordshippe Go on right noble Lord go on As you doe inioy your Fathers Honours so continue as you haue begunne to expresse his noble Vertues that while you liue not onely your owne Friends and Followers but that many a poore Priest that hath waited long at Altar and done faithfull seruice in the Church a prentishippe or perhaps two or three and could neuer come by Benefice either for want of friends or through the cruell and cursed corruption of sacrilegious Patrones and not such onely but that all which loue learning godlinesse truth and equitie may loue you and honour you and blesse God for you and that when you shall depart from hence you may inioy his Happinesse in heauen and leaue as honourable a Name behinde you here on earth The great God of Heauen and Earth double his graces in you and grant you health and long life for the good of this Church and State and the comfort of all those that loue your Person and honour your Vertues May 24 1617. Your Lordships euer humbly THO TVKE Of the Coniunction of CHRIST and a Christian OVr Lord Iesus Christ is God and Man God of God light of light very God of very God Man of the seede of Dauid borne of a woman at the fulnesse of time a virgin-man of a virgin-mother the great Sauiour of the world the King Priest and Doctor of the Church which is his mysticall body and deerest Spouse A true Christian is he that belieues truly in Christ and expresseth his confidence in him by constant obedience to his law which is his light and by sincere loue vnto him and vnto his members Hee is vnworthy the name of a Christian that is not indued with the faith of a Christian He doth really deny Christ and his Lordship that will not that Christ raigne ouer him Hee doth deny him that denies to serue him And he doth not loue him that doth not loue his seruants He is indeed a Christian faith Saint Augustine who sheweth mercy vnto all who feeles another mans sorrow as his owne who denies no poore man his meat who is contented to be inglorious before men that hee may glory before God and his Angells who despiseth earthly things that he may haue heauenly who succours the miserable and is mooued to weepe by the teares of others A true Christian is the true sheepe of Christ now the Sheepheard best knowes his owne sheepe and is best able to describe them and shew with what markes they are branded and are to be discerned Ye belieue not saith Christ for yee are not of my sheep My sheepe heare my voice and I know them and am knowne of mine and they follow me A true Christian is Christs true Disciple one that heares his word gladly and conformes himselfe vnto it carefully delighting to heare the things that are worthy to be done and to doe the things that are worthy to be heard accounting it to learne well to liue well and to know well to belieue well Now true Christian charitie discouers the true disciple of Christ By this saith Christ shall all men know that ye are my Disciples if yee haue loue one to another For sure hee loues not the Master that hates the Scholler neither deserues he the name of a scholler in the schoole of Christ that loues not the learning of Christ wherwith all his schollers are both knowne and graced and this is Charitie the poore mans riches the rich mans honour and the great mans crowne without which rich men are worse then beggars learned men viler then idiots and they that thinke themselues highest are lower then the lowest euen nothing iust nothing worse then nothing for nothing can neither doe hurt nor take hurt So then true Faith in Christ true knowledge and acknowledgement of Christ true and right hearing and discerning of the voice of
hath contracted and vnited himselfe vnto his people and is their head and louing husband And therefore the Apostle tels the Corinths that hee prepared them for one husband to present them as a pure virgine vnto Christ Wherfore also Saint Austen is bold to say that Omnis anima aut Christs sponsa aut diaboli adultera est Euery soule of man is either the spouse of Christ or Diuels adultresse And as in simple contract or marriage there is a mutuall reciprocall giuing taking made between man wife of each other so in this holy happy and spirituall contract and coniunction betwixt Christ and all true beleeuers there is a mutuall giuing and taking of each other God giues his sonne to vs the sonne also giues himselfe freely to vs and God giues vs also vnto his sonne as hee did Eue to Adam and wee also by his grace preuenting assisting and co-working with vs doe giue our selues willingly vnto his sonne Willingly I say God hauing giuen vs the will who willingly and of his owne accord sent vs his Son And if the promise made by a woman to her husband in the day of her Marriage or Espousals be worthily called The Couenant of her God as it is indeed so called by the Holy Ghost well then and worthily may our vow and promise made vnto Christ in our Baptisme by which wee are engrafted into him and coupled with him bee called the Couenant of our God beeing made not onely according to Gods appointment and in his name and presence but vnto him also who himselfe is God euen our God who hath vpon his thigh and vpon his garment a name written The King of Kings and Lord of Lords And therefore also as the wife is called by the name of her husband and no longer of her father for to this new estate belongs a new name so when a man hath separated his soule from the world and hath put himselfe into the power of Christ and hath ioyned himselfe vnto him as a woman vnto her husband a new title belongs vnto him the name of Christ is now called vpon him and he is now no more to follow the world nor the carnall affections and commands of olde Adam but as a wife must forsake father and mother and all and cleaue vnto her husband For thy desire saith God shall bee subiect to thy husband and he shall rule ouer thee so a man that is wedded and vnited vnto Christ must deny himselfe his owne reason and will and worth and forsake the world euen whatsoeuer is opposite to the will of Christ Hee should fashion himselfe vnto his pleasure and cleaue vnto him continuing constant as Penelope and should so chastely beare himselfe so discreetly that no other name might be iustly cast vpon him but that hee might bee called onely by the name of Christ whose hee is and to whom alone hee espoused himselfe For no greater shame can befall a wife then to be called in contempt and disgrace by another mans name and not her husbands which comes to passe when she forsaketh the Guide of her youth and forgetteth and violateth the couenant of her God Such goodly huswiues were Messelina the wife of Emperor Claudius and Marie of Arragon wife to Otho the third but wee neede not goe so farre to seeke such weedes they thriue too well in euery Climate But let vs returne Albeit a woman bee allowed to change her fathers name when shee is married and to cleaue vnto her husbands yet shee may in no case change her Christian name that shee must hold fast vnto death Neither indeede see wee any woman change or forsake her name in Baptisme vnlesse such as turne Turkes and Apostataes thereby being instructed to bee faithfull vnto Christ her heauenly husband and to weare his name as a garland of honour vnto death For she is not married vnto Christ as shee is to her Christian Husband till death her doe part For death hath no power ouer Christ our Lord as it hath ouer vs his seruants who are but bubbles and breathes of aire And therefore though hee should change as many husbands as She did who had as Saint Hierome writeth three and twenty and so likewise be called by as many names yet shee must euer remember to keepe fast the Name and Faith of Christ and beware shee make no change of him for Idols like Glaucus that changed golden armour with Diomedes for brazen that so Christ may delight in her and in her vertue which as Saint Chrysostome faith is the true beauty of the Soule For he is her Lord God and most louing husband in opposition to whom she must call no man husband nor acknowledge any man nor any thing els in the whole world By reason of this sweet contract and vnion of Christ and his Church there passe from them many louing kindnesses and embraces expressed by either to other really as is euident by those patheticall passages of loue that are set downe in the Booke of the Canticles the Churches Loue song wherin their loue to each other is most liuely described But yet the Coniunction of man and wife in holy matrimonie comes far short of the coniunction of Christ and his Church and doth not sufficiently expresse vnfold it to vs. For by wedlock the man his wife are made one flesh two faith the Scripture shall be one flesh But he that is ioyned to the Lord is one spirit as the Apostle teacheth Now all flesh is grasse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and all the glory of man and woman as flesh and blood is as the flower of the grasse which fades and fals away before the grasse itselfe doth die The strongest men are but sturdie grasse the goodliest women are but goodly grasse dust and ashes wormes and wormes meat Death separateth the most louing and faithfull couples that either are or euer were vnited and wed together as Abraham and Sarah Iacob and Racheb Vlysses and Penelope Seneca and Paulina Mausolus and Artimisia Pompey and lulia But death cannot separate Christ Iesus and his Church Who shall seuer vs from the loue of Christ shall tribulation or anguish or persecution or famine or nakednesse or perill or sword As it is written for thy sake are we killed all day long We are counted as sheepe for the slaughter Neuerthelesse in all these things wee are more then Conquerours through him that loued vs. For I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principallities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall bee able to seuer vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. Wee say of many men that they marry they Executours but so doe not Christ who hath vanquisht death in his owne denne and liues for euer Yes many men haue married their owue Executioners as did Domitian the
them cannot be absent from the other no distance of place nor crossenesse of winde and weather nor any perturbations of minde being able to diuide or diuell them as they may doe a man and his wife An husband may bee in Italy and his wife in England and when hee is there hee is not with her here And while shee is here she is not with him there but one of them both being definite and circumscriptible is absent from the other But Christus est totus in toto corpore Ecclesiae totus in qualibet eius parte Christ is whole with the whole Church and whole with euery part of the Church as touching his person which can no way diuide it selfe or be possest by degrees or portions Christ is no where neuer absent from any godly Christian but is present with him in all places with his light he sees with his grace he is adorned with his Spirit hee is reuiued and comforted which Spirit resideth in him alwaies and worketh in him really though not alwaies sensibly Hee worketh in him I say yet not as an instrument but as an artizan not as a seruant but as a master nor as the Sunne or Moone which are naturall Agents but as a voluntary Motor or workeman according to his will in which he is one with Christ who sends him There is many a true soule which puts her trust in her husband and relies vpon his honesty and faith but being absent from him is deceiued iniured mis-vsed by reason of his vnfaithfull and insatiate spirit and sometimes is left in scorne and turned of at sixe and seauens But Christ is fast and faithfull constant and true plaies not fast and loose as incontinent and goatish Carnalists and being still present with his Church is a wall of fire round about her a shaddow against the heat a fountaine against her thirst an antidote against poyson friend in trouble a treasure of all good thinges against want an impenetrable Buckler to all those that put their confidence in him He that belieueth in him shall not bee ashamed Whereas many a poore woman is ashamed of her husband and confounded in her selfe being euen at her wits end not knowing which way to turne her selfe We haue a By-word Out of sight and out of minde And indeede it falls out often twixt man and wife that absence and distance make them forget each other or not so mindfull as they should bee But the Church is neuer out of Christs sight neuer out of his hand neuer out of his heart Can a woman trow ye forget her childe can she forget or not haue compassion on the sonne of her wombe but say she should yet will not Christ for get his Church Why she is set as a seale on his heart as a signet vpon his arme Behold saith he I haue grauenthee vpon the palme of mine hands thy walls are euer in my sight Men must needes rest themselues and sleep Quod caret alternâ requie durabile non est and so shut their wiues out of their eyes tho not out of their breasts and in sleepe much crueltie as Stories declare haue been shewed sometimes against both them their wiues But the Lord Iesus Christ the great Keeper of Israell and husband of his people needs no such refreshment Hee that keepeth thee that is the Church will not slumber Behold hee that keepeth Israell shall neither slumber nor sleepe Yea such is his power and prouidence ouer her that hee will preserue her night and day continually from all euill and so order all thinges that nothing shall hurt her but work-together for her good and the good of all her children which she beares him But this is quite out of mans power He is vnable to turne all things to his wiues good or to the good of his children by her Hee can say vnto her with all my worldly goods I thee endow Though they be his onely in discretion to dispose yet they are all hers in participation to vse all which sometimes are so few as that they are scarce able to discharge the Churches rites and buy a wedding Dinner and a bed to lye in But how many soeuer and how glorious yet are they very vncertaine and loue to change their Masters often yes and she too vnhappy man doth somtimes proue as vncertaine her selfe as any thing hee hath shewing her selfe a mooueable euer a gadding euen the same that Salomon speakes of whose feet cannot abide in her house but now she is without now in the street and lies in wait at euery corner But be his goods what they may be and be his Wife another Sara Rabel Anna Penelope or Lucretia yet hee is not able to say to her because she is his Wife that therefore all things in the world are hers The greatest Prince on earth cannot say so and speake the truth vnto his Wife But the spouse of Christ is Lady of the whole world Christ hath giuen her of his owne riches his owne ornaments and honour and bought her such a Crowne such a massie Crowne set with such rich Pearles and Iewels as doth as farre surpasse the Crownes all the Crownes of all the Kings and Emperours in the World as Heauen doth Earth as the fayrest Diamond doth the poorest stone One looking on a Crowne when it was offered him sayd vnto it before he would accept and take it Oh Oh if men knew the miserie that comes with thee there is no man would stoope to the ground to take thee vp For as Seneca well sayd Great seruice followes vpon a great estate The waking of the Prince defendeth the sleepes of all men his labour maintaines their leysure his industry their delights his occupation their vocation Crownes are full of care and feare and bee they what they may be they are subiect to alteration and destruction But the Churches Crowne is incorruptible eternall neuer to bee won from her by deceits nor taken away from her by force and fury And when once she is actually inuested with it shee shall enioy it alwaies without feare or doubt Yea euen in this life we haue such riches as the world cannot affoord vnto her followers For wee haue the grace of God pardon of our sinnes the freedome and peace of a good conscience hope and comfort Yea the kingdome of God is in vs all things are cleane vnto vs al things in the world are ours if we be Christs if Christ be in vs and we vnited to him All things are yours saith the Holy Ghost Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come All are yours And if all things be ours then nothing shall hurt vs but all things shall further vs. For seeing all things are ours it is meet that all things shold co operate for our good Yea the Diuels themselues are ours if wee be not theirs
whom hee doth himselfe beget by the power of his Spirit There is none ioyned to God but he that is borne of God The Spirit which regenerates vs and giues vs a new life is the same by which we are coupled vnto Christ and by whose holy inspirations faith and loue are created in vs whereby we belieue in Christ embrace him and are transformed into him The soule is the life of the body and Christ is the true life of the soule euen the soules Soule take away the soule from the body and the bodie dies euen so take away the soule from Christ or Christ from the soule and the soule will die In this case the body is but a liuing and breathing Sepulchre of a dead soule a breathlesse soule the breath whereof is the very breath of Christ Eue may be some light herein vnto vs. For Eue was made of Adam who seeing her said This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh and so also we are of Christ of his flesh and of his bones as the Apostle speaketh God hath framed his Church out of the very flesh the very wounded and bleeding side of the son of man To all thinges liuing Christ is life and to men light as hee is the sonne of God to the Church both light and life eternall by being made the son of man for vs by being our Surety and Sauiour whether we respect him as God or as Man His body crucified and his bloudshed for the life of the world are the true elements of our Christian and heauenly being which maketh vs truely aliue and holy as he is of whom wee come And as by nature we are in our first parents Adam and Eue so by grace we are euery one of vs that are truely spirituall in Christ and in his Church As men we are all originally in Adam as Christians or new men we are all originally in Christ As men wee haue the nature and bloud of Eue as new men or Saints wee are partakers of the Spirit of the Church in her ministery by the gift of Christ As we are men Adam and Eue were our Parents but as we are regenerate so Christ is our father and the Church which sprang out of his holy side opened vpon the crosse is our holy and honorable mother And as Eue made not her selfe neither was made or begotten by a man but by the hand of God euen by the hand of Christ by whom all things were created so the Church is not the workemanshippe of any creature nor of her owne making and moulding but is made and fashioned by God whose workemanship wee are created in Christ Iesus vnto good workes which God hath before ordained that we should walke in them Indeed Adam had no stroke in Eues making she was made out of him but yet without his helpe of him not by him of his ribbe not by his hand But Christ hath a great stroke in the framing of the Church Shee is both taken out of him and made vp by him and without him shee could not be formed For by his will she is by his holy breath shee 's quickned his finger fram'd her and his merits are her making Nay not her selfe alone but all she hath that is good she hath receiued from him of his fulnesse There is not an ornament about her but is a fauour shee hath had of him There is not a pinne of her sleeue but hee hath giuen it her And tho God made Eue neither witting nor willing yet he quickens vs restores and reformes vs both witting and willing He made vs without vs but hee doth not sanctifie and saue vs without vs. But it is hee that makes vs willing and obedient being without his grace vnwilling inough of our selues dead in our sinnes and trespasses voide of a true spirituall life and being He both giues vs feete and makes vs runne He giues vs hearing eares and seeing eyes and makes vs heare and see He opens our mouthes and makes vs speake Hee vnties our bands and makes vs moue We worke and worke willingly but he giues vs hands to worke and makes vs worke Hee workes all our workes for vs. Hee giues vs both the will and the worke and that of his owne good will without our deserts But whereas not the soule of Adam but her owne did quicken susteine and gouerne Eue and whereas neither of their soules in number doe inhabit or animate any of their children but that very personall soule that euery one of them hath receiued of God who is the Father of spirits and who giues vnto euery man his owne proper spirit the truth is that Christ bestowes his Spirit vpon his Church which holy Spirit is deriued from Christ into euery true Christian man and woman who are his seede and children the issues of his Ioynes Who are not borne as meere naturall and sinfull men of bloud nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God who of his owne will begets them not of corruptible seede but of incorruptible with the word of truth as the holy Scriptures shew vs. And therfore also the holy A postle saith expresly that if any man haue not the spirit of Christ the same is none of his And againe because yee are sonnes God sent foorth the Spirit of his Sonne into your hearts Which Spirit no sooner comes into the heart and inhabits it but hee giueth life spirituall euen as the soule no sooner is in the body and is vnited to it and dwelleth in it but it affordeth the life that is naturall or corporall And as the soule worketh in the body and mainteines the naturall life thereof and makes a man shew himselfe to be a man and indeede to bee a man and not a beast or some senseles or liuelesse lumpe of flesh so the spirit of Christ worketh in the soule of a Christian and preserues the spirituall life thereof and makes him to be and to shew himselfe to be a Christian and not a meere carnall or naturall man and childe of the Diuell And whereas many Parents are grieued to see their children increase so thicke vpon them and some more vnnaturall through diffidence in the prouidence of God are euen glad when they are rid of them by death or almost any way else the Lord Iesus Christ and the Catholique Church his Spouse our Mother take great delight and pleasure in their children are neuer grieued for the numbers of them or troubled with their fellowshippe But she rather takes it kindly and with all thankefulnesse of heart when her Lord doth visit her and giue her children both sonnes and daughters of all sorts and nations and is very carefull in their breeding when she hath them that they may be fit Instruments of his glory may doeseruice to his name in all ages and places of the world wherein and whilst they liue But that
faile him Nature springs from Adam as Gods liuing instrument And sin also comes from Adam and from sinne death Euen so also grace is from Christ iustice and holinesse imputatiue and inhesiue true life and liberty victory ouer death at last victory ouer the world in this life and all future felicity proceede from Christ as from their Authour or Spring-head from whence they flow There is much liberty in the world there is a peace of worldlings many honours and outward fauours giuen them by GOD but not through Christ Many men haue had victories from God as Nebuchadnezzar Caesar Pompey Tamerlane the great Turkes and many moe vnbeleeuers but not through Iesus Christ But spirituall peace liberty life health ioy victory and saluation no man hath but by Iesus Christ or Lord. So then if we were not of Adam and had not Adams nature in vs and sinne which doth defile it we should neither be men nor sinnefull men and so not men subiect vnto death Euen so if we were not members of Christ sprung from him as our head and had him not in vs and with vs we could not bee Christian men we could not bee spirituall and holy we could not bee vnder grace but vnder the Law we could not bee free but bond-men wee could not be iustified we could not be saued A man therefore that would haue life light grace and glory and so become a true blessed man must needes haue Christ his head hee must needes be his member he must needs be coupled with him and issue from him as well as sinners to make them men and sinners haue their father Adams nature in them and that which doth infect and poyson it Now Christ is the head of the Church as hee is both God and Man Euen so wee who are his members are vnited to him as hee is both God and Man Christ God and Man dwelleth in vs and we dwell in Christ who is God and man We are partakers of both his natures diuine and humane Christ is in vs as touching both and wee are in him as touching both hee in vs and wee in him and both fast knit together But this must be wisely vnderstood and for the cleering heereof I will speake a little yet more fully and punctually by the helpe of Christ who is abundantly able beyond all to vnfolde and define what this vnion is and to answer all the questions that may bee put about it First it is readily granted that the diuine nature of Christ filleth heauen earth and is essentially all the world ouer present whole in all places and at all times Secondly that very Man Iesus Christ the Virgins Sonne hath the diuine nature by hypostaticall vnion so that in the person of the eternall Sonne of God which is not double but single the two natures diuine and humane are vnited fast together and for euer the humane beeing receiued into God hauing neuer had any personall subsistence out of the person of the Sonne of God A certaine similitude thereof is in the Misselto which as Pliny writeth growes not but in a Plant of another kinde Indeed wheras the Misselto may be pluckt by force or stubbed vp out of the plant it grows in the humane nature of Christ cannot be seuered from the Word Thirdly the Coniunction of the flesh with the Deity is extended as far as the Deity it selfe For the Deity is no where seuered from the Man-head but yet the actuall Position of the flesh is restrained and tied to a certaine place Doubt not sith Saint Austin but that the man Christ Iesus is now in that very place from whence hee shall come in the same for me and substance of flesh which he carried thither and from which he hath not taken nature but giuen thereunto immortality According to this forme hee spreddeth not out himselfe into all places For it behooueth vs to take great heede lest while wee goe about to maintaine the glorious Deity of him which is man wee leaue not the true bodily substance of man So then tho the flesh bee actually seated there or there not euery where yet it is euery where ioyned to the Godhead which filleth the whole world and no place no not hell it selfe doth hinder that Coniunction But though wee cannot say that the Man-head of Christ is euery where present yet we may truely say that the man Christ is euery where present because that person is euery where present from whose God-head the Man-head is no where separated or because this man is very God and so by his Deity he is omni-present tho in his humanity hee bee but in one particular space or place at once So by reason of the hypostaticall vnion wee may say the man Iesus is eternall is omnipotent is God is Mediatour betweene God and Man But wee cannot so speake of his mans nature Fourthly the flesh or humane nature of Christ or Christ as he is a true man consisting of soule and body now knit together may bee rightly sayd to hee euery where present as touching co-operation with the God-head and that in all things For the diuine nature of Christ which before his incarnation wrought all things without the man-head doth now worke nothing wherein the man-head which he hath assumed is either absent from it or idle He which came downe from heauen and descended into hell is ascended into heauen that sitting at the right hand of God inuested with all maiesty might power honour and glory hee might from thence gouerne and dispose all things and fill his Church with the gracious and blessed fruites of his sauing presence His humane nature before his glorious Ascension and Session was not without the possession of this power but the full vse and exercise thereof was suspended till his humiliation which had before vailed Maiesty was ended and laide aside For the Session at the right hand of his Father is the actuall exercise of that power and regency wherein his Man-head was ioyned and matched with his Godhead This regencie and dominion hee now exerciseth both as God and man as God by essentiall presence with all things as Man by cooperation with his Godhead which is essentially all the world ouer I say then that the Manhead of Christ cooperates with his Godhead to which it is personally ioyned For the humane will of Christ assenteth to althings which his diuine will affecteth and willeth what the diuine dislikes And from his humane vnderstanding nothing which his Deity worketh is concealed so that by knowledge and assent the soule of Christ is present with all things which his Deiry worketh And as concerning his very bodie of flesh seeing it is the Body of God and personally vnited to the Godhead of the Sonne of God by whom it was also made a propitiatorie Sacrifice for the sinnes of the whole world it therefore receiueth a Presence of force and efficacie by reason of the said