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
then the Temples of Venus Flora Cupid mounting vp into the highest heauens where are perfect pleasures pure delights immortall ioyes and euerlasting contentment But Christ loueth his Church truely expressing his loue to her by laying downe his life for her He was so desirous to clense her that he spared not his owne bloud his best bloud his heart bloud but washt her in it Here was loue indeed Hee did not loue her because she was faire or rich for she was of her selfe till he came preuented her with his grace and made loue to her poore naked polluted wretched and inglorious but by his loue he hath made her louely and louing by his ornaments hee hath made her shining by his purity he hath made her cleane by his beautie he hath made her gracious and with his blessednesse shee is made an happy woman She was once as blacke as pitch but shee is now as white as the driuen snow The Kings daughter is all glorious within her clothing is of broydred gold She is so faire and louely in his eye as that his loue will suffer him to spie no blemish in her as it is written He seeth no iniquitie in Iacob nor transgression in Israell For indeed he hath couered all her sinnes and washt her from all her foulenes ridding her of all her wrinckles freckles and deformities by the merit and vertue of his owne blood Behold his owne speeches of her praises which he speakes vnto her and mockes her not Thou art all faire my Loue and there is no spot in thee Who is she that looketh foorth in the morning faire as the Moone and pure as the Sun How beautifull are thy goings with shooes thou Princes daughter How faire are thou and how pleasant art thou O my loue in pleasures Yea to expresse his full contentment in her hee speakes somewhere to her like a man rapt out of himselfe and ouercome of loue My Sister my Spouse thou hast wounded mine heart thou hast wounded mine heart with one of thine eies and with a chaine of thy necke My Sister my Spouse how faire is thy loue How much better is thy loue then wine and the sauour of thine ointments then all spices Thy lips my Spouse drop as hony-combes hony and milke are vnder thy tongue and the sauour of thy garments is as the sauour of Lebanon It is certaine that the power of ruling appertaines vnto the Husband but yet sometimes hee wants wit to rule himselfe and some wiues are now and then sicke of the vnruly euill being very thwart and foolish But Christ being the Wisedome of God and the very fountaine of goodnesse and commiserations performes the office of a wise and tender-hearted Husband alwaies to his Church his Spouse which is not morose scornefull and vnruly but humble gentle and obedient And therefore the Apostle exhorting women to be submissiue to their Husbands propoundes vnto them the example of the Spouse of Christ Therefore saith hee as the Church is subiect vnto Christ so let the wiues bee to their owne husbands euery thing And when he would perswade the men to loue their wiues and to vse them tenderly hee prouokes them to it by the practise of Christ who loues the Church and nourishes and cherishes it as a man his owne flesh It is allowed to one man to haue one wife at once and no more then one For God gaue Adam but one Though he had abundance of spirit yet he made but one but one woman of one ribbe for the helpe comfort and contentment of one man Therefore he saith by his Prophet keepe your selues in your spirit that is bridle your affections and keepe your selues within your compasse and let none trespasse against the wife of his youth Our Lord likewise hath but one wife or Spouse our Head hath but one Body For though euery godly man bee vnited vnto Christ and bee a member of his body yet all the godly in the world that either haue beene are or shal be being all ioyntly considered together doe make that one and onely Spouse or wife of Christ who shall raigne at his right hand with him in all honour and glory for euer and euer This is she that is his and his onely and no others with him This is his Doue his Loue his louing Hinde and pleasant Roe Her eies doe hold him her breasts doe satisfie him her loue contents him in her and in her loue hee delights continually Yet truely may euery true Belieuer say Christ is my Head Christ is my Husband for he is vnited to him But yet is Christ husband and head to one so as he is Head and Husband to the rest as Iacob was a father equally to all his sonnes as a mans head is the head of all his members the feet as well as the hands or as a King is head and husband ciuill vnto all his Subiects indifferently without respect of persons But Christ doth much more to the Church then the Husband can vnto his Wife A man may as our Seruice-booke speakes worship his wife with his body that is hee may honour her with his body which hee doth in that hee doth appropriate it to her making her the Mistris of it for as the Apostle sheweth the Husband hath not the power of his owne bodie but the wife But no man is able to giue his wife his spirit or soule Though a man and his wife may liue so louingly and peaceably together specially a time as that a body would almost thinke and say there were but one soule in both their bodies yet in truth each of them haue their owne priuate spirits the mans soule is not in the woman nor the womans in the man His animates and possesses him and hers animates and possesses her one of them truely differing from the other not in kinde but in number not in substance but in accidents But our Lord Iesus Christ hath bestowed his Spirit on his Church She liues not by her owne life but by his life She is not ruled by her owne spirit but by his Spirit Yes euery man vnited to Christ hath the Spirit of Christ The very soule of man is not more common to all his members then the holy Ghost is to all the godly And whereas some mens wiues haue beene and I would none were now possessed with an euill Spirit being very torments and trouble houses the Spouse of Christ is possessed with the good Spirit of God which is the Spirit of peace gentlenesse and loue who susteines comforts instructs leades her and dwelleth with all those that can truly call her Mother There is a certaine transcendent and strong coherence betwixt Christ and his Church He cleaueth to her as an husband to his wife and shee to him as a wife to her husband but yet so as that one of them cannot be broken from the other one of
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
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
it were by lime pins nayles and sawder through the holy Ghost who heweth frameth and setteth euery stone in order in Christ In whom all the Building fitly framed together groweth vnto an holy Temple to the Lord. This is a rare and singular house for they that are heereof are Stones and Kings and Priests So then the Church is a liuing Temple a spirituall House and a Royall Priesthood a kingdome of Priests and a Priestlie kingdome And no maruell it is if Christians be stones seeing Christ Iesus out of whom they are cut and grow bee a Rocke or though they haue a certaine Kingdome and Priesthood seeing they be members of him who is a King and Priest They are Christians it is enough they are annoiuted with the oyle of gladnesse that they may be able to ouercome the Deuiil the World and the Flesh as Kings that raigne by Christ and may also haue grace like Priests to offer vp spirituall sacrifices acceptable to God by Christ with whose holy oyle they are annointed For as the precious oyntment that was powred vpon Aarons head ranne downe vpon his beard and went down on the border of his garments So the holy oyle the most sweete and sauing oyle which was powred vpon our head Christ Iesus hath runne downe ouer all his body into all his members and be-deawes them all as the deaw of Hermon which falleth vpon the mountaines of Zion And which is no small fauour this precious and holy oyntment tarrieth on vs and dwelleth in vs as St. Iohn doth assure vs. In a word this Temple this House hath a priuiledge aboue all the temples and houses in the world For no winde can driue it downe no water can wash it downe no fire can burne it downe no canon can beat it downe no weight can weigh it downe no might can cast it downe no witchcraft can worke it downe no vnderminer can vndermine it downe no thunder or lightning can teare or fire it downe neither men nor Diuels haue power ouer it For Christ vpholds it against all assaults of enemies whatsoeuer It is built by Christ vpon himselfe who hath also sayd that the gates of hell shall not ouercome it Christ hath spoken this concerning no house that is materiall and earthly but onely of this his owne spirituall Temple and beeing Truth it selfe we may well beleeue him Whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and reioycing of hope to the end as the Apostle speakes vnto the Hebrewes Thus haue we seene our Coniunction with Christ who is in vs and wee in him He is in vs as a cause in the effect wee are in him as the effect is in the cause He is in vs as a worke-man is in his worke we are in him as a worke is in the worke-man We are in him as Eue was in Adam he is in vs as Adams rib and nature was in Eue. Hee is in vs as the Sunne is in the aire or house to illuminate and warme it we are in him as the aire or an house is in the Sunne which is lightned and warmed of it He is in vs as a kernell or seede and the earth it growes in is in the plant we are in him as the plant is in the kernel or seede of which it comes and in the ground in which it is set and by which it is fed He is in vs and we in him as Adam is in his children and his children in him or as the fountaine is in the riuer and the riuer in it or as a roote is in the boughes and they in the root But who is able sufficiently to expresse these things who can declare how hee is fashioned in his mothers wombe or tell how his soule and body are knit together This is a great mystery saith Saint Paul but I speake concerning Christ and the Church I doubt not but that many a poore soule is the Spouse of Christ and one of his true members tho hee be not able to say much about his vnion and incorporation which is by the Spirit of Christ And though a man sayd neuer so much hereof and could speake of heauen as if hee had beene there yet all were but dreames vnlesse hee bee ioyned to Christ and haue his spirit really to possesse and leade him That which quickneth vs is the spirit of Christ and his flesh that wherewith he quickneth vs. That which sanctified our nature in Christ that which made it a sacrifice of reconciliation is the same which quickneth it raised it from the graue and exalted it to glory And therefore if a man haue not the Spirit or God-head of Christ and be partaker of his flesh hee is but a dead man a miserable man a man vnmortified vnsanctified and without hope of glory I am the liuing bread saith Christ which came downe from heauen If any man eat of this bread hee shall liue for euer and the bread that I will giue is my flesh which I will giue for the life of the world Except yee eat the flesh of the Son of man and drinke his blood yee haue no life in you But how can a man eat bread if hee haue it not How can wee eat his flesh and drinke his blood vnlesse wee haue it The truth is hee that giues vs this meat to eat must also giue vs hands to take it and mouthes to taste and eat it and a stomacke to craue and holde it We must needes therefore be vnited to Christ and be truely possessed of him and of his grace or else we cannot liue by him And because no man eats him but by grace and for that no grace is but by the holy Ghost who diuideth to euery man seuerally as he will and seeing by this eating of Christ hee is not turned into vs as bodily food but wee receiue nurriture and confirmation from him and are transmuted into him and grow vp in him and he in vs which neither can bee wrought but by the Holy Ghost it is of absolute necessity that we bee partakers of the holy Ghost and haue him dwelling in vs. So then whatsoeuer men talke of the Spirit all is nothing they doe but beat the aire and make a dinne they are most miserable wretches viler then the dust on their shooe-soles vnlesse they be endued with him Hee it is which annoynted the blessed soule of our Sauiour Iesus Christ and which doth fashion vnite animate and actuate all that spring from him in all the ages and places of the world as if both he and they together were so many members or parts compacted into one body being all possessed and indued with one and the selfe samesoule This Coniunction is most sweet and comfortable and indeed that wherein our blessednesse consisteth whiles we liue on earth and giues vs right vnto the perfect blessednesse of the life to come We count it a
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
violence against a mans will he hath Christ in him and hee is himselfe in Christ For Christ is in no man as a Sauiour but in him who as a man saued is in Christ And hee is a Sauiour to none but such as entertain him for their Lord and will be ruled by him as obedient and louing Subiects Further He that belieueth in me hath euerlasting life Therefore by true faith in Christ a man belieuing may see his vnion and fellowship with Christ For no man hath eternall life but he that is in Christ and hath Christ For Christ is the life euen eternall life life euen euerlasting is in him and floweth from him Yea Christ expressely saith Hee that eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud dwelleth in me and I in him But qui credit edit he eateth that belieueth Why preparest thou thy teeth and thy belly saith Saint Austin Belieue and thou hast eaten Crede manducasti He eateth him which belieueth in him Noli parare fauces sed cor make not ready thy chaps for the matter but thine heart For a good soule is a good stomach a good minde is mouth inough it is no matter tho the teeth be rotten and the gummes be naught if the faith bee sound or tho the mouth be shut if the heart be open Moreouer he that dwelleth in God God in him dwelleth in Christ and Christ in him For Christ is in God and God in him I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfit in one Now we may know that God dwells in vs and we in God by obedience to his precepts by mutuall loue one towards another and by his holy spirit 1 By obedience For who so keepeth his word in him verily is the loue of God perfited hereby know we that we are in him Hee that keepeth his commandements dwelleth in him and he in him 2 By mutuall loue if we loue one another God dwelleth in vs and his loue is perfit in vs. God is loue and he that dwelleth in loue dwelleth in God and God in him 3 By his holy Spirit Hereby we know that he abideth in vs by the Spirit which he hath giuen vs. And againe Hereby know we that we dwell in him and hee in vs because hee hath giuen vs his spirit True it is that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Iesus But who are they Euen they that walke not after the flesh but after the spirit Certain it is if any man haue Christ the same hath the spirit of Christ For if any man haue not the spirit of Christ the same is none of his And the spirit is knowne by his works as a strong wind by his effects as a tree by her fruits or the soule by her actions in the bodie But the fruit of the spirit is loue ioy peace longanimity gentlenesse goodnes fidelity meekenes temperance And as the body is dead without the spirit so is the soule without the spirit of Christ a mans faith godlines without good works which doth manifest it as the light doth the sunne or as the heat doth the truth of fire Many men abuse themselues with their owne fansies thinking they haue the spirit of Christ in them whereas in truth they liue in the flesh follow the flesh daunce after the Deuils pipe run when the world whoops liuing in ignorance and pride in presumption security of the flesh delighting in one knowne euill or other and will not be separated from it but cleaue vnto it let Iohn Baptist say what he will as Herod to Herodias his brothers wife But the truth is the spirit of God dwells in none but those that are not in the flesh but in the Spirit in none but those that are led by the spirit and not by the flesh And they that are Christs haue crucified the flesh with the lusts thereof It is no such difficulty for a man to distinguish his friend from his foe for a Woman to know her owne husband from a stranger or for a man to know his owne head from another mans Neyther is it indeed so hard a matter for a true Christian to know Christ to be his and himselfe to be Christs Indeede Epicures Atheists Mammonists malicious Idiots Hypocrites and Christians onely in name finde it not onely difficult but impossible or else like melancholy fooles and franticke men they feed fill themselues with foolish fantasies For he that would know himselfe to be in Christ must needs first bee in Christ as shee that would know her selfe to be such a mans wife must first bee his wife or as a man must haue wealth or health before hee know hee hath it and must bee aliue before hee knowes hee is aliue and can tell another that he is aliue In vaine doe they say that they are in Christ which doe not the works of Christ and haue not his holy Spirit but a spirit of vncleannesse in them And in vaine doe they imagine or tell folkes that they haue the spirit of Christ when they adhere vnto Antichrist or while they follow and fulfill the lusts of the flesh as adultery fornication vncleannesse lasciuiousnesse idolatry witchcraft hatred variance emulations wrath strife seditions heresies enuyings murders drunkennesse reuellings and such like which whosoeuer doth shall not inherit the kingdome of God and therefore plainely declare that they are not in Christ and Christ in them The course that men should take to become partakers of Christ and his benefits is this First duely to consider and bitterly to lament their wretchednesse out of Christ and to hunger and thirst eagerly after him For vnlesse we see and feele our miserable and fearefull estate without him wee shall make no reckoning of him Vnlesse we know and acknowledge our indigence of him and that hee is aboundantly able to supply our wants wee shall not esteeme and desire him What should hee doe with a friend or surety that sees no need of him Or what should shee doe with a husband that knowes not what a husband meanes Or what should they do with money that knowes not what to doe with it or with cloathes that know not how to put them on or what they should doe with them like the wilde Virginians that count them cumbersome vnto them choosing to goe naked A full stomacke loathes an honny-combe contemnes all sorts of delicates but true hunger makes a man desire and seeke for meate The sence of sickenesse and nakednesse makes a man desire health and cloathing The feeling of pouerty and lacke mooues a man to seeke riches and supply The pinching of could weather makes a man runne to the fire and leaue the open ayre The smart of paines causeth a man to seeke ease The miseries of warres make men seeke peace and pursue it Oh that we could see our vnrighteousnes that wee might
Christ which is his word and true following of him which consists in obedience subiection and conformity to him and finally true Christian charitie are true markes and characters and infallible arguments by which a man indued with them may demonstrate proue himselfe to be a sincere Christian or true disciple and sheepe of Christ lesus who is that good Shepheard euen the Shepheard and Byshop of our souls the great and chiefe Shepheard who gaue his life for his sheepe that they might not die but haue euerlasting life throughhim This true Christian and Christ Iesus God and Man are vnited and coupled together by God so as that they are now no more two but one yet not one flesh but one Spirit or spirituall bodie Before a man bee ioyned to Christ that is before a mans effectuall vocation a man and Christ are at oddes are two are diuided are enemies Te were at that time saith Saint Paul that is in your daies of ignorance and paganisme without Christ and were aliens from the Common-wealth of Israel and were strangers from the couenants of promise and had no hope and were without God in the world But after they bee conioyned and knit together after they haue giuen themselues each to other and haue taken and entertained each other they are now like man and wife no more to be reputed two but one Neither is a man to thinke that he is a true Christian and adorned with true Christian faith and charity before hee be vnited vnto Christ But then when he is first truely coupled vnto Christ euen then and not before he is indued with those Christian vertues and is become indeede a Christian For there must be an vnion with Christ before there bee communion or fellowship Wee are knit to Christ before wee draw any vertue from him Before I say not in time but in nature So that faith hope charitie obedience are not vertues had before this vnion is made but then when it is made and after wards They go not before the vnion but they are giuen at the making of the vnion and shew him that is vnited Then when Christ is pleased to come vnto a man and to vnite himselfe actually to him euen then and not before hee breathes into him the breath of life to wit his holy Spirit who creates in him faith and loue and moues him to giue himselfe vnto Christ and workes in him a certaine spirituall hunger and thirst after him and learnes him to feede vpon him as a childe on 's Nurse or as a hungrie man on the meat that 's set before him But more of this hereafter This Coniunction is not imaginary and deceitfull but reall and true The glory which thou gauest me saith Christ I haue giuen them that they may be one euen as we are one I in them and thou in mee that they may be made perfect in one And I haue declared vnto them thy name and will declare it that the loue wherewith thou hast loued mee may be in them and I in them And againe At that day shall ye know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you And yet more If any man loue me my Father will loue him and we will come vnto him and will dwell with him There are some that dreame they eat and drinke yet indeede they neither eate nor drinke but awaking they rise vp hungrie and a thirst Some haue imagined in their dreames they haue beene married and yet in truth were not These marriages are but dreames and phansies but the vnion of Christ and his members is true certaine and demonstrable Indeede as some phrantique men haue thought many things theirs which were not so Hypocrites who are like the flower Granadelle which is very faire to the eye but hath no smell as Ioseph Acosta writeth and other wicked and false hearted Christians who are like the wilde Tunalls in the westerne Indies the which doe cary no fruite or else that which is very pricking and vnprofitable may through a certaine phrensie of spirit imagine and perswade themselues that they are true Christians wedded and vnited vnto Christ and possessed of his grace being in trueth cleane voide of Christ and wedded to their owne Idolls which they dote on and embrace for Christ as Ixion did the cloud for Iuno There is a true Vnion or Coniunction of loue among true friends as betweene Dauid and Ionathan For Amicus est alter ego a man and his friend are both as one either one or none If diuided then no friends But this is the vnion of amity the coniunction of consent Such a like coniunction is vnderstood where it is said the multitude of them that belieued were of one heart and of one soule And behold the communion issuing of this vnion behold the goodly fruit of this their godly coniunction by their Christian charitie an effect indeed of their vnion with Christ himselfe Neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his owne but they had all things common For true loue rauishes the louer and transports him out of himselfe into his loue and makes him to communicate and distribute himselfe and his vnto his beloued for his good whence it is truely said that among true friends and louers all things are in common Now sure it is that there is a league of loue and friendship between Christ and all true Christian people I haue called you friends saith Christ and ye are my friends if yee doe whatsoeuer I commaund you And by reason of Christs loue to them and of their loue to Christ springing from him as water from a fountaine Christ and they are vnited and ioyned together in one like louing friends one of them inamored with the other he delighting in them and they in him he seeking their glorie and they his For as hatred parts those that are vnited so true loue vnites them that were diuided it conioyneth soules and causeth true contentment and delight among those that it hath vnited and makes them to seeke one another and not themselues or their owne thinges onely But yet this is not all the Coniunction that is betwixt Christ and his Church and the true members of it A friend cannot do that for his friend that Christ doth for vs who giues vs his very Spirit the Spirit of truth who dwelleth with vs and abideth in vs who himselfe also is in vs as an helper and vpholder and from whose aide and presence no distance of place or fury of the enemie can disioyne vs and from whose very sacred body also we sucke that nurriture which doth not onely refresh and comfort vs as meat doth a mans body but as a true caelestiall and lise-giuing cordiall repaires and preserues the supernaturall sappe of the soule the radicall humour of grace infused into our hearts in our conuersion that tho there
may bee a separation made of soule and body yet there shall bee no totall separation of the soule from God Friends may dye must die They are but men and men must die Dust we are and to dust we must returne Wee and our friendships too must perish We are seene a while and after a while wee are seene no more but fall like drops of raine into the sea and are knowne no more And oftentimes friends fall flat out and end their friendshippes before they end themselues But Christ and his faithfull friends doe neuer part the graue cannot part them neither can any such vnkindnesse happen betweene them but that they may and shall bee reconciled And whereas many men will shake of their friends and acquaintance if they grow poore and needy the Lord Iesus tho now at the right hand of the Father farre aboue all Powers and Maiesties doth take great delight in all those whom he hath vnited to him how poore or meane soeuer and is a Cherisher of them in all their wants yes is troubled with them in all their troubles afflicted in all their afflictions and accounts himselfe the receiuer when any of his poore friends are relieued entertained honored But I passe on further The Soule and body of a man are ioyned together to make a true and perfit man For neither the soule alone nor the body alone but the soule and body together doe make a perfit man as neither the King alone by himselfe nor the people alone by themselues doe make the Kingdome but the King and the people ioyntly together But the coniunction of Christ and of Christians is not of the same kinde For the vnion of soule and body is naturall but our vnion with Christ is supernaturall The soule is not giuen a man in the very act or instant of generation but afterwards when there is some organ or organs fitted for it but Christ is giuen a man in the very act and article of regeneration The soule is created by God in the body and to euery particular body there is a particular soule For though all mens soules are one in kinde yet they are not one in number but haue their numericall and particular differences But there are not so many Christs as men There is but one Christ in all belieuers And although Christ may truely in the Apostles sense be said to be formed in vs which is when we are reformed and made conformable to him yet we must beware we do not thinke him to be formed in vs as the soule is which is formed wholy at once and not by degrees and is so formed in vs as that it is not out of vs nor in any other body and did not subsist out of vs before it was created in vs. The soule now framed and being by nature immortal is vnited to a fraile and corruptible body and enters vppon it with condition to depart againe and leaue it when God shall please but Christ comes not into vs vpon the same tearmes but taries with vs and abides in vs for euer Hee takes the soule into an heauenly mansion where it forsakes her earthly Tabernacle and forgets not our dust our lesse then dust which we leaue behinde vs but sees it alwaies is mindfull of it and can distinguish it from the dust of beasts of Reprobates and will againe one day blow vpon it and make it liue againe And whereas the soule and body being knit together make one and the selfe same person so that the soule is not one person and the body another person For in a man there is aliud aliud but not alius alius diuersitie of natures but no distinction or diuision of person Our Lord Christ Iesus is a distinct compleat and absolute person subsisting by himselfe and there are as many distinct and particular persons of Christians as there are Christians euery man being a distinct and perfit person by himselfe as Christ is by himselfe Indeed he and they altogether make but one entire mysticall bodie and wheras euery man susteines himselfe I confesse that Christ doth vp-beare vs all with his grace power as a goodly Oake or Cedar doth her branches or as a foundation and pillars do the building of stones timber and other materialls that are laide vpon them Christ as the Apostles S. Paul and S. Iohn doe teach vs is very God God ouer all blessed for ever Now to Christ as God the great Creator and Vpholder of all things by whom all things were made who vpholdeth all things with the word of his power All things created are vnited vnione depēdantia with the vnion of dependance without the which nothing that is created can last a moment But as the light depends vpon the Sunne and is after a sort ioyned to it so that if any thing should come betweene the light and the Sunne which is the fountaine of light the light would instantly vanish and there would bee nothing but very darkenesse and as in this Microcosme of man the liuer is the source of bloud and the spring by which it is disfused by veines throughout the body and the heart is the fountaine of the vitall spirits which are thence by arteries carried into the body as neede requireth or as the head is the originall of the nerues or sinewes by the which motion is caused so that if any thing should come betweene the liuer and the veines the heart and the arteries the head and the sinewes that they should bee parted of necessitie bloud spirits motion and life it selfe must presently decay and faile euen so all creatures in the world depend on Christ as God and are so vnited to him that they cannot be without him so that if any thing could come betwixt him and them which might hinder their dependance on him and coherence with him they could not but vanish as light and bee brought to nothing The very dust of dead men would not be dust but would presently perish were it not vpheld by the power of his word But the godly are vnited to Christ more blessedly then thus only For euen beasts yea and the Diuels themselues and all damned soules are thus coupled with him and depend vpon him Without this kinde of vnion they were not able to subsist the twinckling of an eye but must needes perish vanish and come to nothing This therefore is not the vnion wee treat of which makes a man that is to be well it presupposes being but causes blessednesse it findes nature but giues grace it meets with a man but it makes a Saint it finds him on earth but brings him to heauen it findes him poore naked wounded sicke and succourlesse but it giues him riches garments soundnesse health and comfort which shall not bee taken away from him whether hee will or no as his body goods good name life liberty and such transitory and glassie things ouer which fire water earth ayre beasts men and
may part how good or deare so euer vnto him hee may yet bee depriued of them and separated from them flat and full against his will or may loose some one of them or spoile it through negligence or forgetfulnes or may throw them by as being wearied with the vse or bearing of them no such mischance and accident can come to Christ against his will hee cannot loose vs against his will neither is hee weary of vs or carelesse of our good Those which are his he loues cherishes delights in preserues and keepes fast and safe for euer But this is not all There is also a certaine Coniunction betweene brothers and sisters and such as are Coheires or Partners in some office but this is either naturall or else legall and politicall or ciuill But our Coniunction with Christ is not naturall or ciuill nor of humane institution but ghostly heauenly inuisible and aboue nature either as it was created or as it is corrupted And Though wee be the Heires of God and heires annexed with Christ and be called his Brethren and therefore must needes be coupled together and haue fellowship with him yet we must not imagine our vnion or communion to be the same that naturall brothers in bloud haue or which are partners of the same office or inheritance For he is a naturall Heire we are adopted by grace Indeed as he is man he is heire by the grace of hypostaticall vnion And that we are heires we are beholding vnto him For wee are Heires in him and by him and not without him nor by our owne personall merits Yea whatsoeuer we either are or haue which is spirituall celestiall supernaturall and Christian or hereafter shall haue we are and haue it all and wholly by Iesus Christ our Lord. Adoption vocation iustification sanctification peace hope victorie ouer death and the purchase of eternall life are all of them by the merits and grace of Christ as the holy Scriptures shew vs. And albeit wee haue an office and high calling for Christ hath made vs Kings and Priests vnto God his Father yet are we no such Kings and Priests as he is but as wee haue receiued our honour from him so we should returne it to him and glorifie him with it and not bee like those captious spirits who because they heare they bee Kings and Priests heires of GOD and heires annexed with Christ their Brother thinke it a disparagement forsooth of their honour as some of them scribble and other of them babble and weakning in shew of their fellowship with him if they shall receiue the blessed Sacrament vpon their knees bended to him either as it seemes forgetting or not knowing that they are the Heires of God through Christ by whose onely merits they doe receiue all their honours and happinesse their life and lustre their grace and goodnesse Brothers and sisters may die shall die heires may fall out and vndoe one another or others may spoile their inheritance and where many are heires their portions are the lesse some of them may lacke and complaine of neede But Christ and his brethren cannot be parted their portions cannot be destroied nor taken from them their inheritance cannot faile nor discontent them but euery one of them shall haue enough and shall enioy it for euer But there is yet a neerer coniunction then this of Brothers or Partners which is the holy honourable and inuiolable coniunction of man and wife By this matrimoniall coniunction they that were two before are now become One They are no longer twaine but one flesh saith our Master And they are tuely one and not two because GOD the Author of man and marriage hath sayde it For this cause shall a man leaue his father and his mother and shall cleaue vnto his wife and they two shall bee one flesh So that though all men should say that they are not one but two yea though they themselues should say so too yet they are not therefore two because man sayes so but one because God hath sayd it For Non nostrum dicere dat veritatem rebus sed conforinit as eius cum mente diuinâ things are not so and so because men say they are so but because they are so with God in Gods ordinance and appoyntment Though all men should say golde were not golde yet it is golde And though all the Gold-smiths in the world should say copper is gold yet it is not golde for all their saying but copper still because it agrees not with the diuine minde God hath not sayd it is gold it is not gold in his decree and iudgement and therfore it is not gold Well then man and wife are but one and not two Yes they are two distinct persons and not one They haue two soules and not one two bodies and not one two distinct wils and not only one They are of two different sexes and haue their owne personall vertues and infirmities He his and She hers Yet neuerthelesse these two are made one matrimoniall creature the man being as head and the woman as the body or if you will he being as the Soule and she the Body For as Christ is the head of the man so man is the head of the woman And this is in respect of authority and dominion in which regard Christ is not the wiues head but the husbands neither is shee the image of Christ but he onely As Christ is the head of the Church so the husband is the head of his wife And as the soule and body though things greatly differing in themselues are yet coupled together by God and doe liue and worke together and as two distinct riuers meeting together doe now mingle and blend themselues and become as one common water or riuer so man and wife are indeede not confounded but vnited together liue together vnder one roofe draw together in one yoke take care mutually of one another and become by Gods ordinance one foundation and fountaine of generation So that here is more then a coniunction of affections as vses to bee among friends as was betwixt Damon and Pythias there is also a coniunction of bodies for the propagation and perpetuation of mankinde and that there might also be a way made for the fulfilling of the number of Christs mysticall members Gods adopted sonnes and daughters For generation must goe before regeneration and nature before grace Yes sanctification must follow sinne For Christ came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance neither did hee die for the iust but for the vniust There must first bee a man and then a Christian first a sinner and then a Saint filius soli before there be filius poli one of Adams planting before there be one of Christs transplanting one of Eues breeding before there be one of the Churches bearing Now without doubt our Lord God and Sauiour the Lord Iesus Christ
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
but Christs Christ will so order the matter that they shall but wreath garlands of immortality for vs though sore against their wils and increase our glory And whereas many men forget the honour of their wiues and are regardlesse of their decency as Sergus that Scottish King who so basely neglected his Wife and held her so penurious that shee was driuen to serue other Noble women for her liuing Christ Iesus is so carefull ouer his Spouse who stands at his right hand in gould of Ophir that rather then shee shall want attendance and honour he will moue euen Kings to be her nourishers Queens her nurses who shall bow downe vnto her with their faces towards the earth and licke vp the dust of her feete The coniunction of Man and Wife doth not necessarily cause eyther or both of them to bee piously disposed For as hee that toucheth pitch is vsually defiled with it and as sweet riuers running through fennish grounds are thereby corrupted so the company of a wicked man doth oftentimes corrupt the manners of a good natured woman And although a man may take a woman to his wife yet it is not in his hands to make her eyther a good Woman or a good Wife if he finde her naught But our coniunction with Christ doth chaunge vs all ouer and turnes vs vpside downe hee contaminates and infects no man hee cannot but he purifies and makes good al that come vnto him and bestow themselues vpon him And albeit the Wife doth in some sort depend vpon her Husband seeing she is vnited to him and is his yet if that knot were dissolued either by iust diuorce or death it might fall out that shee might liue still as well and bee as godly as she was before For neither her Vertues nor her life depends on him nor vpon his life neither yet her happinesse alway nor her good successe it 'h world She may find better friends then her Husband was or shee may be married to a second Husband in whom shee may be happier by far then in her first But the Church and all her children doe so depend on Christ that without him they cannot continue a moment for by him we liue moue and haue our being and all our well-being both as wee be men and as wee are Christian men From him we haue our selues our iustice holinesse and all our happinesse In him wee are elected in him created by him redeemed and preserued Without me saith Christ ye can doe nothing and so also without Christ wee can be nothing If something yet that something that 's worse then nothing for nothing cannot sinne and nothing cannot suffer for sinne Nothing can doe no wrong and nothing can feele no paine It were more profitable for a man not to bee then to be a man out of Christ Though hee were married to the best woman in the world though hee were coupled with the best friends i' th world though he were ioyned in bloud or alliance to the cheefest Monarchs in the world though hee were possessed with the greatest and richest kinngdomes of the world yet if hee were not vnited to Christ Iesus if hee were not possest of him he were nothing he had nothing hee were more miserable then the dust he treads on For Christ is all things he that hath Christ lacks nothing he that wants Christ hath nothing A man were better be nothing then something hauing nothing Who is able to expresse the worthinesse of Christ Iesus He is our life and our light our comfort and our crowne our grace our glory he is our all things he that hath him hath life saies Saint Iohn but hee that hath not him hath not life But had I the tongues of Men and Angels I could not declare the praises due to Christ Iesus my Lord and Sauiour If all the water in the Maine were incke yet all that incke were not enough to write downe his worthy praises Common experience teacheth that women feed their children yea out of their owne bodies as Sarah did Isaak with her owne milke And I haue read of a woman who gaue her owne mother sucke of her owne body when she being in prison was kept from meat and after such a sort a woman may preserue the life of her husband a while at least but did I neuer eyther see heare or read of a man that fedde and nourished his wife of himselfe He may bring her meat but he is no meat hee makes not himselfe a dish to feede on he giues his wife his heart but not as Hawkes-meat to prey on not rosted to liue on But Christ Iesus the Husband of the Church is also the very food of our soules I am that bread of life saith Christ I am the liuing bread The bread which I will giue is my flesh He which eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud abideth in mee and I in him Here is a louer indeed the globe we tread on beares not a husband halfe so kinde nor all the Markets in the world can afford such meat as here If there were but a Baker which could make such bread for the body to keep it from death men would to him if he were in the farthest angle of the earth Countries would goe together by the eares to get and enioy him I suppose that if he had his choyce hee would rather chuse to dye then to liue For sure men would weare his flesh to the bones with labour and would scarce suffer him eyther to eate or sleepe But what gaines a man by long life without this Bread of Life Christ Iesus The Iudgement will come at length and shall not bee put off and the longer a sinner hath liued the more sinnes hee hath committed the greater accounts he must make the greater torments hee must indure And what pleasure thinke wee will the soule then take to be kept in the body like a Prisoner in a strong Goale vnder much pain want and sorrow against her will and not to be able to get out through she would begge it with flouds of teares continually streaming from the eyes and would giue euen all the world if shee had it if shee could but die and come to nothing Our Lord our Husband is better bread then so He is the bread of eternall life to all that are vnited to him and which feede vpon him They whom he feeds vpon himselfe are safe from staruing sure enough from destruction And. whereas other Bread is turned and concocted in vs the truth is This bread of life is not turned in vs not turned into the substance of our soule or body but it turnes and transforms vs rather into it For Christ doth so metamorphise and alter a man whom he couples to himselfe that he doth put a new life into him hee giues him another kinde of spirit and doth so furnish him with his owne things that
the Body a compleate bodie without the head But being both vnited and no part wanting they become one entire and perfit body Euen so Christ and his Church instructed with all her true parts and members make together one compleate body or as it were one perfit spirituall man It pleaseth him in his mercy to count himselfe incompleat and maimed without his Church which is his Body the Fulnesse of him that filleth all in all And we for our parts are most certaine that without him we are iust nothing but that we all receiue of his fulnesse because hee is Iustification to vs and is also in vs as a most free mouing and working cause whence many blessed effects doe come all of them tending to eternall life and glory as all waters vnto the Maine I say Christ is the head the sole head of the catholique church which is his onely body For the Father hath put all things vnder his feete and hath giuen him to be the Head ouer all things to the Church So by way of supereminencie and praedominancie he is our Head alone There is no other man but this man Christ Iesus who is head and Husband to the Church which is his and his alone Truely saith Saint Gregorie Peter the Apostle is the chiefest member of the the Holy Catholique Church Paul Andrew and Iohn what are they else but heads of seuerall or particular people But yet they are all members of the Church vnder one Head Hee saith S. Ambrose is the Bridegroome that hath the Bride that is Hee alone is the Churches Husband The Apostles and other Pastors of the Church Bishops and Presbyters are the seruants or friends of the Bridegroome but none of them haue her for their Spouse none of them is her Husband Saint Bernard thus speakes to Pope Eugenius If thou beest saith he the friend of the Bridegroome doe not call his Beloued thy Princesse but Princesse challenging nothing for thine in her saue onely that thou oughtest to giue thy life for her if it were behoouefull Wee doe therefore all of vs say with Saint Paul Wee preach not our selues but Christ Iesus the Lord and our selues your seruants for Iesus sake Weacknowledge Christ for our Lord and our selues his seruants called and sent by him to wait vpon his Church and children to prepare them for Christ as a Virgin for her Husband to giue them all their portion of meat in due season and to present euery man in Christ Iesus This is our proper office this is our strife and study and this is the voice of vs all all all I say further that the Catholique Church alone is the mysticall Body of Christ The Saints before the Law saith Saint Gregorie the Saints vnder the Law and the Saints vnder Grace All these perfecting the Lords Body are members of the Church Not some of the members but all that are constituent and essentiall venerable Beda speakes the like when he saith All Churches throughout the world make one Catholique This Catholique and mysticall Body of Christ consists of true beleeuers and such as are truely sanctified For the Church of Christ and all her proper members are made clean and holy not hauing spot or wrinkle The Church of Christ is Christs Doue and Faire one but Doues are not Kytes Crowes Vultures Snakes Adders Dragons Lions Beares Leopards His Church is faire and beautifull washed with Water and annointed with Oyle and is very beautifull and perfect through the beauty which God hath put vpon her Yes She is the fairest among Women And therefore neyther shee nor any of her naturall and louing children ought to be reputed foule vile and vgly The members of the Church are Christs sheepe and he is their carefull and good Sheepheard who maketh them to rest in greene Pastures and leadeth them by the still Waters But Sheepe are not Wolues and Foxes Goates and Tygers Dogges Swine nor fatte Buls of Basan To make any such to be members of the Catholicke Church were to make Christ a Neateheard which were a transcendent indignity but let vs heare the Fathers and Doctors of the Church which shined like Lampes in the house of God in ages long agoe They saith Saint Origen which haue not spot or wrinckle or any such thing about them are the true Church And in another place hee shewes the reason why the Church is said to be holy without spot namely because she is reputed pure and sincere In the Church saith S. Chrysostome there is no earthen or wodden vessell but all are of siluer and gold For there is the body of Christ a chast Virgin not hauing spot or wrinckle When we say the Church faith S. Cyrill of Alexandria we meane the most holy multitude of the godly The Church saith Saint Ambrose is the mother of those that are aliue Surely the good Father neuer thought then that men dead in sinnes and inwardly vicious and irreformed though they should make a faire outward profession were to be reputed true members of the Catholique Church The Church of Christ saith S. Hierome is glorious not hauing spot or wrinckle nor any such therefore he which is a sinner or defiled with any filthinesse cannot bee sayd to bee of the Church of Christ nor subiect vnto Christ Prosper accordingly saith that the Catholique Church consists in the Elect foreknowne of God the children of the promise the members of Christs body Rupertus in like manner affirmeth that the vniuersall Church is cleansed in the bloud of Christ from all fault And Bernard What is the Spouse but the congregation of iust ones And what is this congregation but the generation of them that seeke the Lord of them that seeke the face of the bridegroome As for haeretiques hypocrites and other wicked and vngodly men they pertaine not to the holy Church of God as Saint Augustine speaketh although they may seeme to be within it But as Christ is the Head of the Church which is his Body and shall raigne with him in euerlasting glory euen so the Deuill is the Head and Heards-man of the wicked who are after a sort his Bodie as the said holy Father sheweth who shall be punished with him in aternall fire As concerning these three points of Popery to wit That the Bishop of Rome is the Head of the Vniuersall Church on earth to whom euery soule of man must be subiect or else he cannot but be damned Secondiy that the Church of Rome is the vniuersall Church of Christ the onely Catholique Church of Christ. Thirdly that no inward vertue is required to make a part of the Catholique Church but onely an exteriour profession of the faith and followship in Sacraments These three points of Doctrin haue in these latter times crept out of the Alpes like Mise or Rats Rome hath set
heathenish dayes it was accounted a great fauour to haue to doe with a God But Gods Church is no Paulina yeeldes not to Mundus the World but is able to distinguish betwixt God and the world vnder what habit or colour soeuer the world appeareth Shee is neither so dimme-sighted nor so supersticious and foolish as to mistake or leaue her husband or to giue her selfe to the Iust of any out of the loue either of their fauour or dalliance with them Shee loues to beare but yet onely by her owne husband Him shee knowes well his voice she heares him shee followes But the voyce of strangers she knowes not them she followes not but flyeth from them A man may take a wife but he cannot alwayes make her a mother God maketh the barren woman to be a ioyfull mother of children A man is not able to remooue sterility nor though his wife were fruitfull to beget a childe when hee will himselfe Loe children are an heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the wombe is his reward But Christ Iesus the Churches husband a man indeede but more then a man euen God eternall is able to make his Spcuse fruitfull and to giue her children when he will and children of a better condition and complexion then husbands giue their wiues which are wormes and worse too vncleane and wretched subiect to the wrath of God and vnder death For all the children of the Church which shee beareth vnto Christ are cleane and happy faire and louely endued with the holy Ghost and clad with Christ himselfe who is their father and enrobed with his iustice as with a garment rich enough to redeem the world in which appearing before the great and righteous God the Iudge of all the world they reioyce his heart and obtaine his blessing as Iacob obtained his father Isaachs comming to him with his brothers faire apparrell on him which his mother had with her in her house Of such blessed Parents how can there be but blessed children O blessed thrice blessed are all the children of the Church The children of the greatest Kings and Queenes in the world are not to bee compared to them They are not worthy to bee named together in one day The truth is they are but very wretches how glorious soeuer they bee in the world till they come and call her mother and become obedient to her But be it that a woman be a wife vnto her husband and a mother too yet shee is not both houswife and house too Men dwell with their wiues but not in their wiues except by loue But the Catholique Church is Christs huswife and his house too his Spouse and his Temple also Ye are the Temple of the lining God saith Saint Paul In this temple Christ is alway present alway resident alway president To him this Temple is erected by him it is set vp and kept sartumtectum safe sound This he fils in it hee walkes and rules and takes great delight The Lord hath chosen her for his owne habitation and loueth to dwell in her saying This is my rest for euer heere will I dwell for I haue a delight therein Shee is a liuing Temple and Christ is the life thereof Shee is a light house but no light huswife and Christ is the Light thereof A part of which princely Palace is euery godly Christian who as a liuing stone is hewen out of that rocke of life Christ Iesus and by him made vp and put into that goodly building So then wheras many a poore child which hath both father and mother is yet destitute oftentimes of a house to put his head in and is compelled to lie vnder hedges and wals or in the open fields there is not a true childe of God there is not a man aliue if he bee filius Ecclesiae the son of the Church but hee hath an house to rest his soule in and so long as he is vnder the roofe hee is safe from euill being vnder the Lords protection who is a sure shield and castle of defence inuincible vnbatterable vnto all that put their trust in him and walke vprightly with him in his house But I will haste a little faster on No man makes his owne wife For shee is first without him a woman before hee take her to be with him as his wife It is too much for a man to make a woman for some finde it too much to mend a woman so that he must let that alone for euer as a worke peculiar vnto God And though it be an easie matter for a man to get himselfe a wife such as shee is yet a good wife a vertuous wife a prudent wife one that will doe her husband good and not euill all the dayes of her life is a blessing that comes from God Parents can giue nature but God giues grace They can giue flesh and blood but vertue and well doing are the gifts of God who is the fountaine and father of lights And it fals out sometimes by the iniquity of rigid and couetous parents that a man hath a wife thrust vpon him beeing constrained to take her for auoyding greater dangers and more greeuous euils And when they haue them they loue them as men doe straight shooes and clothes they care not for But the Lord lesus hath no wife obtruded on him against his will neither can any with subtill sleights steale into him and goe beyond him as some women vse to winne their husbands But hee takes whom hee takes willingly and makes the first motion of loue alwayes himselfe neither doth he cozen or beguile any but leads them on with truths and sollid demonstrations and promises no more then he can and will performe Yea he takes but what hee made before For all creatures haue past through his hands hee had the forming of them all And whom hee makes his wife hee does not marre in the making as sometimes men doe but reformes and beautifies them wheras men sometimes take vpon them moued by worldly respects to marry some peruerse wicked or supersticious women hoping and now and then bragging they will reforme them whereas commonly they buy repentance too late and in stead of mending them are somtimes marr'd themselues infected with their vices as wine or water with musty vessells And whereas men doe not beget their wiues they meane to marry For men marry not with their daughters And sure if Lot and Cyanippus had not both beene drunke their daughters had not beene vitiated by them Neither had Valeria Thusculana got the incestuous companie of her father but vnder the colour of another woman Which so soone as hee did perceiue he kild himselfe in detestation of the fact Euery Christian soule est filia sponsa Christi is both the daughter the Spouse of Christ Iesus descended from him and vnited to him Hee weddeth none but his owne