E p H E s. 3· 17· as when a Man's hand cannotimmediatly cut, but by the intervention ofa Knife or Sword. Here, 3· I utterly deny, that the Divine Nature in Chrifr !hould work an All: of Mediation in us, and for us, but by the phyfical Virtue or lnfrrumemality of the Human Nature, and particularly this of Union with us, for which to me there is this evidence: The Saints of the Old Teframent were united to Chritt as their Head, as truly as we~ but it could not then be by the phyfical Virtue put forth by the human Infrrumenta!ity of fuch a kind: for that Nature was not in refpell: of phyfical exittence extant, who then mutt be the immediate Uniter, by his own Vis or Power exeded in it; and it is certain, fuch a Power mutt have been exercifed in it : Who but the fecond Perfon fubfitting then in the Divine Nature, or if you will, the Divine Nature fubfitting in the Perlon; and it could be no other, that dther !he who was exta~t then mutt himfelf imrnediatly do it; or there was no Immediate Umon of Chnfr at all to any Samt, .under that Difpenlation. And this may well f'cand with what wasfaid in the fecond Caution, That the virtual confiderauon of the Human Nature to be one day united, and in the virtual intuition thereof, this Union with the Saints was then made as well as now ; yet it was not fo, as that any Vis, or phyfical Virtue of that Nature, could be infrrumental, as by wbich it might be faid, that the Divine Nature did it by the Human; the Divine Nature of the fecond Perfon, that was the immediate Caufe of it. A Man cloth a thing in the virtue of a Law, or Order of State, but yet himfelf cloth the A& irnmediatly: So the fecond Perfon, that then acted in the virtue of God's Ordination of the Manhood, and his own underta– king lhat he fhould be Man, and fuf'caining that Perfon. And furel¥ if he did thus unite himfelf before, he may do it now the Humanity is affumed ; for (be– fides the former Reafons, which will reach to prove this ) otherwife the Saints of the Old Tefr>ment fhould have an higher Union, and fo a greater Privilege thereby, than we now uryder the New have: For their Uuion was the immediate Act of the Divine Nature, and the Godhead in the fecond Perfon dwelt .imme– diatly in them then, which now dwells in us but mediately, by our Union with the Human Nature, and the Divine Nature dwells but fecondarily in us; it might have been laid of them, that they were Partakers of the Divine Nature in fuch a manner as we are not. Hence, 4- Altho the fecond Perfon, as he is God, be immediately united, yet the Ground of this Union is fuch, "is proper and peculiar to him, ashe isGod·Man: As it may not be alledged as an Abfurdity upon this my Affertion, That if the fecond Perfon fo dwell, as God, in us, that then upon the lame account the other two Perfons may be (aid to dweJI in us too, for they are God as well as he: Thus the Papif'cs urge. But for Anfwer, the Fallacy lies in this, That tho his Union with us be as he is. God, as the Subject o~ this Indwelling, yet for the Ground of that his uniting htmfelf, as God, to us, It IS not as God limply confidered, but as d1velhng, or or– dained to dwell in our Narureperfonally, which Additional empower'd him for that Union; but this additional Ground is wanting in the other two Perfons: And altho the Perfons of them dwell in us, fubjectively confidered, as they are God, as well as .he ; yet they take of hi<, for the ground of that their dweUing itt ~~<, they borrow that from him. It is certain, that had not the Divine Perfon in Chritt had perfonal Union with thqt Man Jefus, that neither God the Father, nor the Spirit had ever come to dwell in us, nor the fecond Perfon himfelf nei– ther; 'tis in the ·virtue of this, that they all dwell in us. And fo this my At;. fertion, as it introduceth not aGround common unto the other two Perfons with him, the fecond Perfon, and foie Mediator, but borrows (as itwere) the Ground of their Indwelling from bim, and that of his; fo it may be improved to prove, th>t he as God is the Ground, yea, the foie Means of our Union with the Deity, and fo may well be allowed, in the application of, or dfeCling this Union in u,, to be the firllindweller hitnfelf,andfirttto uni.toc'himfelfunto us: And thereby is ir; that the other Perfons come and make their habitation with us; that Father, Son, and Holy-Ghofr come, and make their abode with us, as Chrifr fays. · But fecondly, it may be added that his Union with the Human Namre was not only the Groundofthat of the other two Perfons dwelling in us and his own,which i5 39
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=