100 Of Eleflion. ~ the HuJbtmd and theCh~trch tht Spouf•· But, as ChriO: is an everlaf/ing Fa– BoOK ·II. ther, !fa. 9· 26. as well as an Husband ; fo God the Father is our Husband, as ~ well asChrHl; !fa. 54· 5· For thy Maim· 15 thy Hus6tmd; and Multitude of other fpeeches fhew ; (Iam married to thet; and the like ) fo that each of them may be faid to prefent us each to himfelt~ But, beftdes this palfage in the Ephefttmr, Chrifl himfelfcloth more than inlinuate the fame with the greateO: affections, and as with a delight to fpeak of it, in John '4· as being that thing which moO: intimately and ultimatdy ple~fed him, and was a Gratif) ing of himfelf, even this, that he lhou!d one day take us to himfelf, to his infinite perfonal joy and Contentment, For he having fir{l: fa id, I go mzdprepare a place for you, ( as a kind Bridegroom doth for his Spoufe) and then that I will comt ngai" to (ttch you l he adds [ a11d receiveym to my (elf. ] The words are, John 14. j. AndifI go and pre: pare a place for you, !will come again, a11d[ RECEIVE TOV ·V N1'0 M T SELF! J thatwher~ I am~ there ye maybe al{o: You fee [to htm{elf ] 11!11 comes m: And methmks , m thofe words he doth exprefs his heart in fuch amanner, as implies, that it was his own deareO: interefi that fill'd and acted his very Soul in fo [peaking, as well as cur interefi : And that all was , for himfelf to enjoy us, and to that End to have us with himfolf for ever. Thus much for the firfl part of my aliertion for the Communication ofhim– felf. There remains afecond branch intended in it, and that is '&11ion with himfelfwhich in reality is the firO: of the two. All Commumcation in away ofGrace is founded upon an Union with him firlt who communicates himfolj, as upon which it is pe dcth fo Communicate: Thus all Communion between Man and W1fe in fuch Ads as are proper to that Relation , is founded upon their being by a Marriage Union firfi made On~ fltjh, by an alfumed Relatiolt firfl confiituted between them: Their Union and Relation is not founded upon fuch tranftent Ads of Communion (for fuch without a previous Marriage Union of right and order, would be Fornication) but upon a Marriage Union fir{l: made. The Schoolmen do make fomething equivalent to this, the ground why God fhews Mercy to his Children, that G6d makes and reckons them lirfi, ut al:quid fui, as fomethit~g of himfel{; the Scripture fpeaks the fame , when it faith , they are as dear to him as what can be thought dearefi to ones fe!f; Zach. 2. 8. He that toucheth you, toucheththt Applt of h/5 Eyt ; and Veut. 32, 9. God made himfelf the portio11 of h/5 ptople; viz. by giving himfelf to them : And by vertue thereof it rot– lows; he kept himM the .Apple ofhu E~e,Verf.,o. thus in the Old Tefiament. Why per(tculef/ thou me? AflJ 9· 4· So in the new. Whm I heard a languag~ I t<ndtrf/ood not , ( faysGod) Pjal. 81. 5· And he fpeaks it in the perfon of his People when in Egypt; for otherwife, there is no Language which God un– derfiands not; and it is God that utters that [I) there, as the next words fhew, Verf. 6. 1removed hu jhoulderfrom the bt~rdm: And Verf. 7· Thou cal– Jedfl, and[ I] deliver<d thee. Now this Vuio1J was Elections deftgn whereby to bring about that Commu– nic.:~tian of himfelf; thus the Pfalmift , PJill. G5. 4· Bleffedu tht man whom thou chof'{l , and cau{eftto approach rmto thee; or (as .Ainjworth ~ mahfl n~ar to thee: (As a!fowho (hall j'eparate .u ( Rom, 8. 35· doth imply) and from hence flows the Communication of himfelf, as it follows in that Verf of the Pfalmi{l, he{halt 6t fatiJfied with thegoodltejJ of thy Hor<{e ; which Houfo is himfdf in our Hearts, and fo by this choice of hi! to that near approach unto him, we come to have all of what God in Heaven doth Communicate; whereof that Temple and Houfe was then the Type, in the Language of which thePfalmt{f there fpeaks. And that the Communication of himfelf is founded upon Union, is emi– nently feen in the Man Jefus, ~hofe predefiination is the pattern of ours, Rom. 8. 29. For whom he did forek1JOW , he al{o did prtdtjlinate tobt confor– med to tht image of hu So11, that he might be tht fir(l-bont amo11g many bre– thren. And whofe Union with God is the Infirumental Original of ours. The whole foundation of that Glory, ~c. the Man Jefus hath, is his Union wuh the
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