106 Of E!eClion. ----------~-----~~--------------------- ~ 2o Second Reafon both Negative and Affirmative: r. Negatively, T hat BooR i I. the Union of tile Saims among themfelves, is not fuch as t hat it may be fa~d \./'~ That they are one tn another: They may indeed be faid to be one with ane~ thcr: And being Mernbers,they are fa id to be M,mbers of one another,Ephef. 4· 25. But t hey are never fa id to be Members one Zlt another: Peter is not in J',ml, nor Pmtt in Johll, But Affirmatively, Our Union with God the Fa. ther and the Son is fuci1, as that Multitudes of Scriptures give teftimony, that the Father is in us, and Chrift in us, and we in Chrift: And do ufe thefe very .Phrafes toexprefs our limon w11h God the Father and the Son : As when 'tis faid, Goddwrlhi111ts, andweinGod, s Joh"4·''i· AndtheChttrch that is w God the htlher, 2 TheU,. '· s. Unto thl Church of the Theffalonians ilt God o11r Fathtr, cmd thr Lord'fefus Chrif/. Yea, it is the Phrafe Chrift uft th in this very Gofpel ot John, ,.Chap, I 4• 20. /It that day, )'t Jhalt k11ow that 1 am m my Father, a11dyottitim<;; cmd l inyou. And t here, to be fure, he in– tends not that Union the Sa\nts have amongft themfelves; but fimply that which they have immediatefy in and with Chrift, ~nd that exemplified by what he bath wtth the Faoher: Aod here tndeed to thts limon, the fimilitude of that which the Father and Son have together, V<rf. sI. or after the Exam– ple of God the Fathers being in the Son, and the Son in the Father, is found to hold: And l acknowledge it to be the Archetypal Example of this our U– nion with rhe [Vs J that is, the Father and Son: And fo, [That th')' maJ /;e out itJ.u] mu!t be rather meant of our immediate Union with that [Vs] in that manner the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father : for after the Similitude thereof we are in them, and they in us. 1\nd truly, this was a Phrafe or Word fo fweet in Chrift's mouth, and fo dear to his Heart , as he will have it the very Iaft word in t his praycr, mzd I in them: As if he had (aid, take this in, as the very Punctum or Point which this latter part of my Prayer Centers in. 3· In Vfr(. 23. J itJ thnn, ond thott !12 me, that th•rmay /;e p.rfeB tnont!: That is , they being in me, and I being in them, this makes their Union [ In .u] perfect. Now t he Union the Saints have among themfd ves, is not the perlection of their Union; 'tis but a piece of it, and fo incompleat : But on t he other hand, their being one in the Father and in Chrift,and fo in the[.u,] i• that which is the perfeCl:ion and top of their Union; which the other is nor. And therefore, this is mainly intended. 4· Lallly, Verf. 22. And the Glory which thougavefl me, I have givm them; that they may be One, evmas we art One, Thefe words declare the very Glory of the Saints in Heaven, to be but a Means to confummate and perfeCl: ( as his word is after, Verf. 2 3•) that Union which was the intended and propofed SubjeCl: of this his Prayer. And therefore that Union here in· tended, muft be a greater and higher thing than all tbe Grace in this Life ; yea, and all the Glory of the Saints in Heaven; (abllraCl: it from their Union) for the End is better than the Means (which is Mr. Hookers Reafon, and was long finee alfo mine) This all Reafon acknowlcdgeth. And if fo, then certain– ly, the Union of the Saints among thcmfclves, in being one in love, atfellion, concord, ofone Heart, not only as in the higheft attainment they have reach– ed to in this Life; but not as it fhall be in Heaven, cannot be the full meaning of this that he fa ith , the Glory I have given them, is for this end, that they mcry /;e o1u, This lower Union (as I may call it ) is but a part and piece of that Grace the Saints in this Life have, among the many other Grace vouch– fafed them: And alas, how imperfeCl: is it! and in Heaven alfo, is but a pare of their Glory.I but this fupream Union of the Saints in the [us] here, is meant of Chrift and God: Their being in them, and they in them: As tht Fathe>' i& ; 11 t!Jt Sollmtdthe So11i11 the Fathtr; and this in the full accomplifhment and perfeCl:ion of it: T his may be defervedly faid to be greater than the whole of that Grace and Glory, fimply contidered, the Saims fhall have here and hereafter, F'Or
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