Ver.23. the iltbChapter of. St. JOH There are two Unions fpoken of in this Verfe. I. With God; that is implied, the Father is a Believer's as well as Chrift. John i4. 23. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and matte our abode with him. Why then doth Chrift fay, I in them ? Not to exclude the Father ; for he prefently addeth, Thou in me. Chrift fpeaketh as Mediator, to thew that he is the Caufe, Way, and Means. He is the Jacob's Ladder, John r. 51. Verily I fay ánto you, Hereafter ye ¡hall fee Heaven opened; and the Angels of God afcending and defcending upon the Son of Man. . 2. There is an Union with Chrift imtnediatly i that is fotmálly expre(fed, I in them. And then between us and others of the fame Body, that they may be made perfe i in one; all drawn up into Unity with God in Chrift. Firft, God defcendeth in the Perlon of Chrift, and then we all a(cend by Chrift, and come up to God again. Thus the Per- tonal Union maketh way for the Myftical, and the Myftical for our Joint - Communion with God in the fame Body. This is the Great Myftery that hath been driving on from all Eternity, the Father is the Beginning and Ending, and Chrift the Means. _ All Influence cometh from God through Chrift,and our tendency is to him through Thrift; I Cor. 8.6. Io us there is but one God the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord `fefus Chrifi, by whom are all things, and we by him : All ,Mercies come to us, and our Services and ftefpe &s go to God through Chrift. The ftealon is, we are departed from God by Sin; fo that God is removed from us, arid God is againft uss at a diftance, and at an enmity ; and we are Fugitives and Exiles, as Adam ran away from God, before he was bantfhed out of his Pretence: Therefore Chrifi is not only a Meritorious Caufe of the Union that is between us and God, but alto the Bond and Tie of it. To fatisfy God offended ; this he might do as a Saviour without us : but to be a means of influence on God's Part, and ftefpe& and Service on Ours; to con- vey Grace, and return Service ; he muff be in us, I in them : As Exiles, we are taken into Grace and Favour by the Merit of Chrift 5 and as Fugitives; we are brought into Unity again by his Spirit working in us. Therefore it is laid, Ephef. 1. O. That in the Difpenfation of the Fulnefs of Times, be might gather together in one all things in Chrifi, both which are in Heaven, and which are on Earth, even in him. There God defcendeth, and we afcend. All the frittered Ele& are brought into á Body, to receive Influences of Grace from God as a Fountain, through Chrift as a Conveyance. So, Ephef. 2. 18. For through him we have an accefi by one Spirit unto the Father. All Believers are united into a Body by the Communion of Chriffs Spirit, that by Chrift they may perform Service to God, and receive Grace from him. ` Ife. is to price Chrifi as Mediator, and to make ufe of him in your Adelrefíes'tó God. Heathens had many ultimate Obje &s of Wor(hip, and many Mediators, we have but one. r. If you perform any thing to God, do it in and *through Chrift, in whom he is well pleafed, Mat. 3. ly. An Holy God will accept nothing, but as tendred in Chrifi's Name. We cannot endure the Majefty of his Pretence. Col. 3. 17.., find mhatfoever ye do in Word or Deed, do allin the Naine of the Lord tefus, giving thanks to' God and the Father by him; by the affiftance of his Grace, and dependance upon his Merit, that is to do all in Chriffs Name. We are made amiable to God in Chrift : out of Chrift we are odious tó God. Pfal. 14. 2, 3. The Lord looketh down from Heaven upon the Children of Men, to fie if there were any that did underhand and fiek God. They are all gone a, fide, they are altogether become filthy ; there io. none that Both good, no not one. Once God looked on the Creatures all good, but that was in Innocency ; after the Fall he looked On the Creatures, and all are become filthy ; it is not meant of any particular fott of Men, but all in their natural Condition. The Apofile bringeth that Place, to prove. the Univerfal Corruption of Nature, ?om. 3. so. that is, out. of Chrift. But as he looketh onus in Chrï(t, fo we are amiable ; he is well - pleafed in him : It is proclaim- ed from Heaven, that we might not beafraid to go to God. 2. If you expe& any thing from him, you Omit expe& it in Chrift. Chrift is not only the Meritorious Caufe, but the Means. All we look for, is not only from him; but in him. As God flrft loveth Chrift, then loveth us; he is the primum amabile, the flr(t Beloved of all : So he is frft in Chrift, and then in us ; he is primum recipiens, the fr(t Obje& of Blelling and Grace. 1 Cor. 3. 21, 23. All are yours, for you are Grip, and Chr/ is God's. We have it at ltÿcond Hand, Chrift cotneth between God and us, to convey the Influences and Bounty of Heaven to us. Therefore it is fáid; Tttt* x
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=