The Perfo~rofClJrifl t!Je Foundation of the CIJurc!J. 9 disjoyned from it, or prevailed againfi by the oppofition of ry the Gates of Hell. . )I : ~ . _T~e two forme_r of thefe I fhall. fpeak briefly unto, my pnnnpal Defign bemg a Demonfrrauon of a Truth that an- . ieth from the confideration of them all. · · The Foundation of the Church is twofold. ( 1.) Real. (2) Doflrinal. And in both ways Chrifr alone is the Founda– tion. The Real Foundation of the Church he is, by vertue of the Myfrical Union of it unto him, with all the Benefits whereof from thence, and thereby it is made partaker. For . thence alone bath it fpirituallife, grace, mercy, perfecrion · and glory, Ephef 4· I 5', I6. Col. 2. 19. And he is the 'DoElri– nal Foundation of it, in that the Faith or Docrrine concern– ing him and his Qffice5, is that Divine Truth which in a pe– culiar manner. animates and confritutes the Church of the New Teframent 1 Ephef 2. I 9, ~o, 2 I, 2 2. Without the Faith . and confefiion hereof, no one perfon belongs unto that Church. I know not what is now believed,but I judge it will not yet be denied, that the external formal caufe .of the Church of theNew Teframent, is the confefiion of the Faith concerning the Perfon, Offices and Grace of Chrifi, with what is of us required ·thereon., In what fenfe we aifert thefe things will be afterwards fully-cleared. That the Lord Chrifr is thus the Foundation of the Church, is tefrified unto, lfo. 28. I6. Thus faith the LordGod, Behold flay in Zion for a Foundation a }lone, a trieclflone, a pre_cious cornerflone, a furefou1ulation, he that !Jelieveth}hall not make ha}le. It is among the bold inroads, that in this late Age have been made on the vitals of Religion, that fome in compliance with the Jews, have attempted the application of this Promife unto Hezekiah. The violence they have of– tered herein to the mind of the Holy Ghofr, might be evi– denced from every word of the context. But the InterpreC tatbn
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