CAP.V111.4:t4,í5. UnionofChat andhisMembers, wherein itconffis; 196 that the HeadandMembers have this their Union, whereby theybecome one Body;Wherein doth it confiff ? Is it that from the Head, the Members do re- ceive their influences oflife, fence,and guidance, as the Saints do fromChrift? Eph.4.i 5, t6. Theygrow up unto him in all things,wha is the Head,from whom the whole bodyfitlyframed together, and c'ompatl, by the which every joyntfupplieth, according to theeland' working in the meafure ofevery part gr'oweth up to'an holy increafe. So alto Col: 2.19. holding the Head,frors whom the whole body, by hands andjoynts knit together,increafeth with the increafeo fGod; But evidently this is their Commrenion,whereunto Union is fuppofed. Our UnionWith Chrift cannot confift in the Communcationofany thing to us, as tlleinbers from him the Head: but it muff be in that whichconftitutes him& us, in the Relation of Head and Members ;,He is our Head, antecedentlyin order ofnature,to any communication ofGrace from him as a Head; and yet not antecedently to our Union ti.ith hire; Herein then confifts the Union ofHead and Members, that though they aremany, and have manyOffices, Places , and 'dependen- cies, there is but one living, quickning foule, inHeadand Members . Ifa man could be imagined fobig , and tall , as that his feet ihould Band upon the Earth, andhishead reach the (tarryHeavens, yet havingbut onefoule, he is ítill but oneman. As thenone living foule makes the naturali Head & Mem- bers tobe one, one body; fo onequickning Spirit, dwelling in Chrift and his members,gives them their Union,&makes them one Chrift,onebody.This is cleare from the i'Cor, 12.12.As thefini man Adamwas made a living Sonya the laß man Adam,is made a quickning Spirit. z 4. Secondly, ofHusbandand Wife: TheUnion,that isbetween them, Pets out the Union betwixt Chrift andhis Saints;There is not any one more frequent iiluftration ofit in the Scripture, the Holy Ghoft purfuing the allufion in all the moft confiderableConcernements of it, and holding it out, as the moll folemne Reprefentation ofthe Union,that is between Chrift and his Church. Ephef. 5: 3 i,32. For this caufe(ball a manforfake his Father andMother, and cleave to his Wife, and they two fball be oneflejh: This is a great myßery,bat 1 fpealteconcerning Chri.fi and the Church. The tranftion' is eminent from the Conjugall Relation, that is between man and wife, unto Chrift and his Church. What theApoille had fpoken ofthe one, he would have underftood ofthe other. Wherein confifts then the Union between man, andwife, which ischofen byGodhimfelfeto reprefent the Union between Chrift and his Church ?TheHolyGhoft informesus, Gen- 2-24. They(hall beno more twain, but oneflefb; This is their union, theyPall be no more twaine, but (inall mum- ' all care, refpe&, tenderneffe, and love,)-oneflefh. The Rifeof this you have v. 23. Becaufe ofthe bone & fleth ofAdam, was Eve, his helper, made; Hence are they Paid tobeone fleth. Wherein then, in anfwer to this, is the Union between Chrift, andhis Church ? The fame Apoftle tells us 1 Cor. 6.16,17; He (faith he) that is joyned toan harlot is one flefh, andhe that isjoyned to the Lord,is one fpirit:as they are oneflefh, fo thefeare onefpirit; and as they are oneflefh, becaufethe one was made out ofthe other;fo thefe areone Spirit, becaufe theSpirit,which is in Chrift, by dwelling in them makes them. his Members; which is their Union. 4. 15. 3. Ofa Tree, an olive, aVine,and its Boughs andBranches; lam the vine, (faith Chrift)yee are the Branches, John 1'5.5. Abide inme and 1 inyos; As Trée & Branches,theyhave an abidingUnion,one with another ;Wherein this con- flits, the Apoftle lets out under the exampleof anOlive andhis Boughs, Rom. 11. t 6, r7.. It is in this, that theBranches,and Boughs beingingrafted into the Tree, they partake ofthevery fame juyce and fatnefle with theRoot and Tree,being nourifhed thereby. There is the fame fruaifyingfatning virtue . in
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