I o v4 Declaration ofthe Glorious MYSTERY ous imaginations is to break the cognation and alliance between Chrift its his humane nature and the church, whereon the falvation of it cloth abfolutely depend. Thirdly, he raifed a vehement oppofition againft the hypoffatical union, or the union of thefe two natures in one perfon. This he did in the Neflorian herefy, which greatly, and for a long time, peftered the church. The authors and promoters of this opinion, granted the Lord Chrift to have a divine nature, to be the fon of the living God. They alto acknowledged the truth of his humane nature, that he was truly a scan evenas weace. But theperfone!unionbetweenthefe two natures they de- nied. An unionthey faid there was between them, but fach as confifted only in love, power and care. God did, as they imagined, eminently and powerful- ly manifeft himfelf in the man Chrift Jefas, had him in an efpecial re- gard and love, and did more ad in him than in any other. But that the Son of Godaffirmed our nature into perfonel fubfifience with himfelf, whereby whole Chrift was one perfon, and all his mediatory ads were the ads of that one perfon, of hint who was both God and man; this theywould not acknowledge. And this pernicious imagination, though it feem to make conceflions of truth, dorh no lefs effeetually evert the foundation of the church than the former. For if the divine and humane nature of Chrift do not conftitute one individual perfon, all that he did for uswas onlyas a man, which would have been altogether infuflici- ent for the falvationof the church, not had God redeemed it with his own blood. This feems to be the opinion of fome amongft us at this day, a- bout the perfon of Chrift. They acknowledge the being of the eternal word theSonofGod. And they allow in the like manner the verity of his htimane nature, orown that man Chrift Jefes: Only they fay, that the eternal word was in himand with him in the fame kind, as it is with o- ther believers; but in a fupreme degree of manifeftation and power. Bur though in thefe things there is a great endeavour to put a new colour and appearance on old imaginations, the defign of fatan is one and the faine in them all, namely, to oppofe the building of the church upon its proper foie foundation. And thefe things íhá11 be afterwards exprefly fpoken unto. I intend no more in thefe inftances, but briefly to demonftrate, that the principal oppofition of the gates of bell unto the church lay always un- to the building of it by faith on the perfon of Chrift. It were eafie alit) to demonftrate that Mahumetifin, which bath been fo fore a Broke unto the chriftian profeffion, is nothing but a concurrence and combination of thefe two ways, of force and fraud, in oppofition un- to the perfonof Chrift. It is true that fatan after all this, by another way, attempted the doctrine ofthe offices and graceof Chrift, with the worihip of God in him. And ' this heRath carried fo far, as that it iffued in a fatal anti-cbr#ian apoflacy; which is not ofmy prefent confideration. But we mdy proceed to what is of our own immediate concernment. And the fame work with that before defcribed is Bill carried on. The perfon of Chrift, the faith of the church concerning it, the relation of the church unto it, the building of the church on it, the life and preferva- tión of the church thereby, are things that the gates of hell are engaged in an oppofition unto. For, r. It is known with what fubtilty and urgency his divine nature and perfon are oppofed by the Sociniwu. What an acceflion is made daily unta their incredulity 1 What inclination of mind multitudes do manifeft to- wards
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=