Preston - BX9318 P725 1633

ca 6 4nElegant and liveiy e f crìxion., withother livcs,it far excels fé all: this there- fore amulet move usto defire and feeke it. Secondly, this life ofgrace mull needes be more excellent than thecommon life, becaufe it makesa man abetter man, much better than be was, this puts man into abetter condition : elevates and puts him into a conditionequal' to the Angels, andbeyond in fome refpects. That yeemay underftand this, yee:nufl know that every thing is made better, bymingling it with things that are better than it félfe , as Silver being mixed with Gold, Water with VVine,aremade better than they were before. Thereare two thingsregnired to make a thing better. Firft, that that thing with which it is mixed, be ofa better nature than the thing it felfe. Secondly, that there be a good union. Nothing puts fo high a degree of ex- cellency into us as this, that we areunited unto God ; this unitingtoGod is the chiefeá good.. Secondly , this union betwixt God and us is a perfet union. There are many unions; as firft there is a relative union, fuch as is be. tweene manand wife. Secondly thereare at tificiall andnatural unions,as whentwo peeces ofbords areput together,fo that one touch the other : fawhen graine, andgraine ofanother fort are mixed together; there is anearer uni- on than this, when as water and water are mixed together : nearer than this, is the union that is betwixt the foule and the body, Such a union

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