EXcciov ayaXX/atfewg dlciturid quod causam dai summi ^uadii. Grot, in Ileb. i. 9. Auro; v/uv curio; rrt; ouDiag ra mvjpctrcc, xai sz^sc-rracafmog xaiio ssiv •tvSrg&MTOS, ro vrveu/JM '/ma U/x/v fLirabag. i. e. Ke is the cause of the gift of the Spirit to you, and being anointed with the Spirit as he is man, he communicates the Spirit to us also. 0 Scum,
144 THE METHOD OF GRACE. SERM. VIII.
" be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath " blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (or " things) in Christ : in giving us his Son, he freely gives us all " things, ' Rom. viii. 32. So in 1 Cor. i. 30. " Of him are ye " in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righte- " ousness, sanctification and redemption. " And once more, 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23. " All are yours, and ye are Christ's." What Christ is and hath is theirs by communication to them, or improve- ment for them ; and this is very evidently implied in all those ex- cellent scripture metaphors, by which our union with Christ is figured and shadowed out to us ; as the marriage-union betwixt a man and his wife, Eph. v: 31, 32. You know that this conjugal union gives the wife interest in the estate and honours of the hus- band, be she never so meanly descended in herself*. The natural union betwixt the head and members of the body, by which also the mystical union of Christ and believers is set forth, 1 Cor. xii. 12. excellently illustrates this fellowship or communion betwixt them, for from Christ "the whole body fitly joined together, " and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according " to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh " increase of the body," as the apostle speaks, Eph. iv. 16. The union betwixt the graff and the stock, which is another emblem of our union with Christ, John xv. 1. imports, in like manner, this communion or partnership betwixt Christ and the saints ; for no sooner doth the graff take hold of the stock, but the vital sap of the stock is communicated to the graff, and both live by one and the same juice.
Now, that the scope of this discourse be not mistaken, let the reader know that I am not here treating of the saint's communion or fellowship with God in his duties, as in prayer, hearing, sacra- ments, $c, but of that interest which believers have in the good things of Christ, by virtue of the mystical union betwixt them through faith : there is a twofold communion of the saints with Christ.
The second is a state.
There is an actual fellowship or communion the saints have with Christ in holy duties, wherein Christians let forth their hearts to God by desires, and God lets forth his comforts and refreshments again into their hearts ; they open their mouths wide, and he fills them : this communion with God is the joy and comfort of a be- liever's life, but I am not to speak of that here. It is not any act of communion, but the state of communion, from which all acts of
Uti ego Cojus tu Caja. Uxor clarescit in radiis mariti.
THE METHOD OF GRACE. 145
communion flow, and upon which they all depend, that I am now to treat of; which is nothing else but the joint interest that Christ and the saints have in the same things ; as when a ship, an house, or estate, is among many partners, or joint heirs, every one of them hath a right to it, and interest in it, though some of them have a greater, and others a lesser part. So it is betwixt Christ and his people ; there is a xoivuvia, i. e. a fellowship or joint interest betwixt them, upon which ground they are called co-heirs with Christ, Horn, viii. 17. This communion or participation in Christ's benefits, de- pends upon the hypostatical union of our nature, and the mystical union of our persons with the Son of God ; in the first he partakes with us, in the second we partake with him ; the former is the re- mote, the latter the next cause thereof.
In the explication of this point, I shall speak to these four things :
1. What are those things in which Christ and believers have fellowship.
2. By what means they come to have such a fellowship with Christ.
3. How great a dignity this is to have fellowship with Jesus Christ.
4. And then apply the whole in divers practical inferences. First, What are those things in which Christ and believers have
fellowship, to which I must speak both negatively and positively.
1. Negatively, The saints have no fellowship with Jesus Christ in those things that belong to him as God ; such as his consubstan- tiality, co-equality, and co-eternity with the Father. It is the blas- phemy of the wicked Familists to talk of being godded into God, and christed into Christ. Neither men nor angels partake in these things ; they are the proper and incommunicable glory of the Lord Jesus.
2. The saints have no communion or fellowship in the honour and glory of his mediatory works, viz. his satisfaction to God, or redemption of the elect. It is true, we have the benefit and fruit of his mediation and satisfaction : his righteousness also is imputed to us for our personal justification, but we share not in the least with Christ in the glory of this work ; nor have we an inherent righteousness in us as Christ hath; nor can we justify and save others as Christ doth : we have nothing to do with his peculiar ho- nour and praise in these things. Though we have the benefit of being saved, we may not pretend to the honour of being Saviours, as Christ is to ourselves or others. " * Christ's righteousness is
* Justitia Christ/ fit nostra, non quoad universalem valorem sed particularem necessitate™ . et itnputatur noOis non ut causis salvalionis, sed ut subjectis salvandis. Bradshaw de Jus- Hiicutioce.
146 THE METHOD OF GRACE. SEltM. VIII.
w not made ours as to its universal value, but as to our particular " necessity ; nor is it imputed to us as to so many causes of salva- u tion to others, but as to so many subjects to be saved by it our- " selves."
Secondly, But then there are many glorious and excellent things •which are in common betwixt Christ and believers, though in them all he hath the pre-eminence ; he shines in the fulness of them, as the sun, and we with a borrowed and lesser light, but of the same kind and nature as the stars. Some of these I shall particularly, and briefly unfold in the following particulars.
First, Believers have communion with Christ in his navies and title*; they are called Christians from Christ, Eph. iii. 15. from him the whole family in heaven and earth is named : this is that worthy name the apostle speaks of, James ii. 7. He is the Son of God, and they also, by their union with him, have power or authority to become the sons of God, John i. 12. He is the heir of all things, and they are joint-heirs with him, Rom. viii. 17. He is both King and Priest, and he hath made them kings and priests, Rev. i. 6. But they do not only partake in the names and titles, but this communion consists in things as well as titles. And there- fore,