Looking unto Jesus a view of the everlasting gospel, or, the souls eying of…

In the explication of this union, that which I shall insist on (as the most necessary for our understanding) is, 1. The Union it self. 2. The Effects, or Benefits of it.

1. For the Union it self we shall discuss, 1. Of the sorts of Union, and of what sort this is. 2. Of the very thing it self, wherein this union consists. 3. Of the Scriptural Texts that confirm this union. 4. Of the similitudes that hold forth this union. 5. Of the person assuming; and of the nature assumed; and of the reason of this way. And of these, as briefly as I may: I would rather say much in a little, than a little in much.

1. For the Union it self we shall discuss, 1. Of the sorts of Union, and of what sort this is. 2. Of the very thing it self, wherein this union consists. 3. Of the Scriptural Texts that confirm this union. 4. Of the similitudes that hold sorth this union. 5. Of the person assuming; and of the nature assumed; and of the reason of this way. And of these, as briefly as I may: I would rather say much in a little, than a little in much.

1. Union is of divers sorts, as natural and mystical, accidental and substantial, essential and integral. But I shall pass these by; and speak only of these sorts. 1. When one of the things united is turned into the other; as when a drop of water is poured into a vessel of Wine. 2. When both the things united are changed in nature and essence; as when the Elements are united, to make mixed or compounded bodies. 3. When there is no change of things united, but the constitution of a third nature out of them both, as is the union of the soul and body. 4. When there is neither a change of natures united, nor constitution of a third out of them both; but only the founding, settling, and staying of the one of the things united in the other, and the drawing of it into the unity of the personal being, or subsistence of the other: so the Branch of a Tree being put upon the stock of another Tree, it is drawn into the unity of the subsistence of that Tree into which it is put: and whereas if it had been set in the Ground, it would have grown as a separate Tree in it self; now it groweth in the Tree into which it is grafted, and pertaineth to the unity of it: and this kind of union doth, of all others, most perfectly resemble the personal union of the two Natures of God, and man in Christ; wherein the nature of man, that would have been a person in it self, if it had been left to it self, is drawn into the unity of the divine person, and subsisteth in it, being prevented from subsisting in it self, by this personal union and assumption.