both which are to me very momentous. The Mystical Union hath I suppose, been generally received in the Church. Indeed Gregory de Valentia once cavilled at it, as if it were Mysterium Calvinisticum; and yet he seems to own it, when he saith, Animum nostrum posse per fidem corpus Christi, etiam ut in coelo existens, atque adeo ut est extra Sacramentum manducare. He that denies the Mystical Union, cannot hold the head ⟨image 6⟩Jesus Christ, from which all the body by joints and bands hath nourishment ministered, Col. 2.19. Take away that Union, and Christ is a Head of no Influence, the Joints and the Bands, which were made to convey divine Nutriture from him, are but empty Titles, and signify no more than those Conduit-pipes do, which are severed from the Fountain. Again, he that denies the Mystical Union, must lose that piece of his Creed, the Communion of Saints; their Communion among themselves primarily depends on their Union with Christ the Head, from whom the whole body is fitly joined together and compacted, as the Apostle tells us, Eph. 4.16. All the Harmonies in the Body Mystical hang on its Union with the Head; without this Believers could have no Communion one with ⟨image 6⟩another, save in this only, that they must all die one common death, hy being severed from their Head: The living Stones, once off from their Foundation, can hang no longer together in the spiritual Building, but must totter down into a Chaos of Confusion. Moreover, he that denies the mystical Union, must turn off the Believer from his true standing: according to the Gospel, the Believer is a man in Christ; he is built on him, as on a Foundation; he subsists in him, as the Branches do in the Vine; he hath vital Influences from him, as the Members have from the Head; he is acted by his divine Spirit in all the pure ways to heaven, and all this is his security, his preservation in Jesus Christ: But take away the Mystical Union, he is a man out of Christ, he stands upon his own ⟨image 7⟩bottom, he subsists by himself alone, he receives no influences from Christ the Head, nor is acted by any higher Spirit than his own; and in such a case, the next news we hear of him must be an utter downfall. But to say no more of the Mystical Union; that other Point touching the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness to us, hath also been ever owned in the Church;
both which are to me very momentous. The Mystical Ʋnion hath I suppose, been generally received in the Church. Indeed Gregory de Valentia once cavilled at it, as if it were Mysterium Calvinisticum; and yet he seems to own it, when he saith, Animum nostrum posse per fidem corpus Christi, etiam ut in coelo existens, atque adeo ut est extra Sacramentum manducare. He that denies the Mystical Ʋnion, cannot hold the head ⟨image 6⟩Jesus Christ, from which all the body by joynts and bands hath nourishment ministred, Col. 2.19. Take away that Ʋnion, and Christ is a Head of no Influence, the Joynts and the Bands, which were made to convey divine Nutriture from him, are but empty Titles, and signifie no more than those Conduit-pipes do, which are severed from the Fountain. Again, he that denies the Mystical Ʋnion, must lose that piece of his Creed, the Communion of Saints; their Communion among themselves primarily depends on their Ʋnion with Christ the Head, from whom the whole body is fitly joyned together and compacted, as the Apostle tells us, Eph. 4.16. All the Harmonies in the Body Mystical hang on its Ʋnion with the Head; without this Believers could have no Communion one with ⟨image 6⟩another, save in this only, that they must all die one common death, hy being severed from their Head: The living Stones, once off from their Foundation, can hang no longer together in the spiritual Building, but must totter down into a Chaos of Confusion. Moreover, he that denies the mystical Ʋnion, must turn off the Believer from his true standing: according to the Gospel, the Believer is a man in Christ; he is built on him, as on a Foundation; he subsists in him, as the Branches do in the Vine; he hath vital Influences from him, as the Members have from the Head; he is acted by his divine Spirit in all the pure ways to heaven, and all this is his security, his preservation in Jesus Christ: But take away the Mystical Ʋnion, he is a man out of Christ, he stands upon his own ⟨image 7⟩bottom, he subsists by himself alone, he receives no influences from Christ the Head, nor is acted by any higher Spirit than his own; and in such a case, the next news we hear of him must be an utter downfall. But to say no more of the Mystical Ʋnion; that other Point touching the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness to us, hath also been ever owned in the Church;
