In the Mystical union, two things may be noted, the foundation of it, and the bonds. The foundation is the satisfactory and meritorious Passion of Christ; out of which springs the Church which is his body; the bonds are faith and the holy Spirit: Faith ascends up to him, the holy Spirit comes down upon believers. If we apply these things to the ancient Saints, it will appear that they were united to Christ; his Death, which is the foundation, was for them. He died, as the Scripture tells us, ⟨p. 145⟩for all, for every man: He gave himself for the world, the whole world. Which phrases must needs take in those under the Old Testament as well as those under the New; and which is most express, he is a Mediator for the redemption of transgressions under the first Testament, Heb. 9.15. The Ancients were not saved by types and shadows, but by Christ. Their Moral guilt was not done away by the blood of brutes, but by his only sacrifice, which though offered up but once in the end of the world, was in virtue all one as if he had been slain from the beginning of time. Thus the foundation did reach unto them. Neither were the bonds of union wanting; they had faith in Christ: the first promise of the Messiah, Gen. 3.15. did point out his humane nature in the seed of the Woman, his sufferings therein in the bruise of the heel; his victory over Satan in the breaking of the head; there was much of Christ in that first Gospel: I doubt not but Adam had his eyes opened to see him there. Abel by faith offered up a Sacrifice to God, Heb. 11.4. that is, by a faith proper to a sacrifice, such as did look through it to the great Sacrifice of the Messiah. Abraham is a great pattern of believing, even to us who live under the Gospel. His faith and ours have ⟨p. 146⟩not variant objects or centres, but both are set upon one and the same Christ. He saw Christ a coming at a very great distance; we see him come in the flesh: Venturus & vexit, 1diversa verba sunt, sed idem Christus; to come, and come, are two different words, but it is the same Christ, saith St. Austin. It is the same faith for substance in both; the Fathers in Moses's time did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ, 1 Cor. 10.3, 4. The unbelievers did look only at the figure, the Manna and the Rock;
In the Mystical union, two things may be noted, the foundation of it, and the bonds. The foundation is the satisfactory and meritorious Passion of Christ; out of which springs the Church which is his body; the bonds are faith and the holy Spirit: Faith ascends up to him, the holy Spirit comes down upon believers. If we apply these things to the ancient Saints, it will appear that they were united to Christ; his Death, which is the foundation, was for them. He died, as the Scripture tells us, ⟨p. 145⟩for all, for every man: He gave himself for the world, the whole world. Which phrases must needs take in those under the Old Testament as well as those under the New; and which is most express, he is a Mediator for the redemption of transgressions under the first Testament, Heb. 9.15. The Ancients were not saved by types and shadows, but by Christ. Their Moral guilt was not done away by the blood of brutes, but by his only sacrifice, which though offered up but once in the end of the world, was in virtue all one as if he had been slain from the beginning of time. Thus the foundation did reach unto them. Neither were the bonds of union wanting; they had faith in Christ: the first promise of the Messiah, Gen. 3.15. did point out his humane nature in the seed of the Woman, his sufferings therein in the bruise of the heel; his victory over Satan in the breaking of the head; there was much of Christ in that first Gospel: I doubt not but Adam had his eyes opened to see him there. Abel by faith offered up a Sacrifice to God, Heb. 11.4. that is, by a faith proper to a sacrifice, such as did look through it to the great Sacrifice of the Messiah. Abraham is a great pattern of believing, even to us who live under the Gospel. His faith and ours have ⟨p. 146⟩not variant objects or centers, but both are set upon one and the same Christ. He saw Christ a coming at a very great distance; we see him come in the flesh: Venturus & vexit, 1diversa verba sunt, sed idem Christus; to come, and come, are two different words, but it is the same Christ, saith St. Austin. It is the same faith for substance in both; the Fathers in Moses's time did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ,
- 1De Utilit. Panit.De Ʋtilit. Panit.
