"we should be holy and without blame before "Him in love: Having predestinated us to the "adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Him"self, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, "wherein He hath made us accepted in the "Beloved." St. Peter (1 Eph. i. 2) calls those to whom he wrote, "Elect, according to the "fore-knowledge of God the Father through "sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience, "and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.' On these scriptural views of this awful subject our church thus comments in her XVIIth article, the title of which is "Of Predestination "and Election:""1 Predestination to life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) He hath constantly decreed by His counsel, secret to us, to deliver 2 from curse and damnation 3 those whom He hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour. Wherefore thev, which be indued with so excellent a benefit of God, be called according to God's purpose by His Spirit working in due season: they through grace obey the calling: they be justified freely: they be made sons of God by adoption: 7they be made like the image of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ: they walk religiously in good works, and at length by God's mercy they attain to everlasting felicity. As the godly consideration of predestination and our election in Christ is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly persons, and such as feel in themselves the working of the Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of the flesh and their earthly members, and drawing up their minds to 9 8 5 4 high and heavenly things, as well because it doth greatly establish and confirm their faith of eternal salvation to be enjoyed through Christ, as because it doth fervently kindle their love towards God; so, for curious and carnal persons, lacking the Spirit of Christ, to have continually before their eyes the sentence of God's predestination, is a most dangerous downfall, whereby the devil doth thrust them either into desperation, or into wretchlessness of most unclean living, no less perilous than desperation. 10 Furthermore we must receive God's promises in such wise as they be generally set forth in holy Scripture. And 11 in our doings, that will of God is to be followed, which we have expressly declared unto us in the word of God." 66 The "elect" are said to be "knit together in "one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of Christ." This declaration probably refers to what St. Paul says, (Eph. iv. 15, 16) "Christ is the head, from whom 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, unto the edifying "of itself in love." (See also Col. ii. 19.) As many members in the animal system make but one natural body; so also the members of the church, which constitute "the mystical body of Christ,' are "knit together in one communion and fellowship."-Two things require our attention. 6 * In the Latin copy, Securitatem; wretchlessness for recklessness, or carelessness. 13. iv. 5. 2 Gal. iii. 5 Eph. i. 7. 6 Gal. Eph. i. 4, 5. Matth. xxv. 34. 2 Tim. i. 9. i, 3, 4. 9 Eph. i. 11. 1 Pet. 11 Lukex. 25-29. From First, that all saints are united to Christ, as the members of the body are to their head. Him all life, sense and motion are derived by the arteries, veins and nerves of "the mystical body." From Him proceeds "the Spirit of life," through those channels of communication which He has appointed; even as the nervous fluid flows from the head in the natural body to all its constituent parts. Whatever a saint is, as such, that he is by virtue of union with Christ. The slightest puncture, though made with the finest needle, in the spinal marrow, which is the channel of the nervous fluid, or any extrinsic pressure which stops its course, brings on a general paralysis of those parts which are below the wound or stricture; and if the injury sustained be above the organs which are essential to vitality, immediate death ensues. And the cause is evident; for the communication between the head and the body is thereby destroyed. Now, in like manner, a separation from Christ, a cessation of communication with Him by faith, if it be partial, partially palsies the soul; and were a total disunion in any instance to take place, a total extinction of spiritual life would unavoidably and directly follow. For "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of "His. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead "because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness." (Rom. viii. 9, 10.) Hence we learn the indispensable necessity of being united to Christ by faith, and of adhering to Him. The formation of this union is the first object of concern to all who would be saved; and the preservation of communion with Him the grand business of the life of faith. Until we are incorporated into Christ, there can be no life in us; but we remain dead in trespasses and sins. And in proportion to the degree in which the believer's intercourse with Him is maintained, will comfort, vigour, and holy activity be felt and manifested. Hereby also we discern the reason why Satan, both by his internal suggestions, and by the doctrines of his emissaries, labours to assail our faith in Christ, in the glory of His person, the perfection of His mediatorial work, and the efficacy of His grace. Error respecting these cardinal points strikes directly at the life of the soul, by tending to diminish, interrupt, or destroy our communion with the head. We proceed, Secondly, to consider the elect as "knit together in one communion and fellowship" with each other, being members of the same mystical body" of Christ. All the parts of the human body are not only connected with the head, but also one with another. There is a continuity and dependency subsisting throughout the whole animal frame. Now" as we have many members "in one" natural body, and all members have "not the same office: so we," who constitute the invisible church, being many, are one body in "Christ, and every one members one of another." (Rom. xii. 4, 5.) "For by one Spirit we are "all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews 66 or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and "have been all made to drink into one Spirit, &c. &c. (1 Cor. xii. 13.) We profess in the creed to believe in "the communion of saints;" and this communion our collect ascribes to God as its gracious author, and to Christ as its meritorious cause. Who then are saints, the persons who are thus knit together? The terms "elect," and Christ's mystical body," do not comprehend all the 66 who are spiritually united to Him as their head of influence and governance; who are called with a holy calling, endued with a holy faith, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and lead a holy life. These only are saints; and these persons are to be found partly on earth, and partly in heaven; both divisions forming but one body, which includes all the faithful from Adam to the end of the world. Between whom, it may be asked, doth this communion or fellowship subsist? What is its nature? And what are the benefits which its participants derive from it? 1. All saints have communion and fellowship with God the Father, who is "THE HOLY "ONE." "Truly," saith St. John, (1 Eph. i. 3) "Our fellowship is with the Father." Abraham, the father of the faithful, was "called "the friend of God;" and all his children partake of the benefit. This communion consists in, and is maintained by, a communication of loving-kindness and its tokens on the part of our Father which is in heaven; and of gratitude and love, of trust and obedience, on the part of His children. "Behold what manner of love the "Father hath bestowed on us, that we should "be called the sons of God;" (1 John iii. 1) and be made "partakers of the Divine nature!" (2 Pet. i. 4.) Well may "we love Him," who hath thus "first loved us." "Because we are "sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His "Son into our hearts; whereby we cry, Abba, "Father." 2. This communion subsists between all the saints and Christ their head, as we have already proved. "Our fellowship is with the Father and "the Son." (1 John i. 3.) "He that abideth |