A Supplement to Knowledge and Practice, Part 1 · Chapter 4 · Section 3
SECT. III. Of the Communion of Saints.the Communion of Saints
COncerning this Article we ſhall inquire. 1. Who may truly be called Saints; and wherein the true nature of Saintſhip doth conſiſt, and how the Saints are diſtinguiſhed from others. 2. Who are thoſe perſons with whom theſe Saints have Communion. For the firſt
1. By the tenure of the Goſpel we ſhall find that thoſe are truly and properly Saints, who being called with an holy calling, have not been diſobedient to it, but are indued with a holy faith uniting them to Chriſt, and are purified thereby, and are Sanctified by the holy Spirit of God, and by vertue thereof do lead a holy life, daily endeavouring to perfect holineſs in the fear of God; ſuch perſons are really and truly Saints; and being true members of the Church of Chriſt are, the proper ſubject of this Article.
2. Who are thoſe perſons with whom theſe Saints have communion? and in what doth this their communion conſiſt?
1. The Saints of God living in the Church of Chriſt have communion with God the Father, praying unto him and praiſing of him, truſting in him, and exerciſing ſuch acts of worſhip as he requires, 1 John 1.3. That which we have ſeen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye alſo may have fellowſhip with the Father and with his Son Jeſus Chriſt. David affectionately expreſſeth his deſire of this communion, Pſal. 42.1. As the heart panteth after the water-brooks, ſo panteth my Soul after thee, O God.
2. They have Communion with God the Son, 1 Cor. 1.9. God hath called us to the fellowſhip of his Son. For being united to Chriſt by faith, they are thereby made partakers of his Righteouſneſs, and receive ſpiritual life and grace from him for the ſanctifying of their natures, and ſincerely endeavour after conformity unto him.
3. They have communion with God the Holy Ghoſt. The Apoſtle hath two wayes aſſured us of the truth hereof; one Rhetorically by a ſeeming doubt. If there be any fellowſhip of the Spirit, Phil. 2.1. The other directly, praying devoutly for it, 2 Cor. 13.14. The grace of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghoſt be with you all, Amen.
This is the communion which the Saints enjoy with the three bleſſed perſons in the Trinity, John 14.23. If any man love me (ſayes our Saviour) he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. And the preſence of the Spirit cannot be wanting where theſe two are inhabiting; for if any man have not the Spirit of Chriſt, he is none of his. The Spirit therefore with the Father and the Son inhabiteth in the Saints. For know ye not (ſaith the Apoſtle) that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you, 1 Cor. 3.16.
4. The Saints of God living here in the Church of Chriſt have communion with the Holy Angels. They are Miniſtring Spirits for our good, Heb. 1.14. They rejoyce at the Converſion of a Sinner. They do many good offices for the people of God, which poſſibly they are not ſufficiently ſenſible of. And this their Miniſtry is exerciſed (as 'tis probable) about the ordinary concernments of our lives, and not in ſome extraordinary caſes only.
5. The Saints of God living in the Church of Chriſt have communion with all the Saints departed out of this life, and admitted to the preſence of God. The Godly on earth do in heart and affection converſe with the Saints in Heaven. And 'tis probable the Saints triumphant wiſh to the Saints militant the happineſs they enjoy, and poſſibly pray for them in general, though their particular caſes they may not know. But we are not to think (as the Papiſts fondly conceive) that they interpoſe their merits for us, and that for this cauſe we are to invocate them, or perform any Religious worſhip towards them. Theſe are but inventions of mans brain, wanting warrant from the word of God.
6. The Saints of God living in the Church of Chriſt have communion with the Saints living in the ſame Church. If we walk in the light (ſayes the Apoſtle) we have fellowſhip one with another, 1 John 1.7. And another Apoſtle tells us, 1 Cor. 12.13. By one Spirit they are are all baptized into one body. So that they have communion one with another in theſe offerings, 1. They all joyn together in the uſe of and have benefit by the ſame ordinances, and all partake of the ſame promiſes, are all ingraffed into the ſame ſtock, and receive life from the ſame root. 2. According to their places and calling they teach and admoniſh one another. 3. They endeavour to walk by the ſame Rule, and to mind the ſame things *Acts 3.16. Heb. 3.13.4. They pray one for another, Epheſ. 6.18. and Jam. 5.16. Confeſs your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed: the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 5. They comfort and encourage one another in the wayes of God. 6. In reſpect of temporal things they are ready to ſuccour, relieve and help one another according to their abilities.
Having thus opened the nature of this Article, let us now conſider what are the inſtructions we ſhould learn from it?
1. If we believe this communion of Saints, which hath been before deſcribed, then let us ſeriouſly conſider whether we have a part and ſhare in it or no. There are many inſtead of communion with God and with Chriſt, have communion with Satan, and inſtead of communion with Saints have communion with the ungodly and wicked, and joyn with them in the practice of iniquity, in ſwearing, ſwaggering, drinking, revelling, and ſcoffing at Saints and Saintſhip; and this they account and call good fellowſhip. But let no man deceive himſelf. The Apoſtle tells us, 1 John 1.5, 6, 7. That God is light, and in him there is no darkneſs at all. If we ſay that we have fellowſhip with him, and walk in darkneſs, we lye and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowſhip one with another, &c.
2. If we have a ſhare and part in this communion, it ſhould inflame our hearts with an ardent love to all that are within this communion. If ſimilitude of ſhape or feature will beget a kindneſs, if congruity of manners and diſpoſition will unite affections, what great love ſhould there be among all the Saints who have the ſame image of God ſtamped upon them, and are acted by the ſame ſpirit? Surely all that are true members of Chriſt ſhould heartily deſire and pray for the welfare of all their fellow-members. And ſhould have their hearts touched with the miſeries that befall either the Church of Chriſt in general, or the particular members thereof. See Amos 6.6.
3. A belief of this Article ſhould teach us, that as we are to do good to all in our ſeveral places and according to our abilities, ſo eſpecially to thoſe who are of the houſhold of Faith.