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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A85302	Animadversions upon Sir Henry Vanes book, entituled The retired mans meditations. Examining his doctrine concerning Adam's fall, Christs person, and sufferings, justification, common and special grace; and many other things in his book. / By Martin Finch, preacher of the Gospel.	Finch, Martin, 1628?-1698.	1656 (1656)	Wing F941; Thomason E1670_2; ESTC R208407	75,370	163

man may dye without any experience of it or acknowledg there is any such thing and yet be saved then I hope the Authors principles will teach him to be charitable to us and not unsaint us though we will not acknowledg his higher Image but alas this is only to claw a little with Professors for Page 207. He telleth us that after a man is brought into the first Image unless he yet further abide the trial of fire which is to passe upon him by the spirit of judgment and burning of Christs second appearance he will not long abide in Sion but make God swear in his wrath that he shall never enter into his rest let any intelligent Reader judge how these two places of his book agree together And yet he tells us Page 213. His doctrine is so far from straituing or lesning the number of those that are saved that it discovers how they may be h●d out of the observation of visible professors among those they exclude as Heathens and so may seem to be men in the flesh but live according to God in the spirit whilst yet they themselves may be either without law or so zealous of the law as to fly in the face of Paul himself for witnessing a higher light then they have yet experience of or can bear We shall not dispute with this Author whither any are offectually called and saved among the heathen who have not the Gospel preached to them we will not limit the holy one of Israel who hath mercy on whom he will have mercy but this we know that faith ordinarily comes by hearing and hearing the word of God preached for it follows how shall they hear without a Preacher Rom. 10. but however this is certain that if they be heathens before effectual calling they are not left so but are justified and sanctified in Christ Jesus and have the faith of Gods elect and they will not fly in the face of Paul himself for witnessing a higher life then the first covenant no but Paul and such as bring glad tidings as the Gospel or new covenant is their very feet will be beautiful to them that a man should have his faith and life in the covenant of grace and fly in the face of Paul for witnessing such a state to be the true state is a contradiction But stall this Authors doctrine if he mean as he saith will force him not to unsaint us though to use his own words we should n● in his face for talking of his higher Image which is not more then to fly in Paul face which yet the Author saith a man may do and yet be in the higher Image this is a strange Image indeed that doth so con●radict it self And so he saith Page 298. That he doth not deny but many Saints of God may have dyed without the experience or acknowledgment of this higher Image And yet he makes this higher Image to be faith and the new covenant and Gospel but surely that man that doth not acknowledg that the new Covenant Gospel is the onely way of life and salvation and that they only that believe on Christ shall be saved surely they are not yet Believers Thus we have taken a short view of this Authors higher Image and setting aside some obscure expressions of glorification his higher Image is lower then his first Image as may easily appear by what hath been spoken of that before and this is the way of men to take us off where we are but where to fix us next there they are to seek but only the Author tells us it s a higher Image and the glory of the father so the beholding God barefaced and there is spiritual senses but how it is so he leaveth us where he found us and speaks very little of the higher Image through the book And that we may not leave this Chapter in the Authors dark notions about faith and regeneration a few words upon that point least the weak should stagger And here we must take notice that the holy Ghost in Scripture sets out regeneration by divers expressions some of which we shall briefly explain For the most part Regeneration in the new Testament is called faith and believing and that is the receiving of Christ and reliance upon him alone for righteousnesse and salvation this faith works by love Gal. 5.16 purifies the heart Act. 15.9 bringeth spiritual peace and comfort 1 Pet. 1.8 giveth us accesse with confidence to the father Eph. 3.12 Sometimes Regeneration is called the new ●●eature as 2 Cor. 5 17. if any man be in Christ he is a new creature and that phrase shewes us what a great change is wrought in the soule at Conversion old things passe away and all things become new not only a new head but a new heart a new life for justification a new life for sanctification new light new comforts new defires new affections new ends new aims new strength Sometimes Regeneration is called a new birth as 1 John 3.5 a being born of water and of the spirit to shew us how the Spirit doth sanctifie and purifie the soule at conversion as it is written 1 Cor. 6.11 Such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God Sometimes Regeneration is called our being in Christ as Rom. 8.1 There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus the believer is in Christ a member in his body a branch in this vine he is in Christ cloathed and wrapt and folded up in the robes of his righteousnesse Sometimes Regeneration is set out by Christs being in us as 2 Cor. 13.5 Know ye not that Christ is in you except ye be reprobates And John 17.23 I in them and thou in me the true believer liveth in Christ and Christ in him Christs being in us shewes his acting quickning strengthening and sanctifying of us and so it is said Rom. 8.18 If Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin and the spirit is life because of righteousnesse Sometimes regeneration is set out by being under grace as Rom. 8.14 to shew that the true believer doth not seek life in works of righteousnesse which he hath done but freely by grace through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ Again regeneration is set out by our being called into the fellowship of Jesus Christ our Lord. So 1 Cor. 1.9 God is faithfull by whom ye are called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. This shews that the true believer is called into fellowship with Jesus Christ in the Fathers love that the Father loveth them as he hath loved him John 17.23 and the true believer is called into fellowship with Jesus Christ in the annovnting of the Spirit though yet Christ is annointed with that oyle of gladness above his fellows Heb. 1. and the true believer is called into fellowship with Jesus Christ

mysteries in the 13. Chapter of the first booke of his Institutions saith Quos oblectat speculandio intemperies minime placandos suscipio he would not goe about to please those who delight in speculations so as not to be wise to sobriety no more shal I after this short digression let us examine his doctrine concerning Christ Page 2. He maketh Christ to be the similitude of God that is Immanent and eternally abiding in himselfe and as so is unexposed to any creature discerning and page 3. saith in this communion is one with God and is God this is that which up and downe his booke he calls the higher Image the glory of the Father and the like and yet he saith Page 2. and elsewhere that Christ thus considered is not to be taken for the second person of the Trinity but for the witness that is borne by all three Now promising this that it hath beene the way of those that have broached false doctrine in all ages to hide and cloud their opinions with subtil distinctions I ask first how Christ is God but as he is the second person in the Trinity for he makes him God in this state and yet he saith doth not here consider him as the second person in the Trinity Secondly I ask how any witness of the Trinity is God it is somthing from God but is not God for then we shall make so many Gods as there are witnesses to use the Authors words from the Trinity one Michael Servetus was hammering out such notions about Christ But now our Author makes this higher Image Page 12. to be the personal appearance which all the three persons in the Trinity make in Christ and if so he must make Christ none of the three pervons in the Trinity but only with Servetus som appearance Image and Idea from the Trinity but to what purpose should I follow the Author in these his deepe speculations it suffices us to know that our blessed Redeemer is the fellow of the Lord of hosts God equal with the Father though he was found in fashion as a man and humbled himselfe unto death even the death of the Crosse Page 2. He saith Christ in a second sense is the Image of God that proceeds out of his mouth to tabernacle with the creature in a temporary ministration and he saith Page 4. that this is the witness of the second person of the Trinity Before he had made Christ in that first Image the personal appearance witness of the three persons of the Trinity and now tells us of a second Image wherein Christ is and is the witness but of one of the persons of the Trinity but we take Christ to be the second person in the Trinity and not only some witness from him and image that he exhibits to the creature and the Author makes this the state wherein the world have union and communion with Christ which state he by the operation of the third person in in the Trinity was perswaded to offer up and exchange for the higher Image and yet faith he was in the higher Image first such divers and strange doctrine we meet with in that hooke if he was first in the higher Image how could he offer up the lower Image to get into it The Author quotes for these three Images and witnesses of the Trinity the 1 John 5.7 There are three that beare record in Heaven the Father the Word and the holy Ghost and these three are one But I hope that place doth not say it was the witness of the Father to bring forth Christ in one Image and the witness of the word to bring forth Christ into another Image and the holy Ghosts witness to bring him into another but if we mind the eleventh verse of that Chapter we shall see what the record or witness is This is the record that God hath given to us eternall life and this life is in his Son that God hath chosen and appointed Christ and none other to be the Prince and the Saviour to give repentance unto Israel and forgiveness of sinnes neither is there life and salvation in any other and therefore the Apostle v. 10. chargeeth those that believe not this record of God concerning Christ that in him is righteousness and life and will not come to him that they may have life and be saved through him I say he there chargeth such with making God a Lyar by not believing the truth of the Record that the blessed Trinity beare in this behalf and so page 4. he quotes Rev. 1.8 he saith that Christ is there called he that is by way of distinction from himselfe considered as he that was in the witness of the Father and he that is to come in the witness of the holy Ghost This Scripture surely is not a little wrested for the foregoing verse speaketh of Christs second coming behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and I am Alpha and Omega which shewes the eternity of the Son of God which is which was which is to come the Almighty which is now set downe at the right hand of the Majestie on high which was found in fashion as a man and put to death in the flesh is to come the second time without sin to salvation the same Lord Jesus that after he had purged our sins by the sacrifice of himselfe was taken up to Heaven is to come againe Act. 1.11 Jude 14.15 So that this Scripture will no way serve his purpose nor beare his exposition besides his exposition will be very inconsistent with his owne judgment for he thinks Christ is now in the higher Image brought into it by the third person in the Trinity but if by Christ to come should be meant that Image and state Christ should not be yet in it but it were a thing yet to do Let us see whether a third Scripture which he quotes in many places will favour his judgement and that is Eph. 3.9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the Mystery which from the beginning of the world lay hid in God who created all things by Jesus Christ This place he supposeth holds forth the first and second Image in which the Trinity brought forth Christ let us therefore consider what is meant by this Mystery which from the beginning of the world lay hid in God and how God created all things in Jesus Christ The Apostle is there treating of the Gentiles being partakers of the promise in Christ by the Gospel and of his being imployed of God to preach among them that unsearchable riches of Christs love righteousness and grace and so to make more evident and plain what is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fellowship or dispensation of the Mystery which from the begining of the world lay hid in God which was that he would by Jesus Christ the seed of the woman break the serpents head and save his Elect among which there were not

by him in his own person imputed to him as he saith but now the Covenant of works and the Covenant of grace are so differing as we have already discovered that its impossible that a man can be justified upon the terms and tenour of the Covenant of grace and works too for what saith the Scripture Rom. 11.6 If it be by grace then it is no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace But if it be of works then it is no more grace otherwise work is no more work and to be justified by faith and to be justified by the Law and upon the tenour of the Covenant of works are everywhere in the Scripture rendered inconsistent I say not this as if I owned the Authors judgement in that particular as if what he calls being justified upon the tenour of the first Covenant were so indeed for there is no such thing but whosoever is justified by Christ is justified upon the terms of the Covenant of grace but to shew how the Author maketh a linsey-woosley businesse of it and falls into that mistake according to the tenour of his judgment that he would impose upon us to wit our looking for justification by the Covevenant of works whereas we look for our justification only upon the terms and tenour of the Covenant of grace and think the justification of the new Covenant so entire and perfect that we look for no justification upon the tenour of the Covenant of works to compleat it for as Paul told the Galatians if they were but circumcised to wit with a conceit to adde that to the righteousness of the new Covenant for their justification Christ should profit them nothing no though this Author insinuates that those that are called Orthodox are ignorant of the way of justification by the Covenant of grace yet they are not to seek for the knowledge of it nor do not distract mens faith as this Author doth to send them first to Christ for a justification upon the tearms and tenour of the Covenant of works and when they have got that to see that they are not safe there but then they must get a justification according to the Covenant of grace no they do not go about the bush thus but hold forth Christs righteousness and the Covenant of grace and mercy directing men to apply the blood of sprinkling to receive Christ to be their Priest to save them their King to rule them and their Prophet to teach them and then they have an Ancre for their soules both sure and stedfast CHAP. VII Takes a general View of the Authors Book HAving already particularly singled out some of the Authors Doctrine and examined it under several Chapters I shall now give the Reader a more miscellanious and general view of this Authors Doctrine And here we shall not oppose all that might be opposed but keep to the end which I propounded to my selfe to wit to deal with those passages in the Book that obscure the Gospel and are most likely to mislead or stumble-the unwary Reader Page 83. He saith Cain and Abel were both for a while worshippers and servants of God approaching to him by Sacrifice in testimony of their coming and relying upon the blood of Christ Cain without faith only by a life derived from Christ as he is head of the natural man and he hated Abel because he was in the higher Image But what Scripture saith Cain was a servant of God or had such a life from Christ as the Author speaks of though he offered sacrifice as well as Abel yet every one that offereth sacrifice is not presently the servant of God what though Cains mother said she had gotten a man from the Lord of him are all things that any mother may say in a sense of the wickedest child and though he offered sacrifice yet it doth not follow as the Author saith that he relyed upon the blood of Christ a man may doe a hundred times more then that and yet never rely upon the blood of Christ and if Cain did hate his brother Abel because he had true faith in Christ and so offered up a more acceptable sacrifice then he yet it doth not therefore follow that as the Author saith he was the servant of God and relyed upon the blood of Christ and was in the first image but rather the contrary that he was not thus for if he had owned and relyed upon the blood of Christ his sacrifice would have been accepted as well as Abels for it was by faith and relyance upon Christs blood that Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice then Cain Page 175. He saith Christ brings us to eternal glory the same way he came to it himself who was made perfect by sufferings But we are brought to eternal glory by the righteousnesse of another imputed to us but so was not Christ we are brought to glory by Christs sufferings not by our own let us have a care of S●●●ianism Page 175. He saith that every man may keep himself from such high provocations for which God swears in his wrath they shall never enter into his rest God can keep men from such high provocations and wilful resistance of him and his wayes but man cannot keep himselfe God can do it by his restraining grace but man cannot The way of man is not in himselfe it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps without Christ we can doe nothing and therefore David prayed that God would incline his heart to his testimonies and not to covetousnesse the very inclination of the heart in man to the wayes of the Lord is from the Lord not from our selves Truly I think even those that are Saints if the Lord had left them to themselves would have fallen into those high provocations and wilfull resistance and refusal of Christ which is the main thing for which he swears in his wrath that we shall not enter into his rest If Saints and such Saints as Noah David Peter and Solomon when left to themselves did fall so shamefully then what power is there in other men to keep themselves from the greatest sins David one of them saith Psal 73.22 So foolish was I and ignorant I was as a beast before thee These Saints that fell as they did would have backslided and revolted more even into all evil were it not that God kept them by his mighty power and plucked them as firebrands out of the fire let us not think every man hath power to keep himselfe from such high provocations and wilfull resistance of Christ and his grace but rather admire and be thankfull to him who is so rich in mercy as to keep any of us from the greatest transgression and transgressions for we who as the Scripture telleth us are not able to think a good thought of our selves are not able to keep our selves from the highest provocations what are we but an infinite and endlesse evil we goe astray as soon as we are