corrupted that without it we could not have been saved or brought to communiō w th God again by that his other conceptiō alone in the womb of the Virgin Mary as neither could infants be saved without his other presence spoken of before Thus is Christ both the resurrection and the life Joh. 11.25 viz. a life preservation to the innocent a resurrection to the dead who beleev on him obey him In your 3 Section you are first much mistaken and afterwards no less defective Mistaken in these things 1. That you say That the Lord Jesus in his human nature was sanctified above measure For though it is said of him Joh. 3.34 that he receiveth not the spirit by measure yet that is spoken of the God-head which alone is infinite As for his humanity it being a creature must needs be finite though spiritually enriched above any other creature 2. Whereas you say or imply That in his humanity likewise all treasures of wisdom are hidden it is a mistake likewise For that place Col. 2.3 to which you refer us speaks of the Diety likewise The same we say concerning Colos 1.19 where it is written that it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell by you appropriated but amiss to his human nature 2. Though it must be granted also to be true which the Aposte speakes Heb. 7 26. that he is holy hormless undefiled and separate from sinners and made higher then the Heavens yet the last words transfer this honor to the Deity especially and not to the humanity alone as you would restrain them And thus he is throughly furnished to do the great office of a Mediator which Office as you truely say Christ did not take upon himself of his own head but was there unto called of his Father who hath put all power judgement into his hand Thus of your mistakes deficient you are in setting forth what and wherein the Mediatorship of Christ doth mainly consist especially in his works of spiritual Mediation Intercession and Redemption In your 4. Section you have in part set forth Christs twofold state in the humanity the one of humiliation the other of exaltation but if you will confider what you have here omitted you will have more cause to be humbled then exalted For 1. You make no mention at all of that great work of his wherein Gods justice and severity against sin is so conspicuous and the love of Christ towards mankind is so illustrious to wit Christs descending into Hel his suffering there for us the torments due to the sins of the whole world Which grand article of the Faith though retain'd in the most ancient Creeds confessed in the most Orthodox Councels is by you suppressed to the eternal blemish of this your confession But Consider we pray you was not Jonah three daies afflicted or tormented by the sense of Gods wrath upon him in the belly of Leviathan as a type of our Saviours future sufferings See Jonah 2.2 Out of the belly of Hell have I cried unto thee compared with Mat. 12.40 For as Jonah was 3 daies and 3 nights in the Whales belly so shall the Son of man be 3 daies and 3 nights in the heart of the earth Doth not the Apostle also expresly say Ephes 4 9. Now that be ascended what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth Where take notice of two things First Of the comparative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the lower which is according to an usual Hellenism in the New Testament put for the superlative the lowest as utter darkness is put for the utmost darkness And Secondly That the heart of the earth afore-named Matth. 12. and the lower parts of the earth here mentioned cannot possibly be understood of Christs Sepulther which was upon the superficies of the earth Thirdly Doth not Christ comfort himself with this that though he knew he should go into hell yet he fore-saw that God would not leave his soul there alwayes Psal 16.10 for thou wit not leave my soul in hell neither wilt thou suffe◠thine holy one to see corruption Doth not St. Peter seconded with the other Apostles and all filled with the holy Ghost in the day of Pentecost expresly affirm Acts 2.24 the God raised up Christ from the dead loosing the paines of death c Now Christs body while it remained in the grave was not in any pain therefore it was his soul that at the hour of his resurrection was loosed from those paines and torments But here two things seem to puzle you First That saying of Christs upon the Cross not long before his expirement John 19.30 crying it is finished Secondly That he sayeth to the penitent theef this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise Luke 23.43 To which we answer severally as followeth To the first We object a like place John 17.4 where our Saviour saith unto his Father some space before his death I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do that is I have almost finished it And how much more then might Christ so say when he had suffered so much more in the garden before his Judges and upon the cross If you reply That in the former place he speaks of his ministery we will rejoyn that he speaks here of the sacrifice and offering up of his corporal life both to fulfil the types of the Old Testament and to set us an example of dying with him To the second we answer with Gillebert in Bernard That as man consists of three distinct parts body soul spirit 1 Thes 5.23 seconded with Hebr. 4.12 So did Christs humanity also consist of the same parts Psal 16 9 10. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoyceth my flesh also shall rest in hope for thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell nor suffer thine holy one to see corruption Where the heart is the soul and the flesh the body so the glory was his spirit which Jacob also calls his honour Gen 49.6 O my soul come not thou into their secret unto their assembly mine honour be not thou united Which two are dissevered again by a gradation Isa 26.9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night yea with my spirit within me will I seek thee early The which distinction of parts being most clear we say then that the spirit of Christ at his death immediately ascended to God according to those words Luke 23.43 aforesaid This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise his body also was laid in the grave yet saw no corruption but his soul went to hell there to suffer for us the condign punishment of our sins in the proper place of punishment Oh justice upon the surety to be trembled at for ever O love in Christ never to be forgotten Secondly You are deficient in setting forth the inward and spiritual crucifying death and burial of Christ within us ever since our fall
the seeking of them Rom. 10.14 15 c. A second let is a depraved judgement Act. 26.9 for I verily thought with my self thâ—t I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus A third impediment is the want of due remembrance and serious consideration of what we know in generall Lam. 1.9 He filthiness is in her skirts she remembred not her latter end A fourth bar is the power of Temptation of which the Apostle complaines 2 Cor. 12.7.8 A filth and a powerful obstacle is habit and custome in sin of which that is verified Qui non est hoâ—iè erà s minùs aptus erat Lastly Gods final desertion one of the heavyest of Judgements is an unremovable obstacle to the willing of good because seconded with Satans power Hence we may take a view how far the faln man can will good convert himself or prepare himself thereunto namely so far forth as men have some light of nature left or new illumination and convincing grace the which of all other is most necessary for the work of a true conversion Jer. 23.24 O Lord I know that the way of man is not in himself it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps Secondly This may be done with the more facility so far as they are chastned by the hand of the Lord and make a good use of it which made the Prophet Jeremy to pray as he doth Jer. 10.24 Correct me O Lord yet in judgement and not in thine angor lest thou bring me to nothing Howbeit in all this the Lord seems to lay no violent hand upon the will but works upon it by understanding judgement and reason with the use of sense and because he is the Author of the new understanding and judgement which leads and drawes the will he is said to work the will also Phil. 2.13 for Causae causae est etiam causa causaei But the main way whereby the man after illuminating or preventing grace can prepare himself to turn his heart or will is by frequent meditation and deep consideration of what he knows by grace or nature In your two last Sections First according to an ordinary distribution you distinguish the condition of converted sinners into a State of Grace and a State of glory but albeit there be different degrees in their new Metamorphosis or change yet their least estate in regeneration is a State of Glory as on the contrary the highest degree of that change and exaltation is a state of Grace For the proof of the first of these consider what the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 3.18 But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the Glory of the Lord are transformed into the same Image from Glory to Glory as by the spirit of the Lord. 2 Pet. 1.3 Through the knowledge of him who hath called us unto Glory and Vertue And for the evidencing of the latter weigh well what Saint Peter writeth 1 Pet. 1.14 wherefore gird up the loins of your minde be sober and hope to the end for the Grace that is to be brought unto you at the Revelation of Jesus Christ See also 1 Pet. 3.7 as heirs together of the Grace of life But more particulary for your fourth Section As in the beginning of it you attribute too much to the first work or degree of our regeneration so you detract too much from the last and highest period of the same in the end of that Section For first you say but not truely That when God converts a sinner and translates him into the State of Grace he presently freeth him from his natural bondage under sin and by his grace alone enables him to will and to do that which is spiritually good Here brethren you go too far for the Apostle in the behalf of the young Babes or converts complains thus Rom. 7.8 9. For to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good Lâ—nde not for the good that I would I do not and the evil that I would not that do I. How then are they freed when the Apostle saith ver 23 He findes another Law in his members not only warring against the Law of his minde but bringing him captiue to the Law of sin in his members whereupon he cryes out verse 24. O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of deaâ—h Is a bondage then against your wils no captivity yea it is the most grievous bondage of all others in our sense and feeling though not so perilous to the soul as a willing subjection unto sin Indeed it is true of the young in Christ which the Apostle writs to them of that age 1 John 2.14 I have written unto you young men because ye are strong and the word of God abideth in you and you have overcome the wicked one But the Babe in Christ cannot attain thereunto while he is a chide Now in the close of that Section you flag and fall as much too short saying That this convert at his highest pitch for so you mean by reason of his remaining corruption doth not perfectly nor only will that which is good but willeth that which is evil also The which though it be true of the Infants aforesaid and perhaps may sometimes be verified of the middle ort yet it is not true of the old or aged men in Christ such as the Apostles themselves were as we have proved before In your last Section you do as you are wont wholly transferring the state of Glory in which the will of man is made immutably good out of this world but herein you are some what mistaken if we may give credit to these Scriptures Rev. 3.12 21. C. 1.2.3 4 5 6. CHAP. X. Of effectuall calling ALL those whom God hath predestinated unto life and those onely he is pleased in his appointed and accepted time effectually to call a Rom 8.30 Rom 11.7 Eph 1.10 11. by his Word and Spirit b 2 Thes 2.13 14. 2 Cor 3.6 out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ c Rom. 8.2 Eph 2.1 2 3 4. 2 Tim. 1.9 10. inlightning their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God d Act 16.18 1 Cor 2.10 12. Eph 1.17 18. taking away their heart of stone and giving unto them an heart of flesh e Ezek 36.26 Eze 11.19 Phil 2.13 Deut. 36.6 Ezek 36.27 renewing their wils and by his Almighty power determing them to that which is good f and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ g Eph 1.19 John 6.44 45. yet so as that they come most freely being made willing by his grace h Cant. 1.4 Psal 110.3 John 6.37 Rom. â— 16 17 18. II. This effectual call is of Gods free and special grace alone not from any thing at all foreseen in man i 1 Tim 1.9 Tit. 3.4 5. Eph 2.4 5 8 9. Rom â— 11. who is
the representing of your errours in worse part then it is meant your better information and the saving of your souls and others Finally Since you have set so good bounds between the Civil Magistrate and your selves in your last Section we will not remove the Landmark CHAP. XXXII Of the state of men after death and of the resurrection of the dead THE bodies of men after death return to dust and see corruption a Gâ—n 3 19 Act 13.36 but their soul which neither die nor sleep having an immortal subsistance immediately return to God who gave them b Lu 23.43 Eccl 12.1 the souls of the righteous being then made perfect in holiness are received into the highest Heavens where they behold the face of God in light and glory waiting for the full redemption of their bodies c Heb 12.13 2 Cor 5.16.8 Phil. 1 23â— Acts 3.20 Eph 4.10 And the souls of the wicked are cast into Hell where they remain in torments and utter darkness reserved to the judgement of the great day d Luke 16.23 24. Acts 1.25 Jude 1.6 7 1 Pet 3.19 Besides these two places for souls separated from their bodies the Scriptures acknowledg none II. At the last day such as are found alive shall not die but be changed e 1 Thes 4.15 1 Cor 15.5 2. and all the dead shall be raised up with the self-same bodies and none other although with different qualities which shall be united again to their souls for ever f Job 19.26 27. 1 Cor 15.42 43 44. III. The bodies of the unjust shall by the power of Christ be raised to dishonour the bodies of the just by his Spirit unto honour and be made conformable to his own glorious body g Acts 24.13 John 5.28.29 1 Cor 15.43 Phil 3.21 CHAP. XXXII Of the state of men after death and of the resurrection of the dead Examined HERE we could revive a manifold resurrection by you buried in silence one of internal both righteousness and unrighteousness discovered and raised up at our first humiliation by the spirit of God and the work of his Law Rom. 7.7 8 9. Another of men raised up by a work of regeneration some to honour as those that persevere and others to dishonour as those that fall away again Dan. 12.2 Thirdly A spiritual resurrection with Christ after we have been dead with him to sin Rev. 20 6. And lastly the raising up the souls again at our dissolution that it may go to judgement which is called a resurrection Catechristically but because you are now drawing towards a conclusion we shall have the less cause to contest or debate with you These violent motions should grow more remisse and gentle towards the latter end Your first Section comprehends many Propositions which we dare not deny nor shall we much alter them That the bodies of men after death return to dust That then they see corruption That the Soul whether a distinct part from the spirit or no hath an immortal subsistence That the soul sleeps not though many of them be at rest That the spirit returns to God that gave it Ecclesiastes 12 7. That the souls go to God immediately to receive their doom That the souls of the righteous after death are made perfect in happiness not without some access of holiness That those so made perfect are received into the Highest Heaven or into Paradice That those which are so received behold the face of God in life and glory waiting for the full redemption of their bodies That the Souls of the wicked are cast into Hell where they remain in torments and utter darkness reserved to the judgement of the great day yet we could tell you of some no contemptible Authors and those no Papists who maintain a twofold delivery out of Hell the one made by Christ of the men of the old world at the time of his resurrection for which they alledge Zech. 9.11 and 1 Pet. 3.19 20. and 1 Pet. 4.6 The other to be made at the end of the Chiliasts term of their thousand years Rev. 20.5 But the rest of the dead lived not till the thousand years were ended That besides these two places of the souls separatd from the bodies the Scripture for ought we yet finde makes no cleer mention of any other yet are we not altogether ignorant of what some have written concerning Limbo nor that some which favour not the Church of Rome as Jacob Behman for one do assigne a third place namely the Region of the Land of Canaan to be an Elysian field for the souls of departed Saints because the Lord sware to give the Land to Abraham and his seed for ever But whether the souls of the just shall dye imperfect and have their perfection adjourned to another world as you mean is a quere of some importance and to hold that it must be so positively may prove a dangerous errour For our parts we acknowledge that the Saints in Heaven do obtain no small access and increase as of light and wisdom so of power love holiness peace and joy also for the Apostle saith Phil. 1.21 For me to live is Christ but to die is gain To which that seems to agree which the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 5.1 2. For we know that if our earthly Tabernacle of this house were dissolved we have a building given us of God not made with hands but eternal in the Heavens But that the body of sin may and should be destroyed the workmanship of Satan abolished the righteousness of the law fulfilled and the Jerusalem that comes down from Heaven be fully sought and attained by us through the grace of Christ even in this life we have sufficiently proved before It remains then that we all take heed to the Apostles charge 2 Cor. 7 1.2 Having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit perfecting our holiness in the fear of God yea let all those that would be counted faithful Ministers in Christ Jesus labour with St. Paul Colos 1.28 to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus As to your 2d Section although the Apostle in that great larger chapter of the resurrection 1 Co. 15. seems to speak onely of the resurrection of the just yet we must grant that all the dead shall be raised according to other Scriptures and namely that of John 5.28 29. Marvel not at this for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of condemnation But for a conclusion of this chapter may not some be mistaken in thinking the first resurrection which comes not to any till they be first dead with Christ Rom. 6 5. is past already see 2 Tim. 2.18 yea to make our future happiness sure what had been more needful here
monitions commandements and requirings you seem to lay some default upon God himself saying That he withholdeth that grace from them whereby their hearts that is their wils and affections might have been wrought upon which both derogates from Gods mercy and is inconsistent which innumerable Scriptures testifying the contrary as Esai 5.4 What could I have done more for my vineyard that I have not done Mat. 23.37 How often would I have gathered thy children as a ben gathereth her chickens under her wings but see would not Acts 7.51 Ye stifnecked and uncircumcised in heart and eares ye do alwayes resist the holy Ghost as did your Fathers so do yee CHAP. VI. Of the fall of man of Sin and of the punishment thereof OVR First Parents being seduced by the subtilty and temptation of Satan sinned in eating the forbidden fruit a Gen 3.13 2 Cor 11.3 this their sin God was pleased according to his wise and holy counsel to permit having purposed to order it to his own glory b Ro 11.32 II. By this sin they fell from their original righteousnesse and communion with God c Gen 3.6 7 8. Eccl 7.29 Ro 3.23 and so became dead in sin d Gen 2.17 Eph 2.1 and wholy defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body e Tit 1.15 Gen 6.5 Jer 17.9 Ro 3.10 to 19. III. They being the root of all mankinde the guilt of sin was imputed f Ge 1.27 28. and Gen. 2.16 17. and Act 17.13 with Ro 5.12 15 16 17 18 19. and 1 Cor 15.21 22 25. and the same death in sin and corrupted nature conveyed to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation g Psa 51.5 Gen 5.3 Job 14.4 Job 15.14 IV. From this original corruption whereby we are utterly indisposed disabled and made opposite to all good h Ro 5.6 Rom 8.7 Rom 7.18 Col 1.21 and wholly inclined to all evil i Gen 6.5 Gen 8.21 Rom 3.10 11 12 do proceed all actual transgressions k Jam 1.12 15. Eph 2.2 3. Mat 15.19 V. This corruption of nature during this life doth remain in those that are regenerated l 1 Joh 1.8 to Rom v. 14.17 18 23. Jam 3.2 Pro 20.9 Eccl 7.20 and althoug it be through Christ pardoned and mortified yet both it self and all the motions thereof are truely and properly sin m Ro 7.5 7 8 25. Gal 5.17 VI. Every sin both original and actual being a transgression of the righteous Law of God and contrary thereunto n Joh 3.4 doth in its own nature bring guilt upon the sinner o Rom 3.9 19. whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God p Eph 2.3 and curse of the Law q Gal. 3.10 and so made subject to death r Ro. 6.23 with all miseries spiritual Å¿ Eph. 4.18 temporal t Rom. 8.20 Jam. 3 39. and eternal u Matth. 25.41 2 Thess 1.9 CHAP. VI. Of the fall of man of Sin and of the Punishment thereof examined IN this Chapter of mans fall you have given sufficient evidence of it for except the first and last Sections all parts of it are a resemblance of the depraved man you spake of sufficiently corrupted In the second Section these are your words By this sin they that is our first parents fell from their original righteousness and communion with God and so became dead in sin and wholly defiled in all the faculties of soul and body In which words we finde the fruits of the forbidden tree evil as well as good error as well as truth That they fell from their former communion with God from some degree of original righteousness and that they became dead that is liable to eternal death we grant you but that they fell wholly from original righteousness at the first Act of their Apostacy or that they presently became so wholly defiled as you speak are great mistakes As to the first of these did not the Image of God in which they were created consist in holiness and righteousness Now you know habits are not lost by one act or two Again the thing that God threatned was a gradual punishment as well as a certain In dying ye shall die Furthermore those that fall away from inchoated grace and that renued Image of God which is not at first so strong and vigorous as Gods similitude was in the first man though they die and being in a great decree of languishing are said to be dead yet they die but gradually after great debilities and decay may be kept alive and recovered Rev. 3.1 2. I know thy works that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die for I have not found thy works perfect before me Now as for the second that they became wholly defiled in all parts and faculties no Scripture speaks it nor could it be till the whole Image of God was extinguished by contrary corruptions True it is that if the Lord had wholly left them to themselves as he did the rebellious and backsliding Angels it would have fared no better with them in the end then you speak of but the father of mercies was pleased to appear unto them in the cool and declination of the day before it was dark night with them and by his covenant of grace to help them up again In the third Section you say They being the root of all mankinde the guilt of the sin was imputed and the same death in sin and corrupted nature corveyed to all posterity descending from them by ordinary generation where that they were the root of all mankinde is undoubtedly true but all the rest of that Section may be justly questioned And first that passage where you tacitely exempt Christ from the imputation of this sin made unto him for doubtless that with all other sins of ours were laid upon him But secondly it may be upon good ground hoped that it neither was nor shall be imputed to any of their posterity who are not the imitators of the same in actual rebellion for that just Lord doth not onely forbid the punishing of the children for the iniquity of their parents even with temporal death Deut 24.18 but he swears also by his own life that he will not do that thing Ezek 18.1 20. Then what you there affirm in the second place is more improbable then the other to wit That the same death in sin and corrupt nature is conveyed to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation is yet more improbable For first that some men are sanctified from the womb as Jeremiah and John the Baptist were and the Virgin Mary might possibly be none will deny And secondly that all others are still created innocent in some measure of Gods image there are not a few Scriptures which seem to testifie it of which Genesis the 9.6 is one where the
whereof take these few John 1.13 Which were born not of bloud nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God John 3.6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit 1 Cor. 2.14 15. For the natural men perceiveth not the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him Neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned But the spiritual man discerneth all things but is discerned of none 1 Cor. 15.22 For as in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be made alive and verse 45 46 47 48 49. As it is written the first man was made a living soul but the second Adam was made a quickening spirit Hewbeit that was not first which is spiritual but that which is natural and then that which iâ— spiritual The first man is of the â—â—rth earthy the second mâ—n is the Lord from heaven as is the earthy such are they that are earthy and as is the heavenly such are they that are heavenly and as we have born the image of the earthly so must we bear the image of the heavenly c. More particularly we answer That this one by whom sin entred into the world is not meant our first parent Adam but our own earthy or natural man which is called Adam and Edom from the earth of his foundation For the apostle shews that Adam our progenitor was not the original or first sinner 1 Timothy 2.14 For Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in the transgression according then to your Doctrine the apostle should have said By one Woman sin entred into the world But you hear before how Solomon Eccles 7.29 and the Lord himself Hos 14 1. scribe our fall to our selves This is yet clearer out of the 14. verse here where the apostle speaks of some who sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression but makes mention of none that sinned in him where he had fair occasion to speak of it yea if he had been of your belief he had committed a grievous neglect totally to omit it in silence Secondly here by the world into which sin entered we must understand the world of fallen and corrupt men as our Saviour doth Joâ—n 3.16 17. and John 15.17 18. and not all mankinde as you do c. Thirdly by death is not meant the bodily death which doth not presently ensue upon our fall no more then it did upon our first parents but a death unto righteousness or the life of innocencie with the contrary body of sin and so obnoxiousness to eternal death is hear meant Fourthly these words and death passed upon all men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are thus to be rendered in as much or so far forth as all have sinned and as Moses in the 14. verse is not he that was the Lawgiver but the work of the Law drawing us to God so neither is this man the litterall Adam For Paul here saith That death reigned from Adam to Moses which must be understood necessarily thus from the fall of our natural Adam till the work of the Law came For otherwise the extent of the reign of sin should reach from the first man to the last and not to Moses onely Which thing the 13. ver holdeth out more plainly that he meant by Mose the Law For it is there said That until the Law sin was in the world which must be conceived that until the work of the law sin is in the world that is likewise in the faln corrupted men undiscovered which is plain from the latter part of the 13 verse where it is said sin is not reputed nor regarded as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies and so Coverdel translates it and not imputed when there is no Law for that is false that sin was not imputed when there was no Law extant for it was imputed to Cain Gen. 4. and he was punished So to the old world and they punished Gen. 6 so to Babels builders and they punished Gen. 11.7.8 so it was imputed to Sodom and Gomorrab and they punished Gen. 19. when there was none of Moses law extant but it is a very truth that sin is not reputed not regarded when there is no work of the Law discovering sin unto the man so St. Paul saith of himself Rom. 7.9 that he was alive without the Law and verse v. he saith he had not known lust but by the Law and Rom. 3.20 it is said that by the Law cometh the knowledge of sin Thus you see how death raigned from Adam to Moses yet not from the first individual Adam to Moses the Law-giver but in the 2. part of the 14 ver it is not affirmed that any sinned in the first individual Adam for he saith Some finned not after the similitude of Adams transgression over whom notwithstanding death reigned Now that expression hinteth these two things First Some sinned like Adam not in Adam others sinned not after the similitude of his transgression but some other way as after Esau's transgression Hebr. 18.16 17. or the like according to that Eccles 7.29 Surely if the Apostle had beleeved any such thing as the raigning of death over all men by the first mans sin he would not have omitted that and onely mentioned from Adam to Moses for all may perceive his main designe is from verse 12. to the 15. to set forth the inlet and extent of deaths reigning over sinners therefore he would have used the fullest and plainest expression serving to that purpose but the 19. verse is more plain against universal corruption by the first mans disobedience for there the Apostle useth the word many and saith by one mans disobediene many not all were made sinners Therefore all fell not in the first individual Adam If any yet reply That many in that place is tant ' amount and equivalent to the word all We Answer That then by the same reason the word many in the latter part of the verse must have the same latitude allowed for the Apostle setteth down a full comparison of equals in that verse here the verse must be thus interpreted That as by one mans disobedience all were made sinners so by one mans obedience all are made righteous If any yet reply and say By one mans obedience all that repent and beleeve are made righteous then by the same inter retation By ones mans disobedience all are made sinners that imitate him and sin like him after the similitude of Adam 's transgressions Thus all men may see there is nothing gained by interpreting the word many by a Synecdoche for all are made sinners by one mans disobedience for the latter part of the verse must have the word many so explained which to affirm namely that all are righteous by Christ by an absolute and uniuersal Justification is accounted as detestable an Heresy as it hath been hitherto to deny that
Inâ—rdinate affection evil concupiscence and coveâ—ousness c. This is that Earth which is opposed to be the Heaven of Gods holiness Eccles 5.2 For God is in Heaven and thou upon the Earth For the Lord is present in this outward Earth aswel as we in this Earth all men sin but there are some places in the new Testament also which you oppose us with as first that Luke 17.10 So likewise you when ye have done all these things say ye are â—â—p ofitable servents But this place if well considered makes more against you then for you for our Saviour there implyes that we may do all things which are commanded to wit through his grace yet having so done we are unprofitable servants to God for we have done but our duties and that through grace also and so have added nothing to the Lord. But a second and a grand objection is made out of Rom. 7.14 15 16 17 18 19. c. For the Law saith the Apostle is spiritual But I am carnal sold under sin Answer Although this place is commonly taken as if the Apostle spoke here of his own personal and present estate yet it is certain he did not first because elsewhere speaking of that estate he contradicts what is here spoken by him as 1 Cor. 4.4 For I know nothing by my self but here the person spoken of knowes much evil by himself and Phil. 4.13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me but he that is here intended though to will is present with him yet findes no means or power to do any good yea that which the Apostle speaks of his present estate chap. 8. of this Epistle to the Romans verse 2. is directly opposite to what is complained of verse 23 of this 7 chapter for in that 23. verse the complaint speaketh thus But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my minde and bringing me into coptivity to the law of sin which is in my members Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death But Rom. 8.2 Paul saith For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death what can be more contradictory then this last place is to the former So that of necessity the fist place must be understood of babes in Christ whom Paul here personates instructs and comforts and the latter of his own present condition and victorie as Occumenius and others well observe and what was more usual with the Apostle then to speak of that which concerns others in his own person 1 Cor. 4.6 And these things brethren I have in a figure transferred to my self and Apollos for your sake 1 Cor. 13.11 c. When I was a child I spake as a child c. Thirdly You alledge against us and this truth the words which the Apostle speaks to the Galatians chap. 5. verse 17. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contraeâ—y the one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would Here say you the Apostle describes that combat betwixt the flesh and the spirit which must continue while we endure in the body Answer But where do you read that this conflict must last so long The Apostle saith a good space before his death 2 Tim. 47. I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith Were not the Galatians Babes in Christ so young and weak that the Apostle had no sooner left them then they were ready to be drawn away from Christ by the false Apostles See Gal. 1.6 with 3.1 2. Now to make their estate the highest pitch growth of a Christian in this life is as if we should take the scantling of a child and conclude that it is the full stature of mankinde and that no man is or can be of a taller groth Fourthly You object what St. James writes chap. 3.2 For in many things we offend all where you imvolue him and his fellow Apostles in that plural number To which we answer That the Apostle can no more be there implyed then in the 9 verse where he saith again and that plurally With the same tongue we bless God even the Father and with the same tongue we curse men which are made after the similitude of God Was James or the Apostles now of the number of those that still cursed men But it is frequent for lenity sake and in a winning way for the Prophets and Apostles of Christ to speak in the plural and sometimes in the singular number those things which concern not themselves but their hearers onely Nebem 5.10 I pray you let us leave of this usury saith the man of God who was no wayes guilty of that sin Isa 59.10 the Prophet speaketh this We groap for the wall like the blind and we groap as if we had no eyes Lastly It is objected out of 1 John 1.8 That the Apostle saith directly If we say that we have no sin we deceive our selves and there is no truth in us Answer The same Apostle implyes ch 4 17. that he and his fellow Apostles were now without sin Herein is our love made perfect that we might have boldness in the day of Judgement because as he is so are we in this present world There is no fear in love but persect love casteth out fear The Apostle therefore speaks the former words to those that were young in Christ and yet imperfect as is evident chap. 2. verse 1. My little children these things write I unto you that ye sin not c. Yea he explains himself so Chap. 1. verse 10. that he may be safely taken into the number If we that say we have not finned we make him a lyar and his word is not in us And thus much of your first erroneous proposition in your 5th and last Section Your other Thesis wherein you affirm That though this corruption remains in the regenerate during life yet it is actually pardoned is false also and contradictory to these ensuing and many other Scriptures Prov. 28 13. Luke 24.47 Acts 8.20 Acts 26.18 or as we shall shall shew at large chap. 11. by Gods assistance Now for a conclusion of this last Section give us leave to propound these Queries unto you First whether those ten unbeleeving spies did not highly displease God and much hinder injure and prejudice the people which hearkened unto them who cryed that there were such Anakiâ— in the way that they could not be subdued by them and Cities so high that they were walled up to Heaven and therefore not 〈◊〉 be scaled Numb 14. Did not the people too slothful and averse before to fight the Lords battail against the Canaanites become therethrough wholy unbeleeving even despairing of victory and altogether indisposed to the fight enjoyned by the Lord Were not both they and those their leaders
dispenced are the preaching of the word and the administration of baptism and the Lords Supper we grant it to be true if those be administred by such persons to whom Christ is truely come in his light spirit and power Otherwise for men to preach a self-conceived Christ whom they have learned by reading or tradition from their blinde guides or to administer the Sacraments without any due understanding of the Baptism flesh and blood of Christs these are not Gods ordinances but mens usurpations Thirdly we grant you that where the Covenant of grace is set forth by men so taught and acted by the Spirit of Christ as we have described there it is held forth in more evidence spiritual efficacy and fulness then it was in Moses his literal services But this will not be equally verified of those that preach a misconceived Christ without true light or life Lastly whereas you conclude That there are not then two Covenants of grace one under the old Testament and another under the new we will from this your confession inferr that the first Covenant of grace made was unto and for all mankinde because the Gospel by Christs express command is to be preached to every humane creature and hath universal but conditional salvation annexed unto it Mat. 28.19 Mark 16.15 16. What then will become of your doctrine of Gods preterition of particular redemption of some men onely of the effectual calling of this and that elected one onely and many other points wherein with Herod you imprison John that is you confine the grace and mercy of God CHAP. VIII Of Christ the Mediator IT pleased God in his eternal purpose to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus his onely begotten Son to be the Mediator between God and man a Isa 42.1 1 Pe 1.19 20. Joh 3.16 1 Tim 2 5. the Prophet b Act 3.22 Priest c Heb 5.5 6 and King d Psal 2.6 Luk 1.33 the head and Saviour of his Church e Eph 5.23 the heir of all things f Heb 1.2 and judge of the world g Act 17.31 unto whom he did from all eternity give a people to be his seed h Joh 17.6 Psa 22.30 Isa 53 10. and to be by him in time redeemed called justified sanctified and glorified i 1 Tim. 2.6 Isa 55.4 5. 1 Cor. 1.30 II. The Son of God the second person in the Trinity being very and eternal God of the substance and equal with the Father did when the fulness of time was come take upon him mans nature k 1 Joh 1.14 1 Joh 5.20 Phil 2.6 Gal. 4.4 with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof yet without sin l Heb. 2.14 16 17. Heb 4.15 being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary of her substance m Luk 1.27 31 35. â—al 4.4 so that two whole perfect and distinct natures the Godhead and the Manhood were inseparably joyned together in one person without conversion composition or confusion n Luk. 1.35 Col 2.9 Rom 9.5 1 Pet 3.18 1 Tim. 3.16 which person is very God and very man yet one Christ the onely Mediator between God and man o RoÌ„ 1.3 4. 1 Tim 2.5 III. The Lord Jesus in his humane nature thus united to the Divine was sanctified and annoynted with the Holy Spirit above measure p Psal 45.7 Joh 3.34 having in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge q Col 2.3 in whom it pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell r Col. 1.19 to the end that being holy harmless undefiled and full of grace and truth Å¿ Heb 7.16 Joh 1.14 he might be throughly furnished to execute the office of a Mediator and surety t Act 10.18 Heb. 22.24 Heb 7.22 which office he took not to himself u Heb 5.4 5. but was thereunto called by his Father who put all power and judgement into his hand and gave him commandment to execute the same * Joh 5.22 27. Mat 28 18. Act 2.36 IV. This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake x Psal 40.7 8 with Heb 10.5 10 11. Joh 10.18 Phil 2.8 which that he might discharge he was made under the Law y Gal. 4.4 and did perfectly fulfill it z Mat 3.17 Mat 5.15 endured most greivous torments immediately in his soule a Mat 25.37 38. Luk 22.24 Mat 27.46 and most painful sufferings in his body b Mat 26.27 chap. was crucâ—fied and dyed c Phil 2.8 was buryed and remained under the power of death yet saw no corruption d Act 2.3 21 27. Act 13.37 Rom 6.9 On the third day he arose from the dead e 1 Cor. 15.23 4. with the same body in which he suffered f Joh 20.25 27. with which also he ascended into heaven and there sitteth at the right hand of his Father g Mark 16.19 making intercession h Rom. 8.34 Heb 9.24 Heb. 7.25 and shall return to judge men and Angels at the end of the world i Rom 1â— 9 10. Heb. 7.25 Rom. 1â— 9 10. Act 1.11 Act. 10.42 Mat. 13.40 41 42. Jud. 6. 2 Pet. 2.4 V. The Lord Jesus by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself which he through the eternal Spirit once offered up unto God hath fully satisfied the justice of his Father k Ro. 5.19 Heb 9.14 16. Heb. 10.14 Ephes 5.2 Rom. 3.25 26. and purchased not onely reconcilation but an everlasting inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven for all those whom the Father hath given unto him l Dan 9.24 26. Col 1.19 20. Ephes 1.11 14. Joh 17.2 Heb 9.12 15. VI. Although the work of redemption was not actually wrought by Christ till after his Incarnation yet the virtue efficacy and benefits thereof were communicated unto the elect in all ages successively from the beginning of the world in and by those promises types and sacrifices wherein he was revealed and signified to be the seed of the woman which should bruise the serpents head and the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world being yesterday and to day the same for ever m Gal. 4.4.5 Gen. 3.15 Rev. 13.8 Heb. 13.8 VII Christ in the work of mediation acteth according to two natures by each nature doing that which is proper to it self yet by reason of the unity of the person that which is proper to one nature is sometimes in Scripture attributed to the person denominated by the other nature o Acts 20.28 Joh. 3.13 1 Joh. 3.16 VIII To all those for whom Christ hath purchased Redemption he doth certainly and effectually apply and communicate the same p Joh. 6.37.39 Joh. 10.15 16. making intercession for them q 1 Joh. 2.1 Rom. 8.34 and revealing unto them in and by the word the mysteries of salvation r Joh. 15. â—3 15. Eph. 1.7 8 9. Joh. 17.6 effectually perswading them
cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him I say whether they be things in Earth or things in Heaven And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his fight Where you may take these things into consideration First Whom he reconcileth All the members of the Church who are regenerate Secondly From what from the enmity in their minds whereby they are set upon wicked works Thirdly Where through the spiritual blood of the Covenant or the spirit of grace which is called the blood of his cross because it is then sent unto us and poured down upon us when we are upon the cross with him and suffer with him not yeelding unto temptations Fourthly That Christ is said to be still doing of that work 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lastly In what way as a precedent for us he hath done it to wit in the body of his flesh through death as these ensuing Scriptures shew 2 Tim. 2.11 12. 'T is a faithful saying for if we be dead with him we shall also live with him if we suffer wiâ—h him we shall also raign with him see Rom. 6.8 But that it is unpossible to have reconcilement and communion with God unless it be in such a way the Apostle witnesses likewise 1 John 1.5 6 7. This then is the message we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darknesâ— we lye and haue not the truth But if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin Thus far of Christ's spiritual and true reconciling us unto God which is then perfected and consummate when besides the slaying of the enmity aforesaid he hath made us in all things of one spirit with the Father For which unity and reconcilement he prayeth John 17.21 That they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us Now for the purchasing of an everlasting inheritance for us eternal life is the free gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord Rom. 8.23 And as the Father hath it in his hand to bestow so it is in the Sons gift likewise and consequently as it seems to us he needs not to purchase it But if you will call the fulfilling of that way and process whereby the faln man must attain it the way race of obedience aforesaid a purchasing of it it is by the inward and spiritual obedience of Christ especially that we attain Heb. 10.36 For ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God ye may receive the promise Howbeit his outward passive obedience was requisite thereunto without which as we could not be delivered from the curse so neither could we come to inherit life By this you see we stand in need of an inward and spiritual mediation from Christ aswel as that outward of which alone you here speak Nor can we partake of the benefit of the outward till qualified and prepared first thereunto by the work of the inward In your Sixth Section you proclaim your great ignorance or small regard of our great and most necessary redemption from the power of sin and Satan saying That the work of redemption was not actually wrought till after Christs incarnation For were not the fathers before and after the flood with the Prophets and other holy Saints in the Old Testament in their respective times spiritually saved and redeemed by Christ And much more doth that great secret of the Father's sparing and forbearing us along time for his Sons sake who in patience and meekness hath been led as a lamb to the slaughter and the end of whose long sufferance in us is salvation as St. Peter speaks Epist 2 3. Chap. 15. seem to be hidden from you Yet here you grant some truths at unawares as that Christ is the promised enmity against sin who must break the Serpents head and consequenly that his power and Kingdom must be within us where Satan is to be trodden down Rom. 16.20 You grant also that he is the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world But whereas you add for a proof thereof out of Hebr. 13.9 That Christ is the same yesterday and to day and for ever That speakes of his immutable Deity and not of his humanity though now made unchangeable Yet this we say brethren ere we leave this Section that you hold forth a very lame and imperfect redeemer which which hath indeed redeemed us by his death from the curse of the Law when our iniquities are put away from us but who must redeem us from all our corruptionsâ— who must save and deliver us out of the hand of all our enemies who must inable us to keep and fulfil the Law of God who must renew the Image of God in us Is not the true Christ made of God unto us wisdom righteousness and sanctification as well as redemption 1 Cor 1.30 In your Seventh Section As we grant it to be true that Christ in the entire office of a Mediator acteth according to both natures joyntly or severally as occasion requires doing by each that which is proper to its self so perhaps it may be granted that sometimes in the Scriptures by reason of the unity of the person that which is proper to one nature is attributed to the person denominated by the other Howbeit the places to which you refer us do not prove so much for that of Acts the 20.28 It s true First of Christ in the Godhead that he hath purchased his Church with his own blood having redeemed it from the power of Satan by his Spirit Secondly To that of John 3.13 it may be said that as Christ is spiritually born in us he is the Son of man which comes from Heaven and is or dwells in the heavenly being Finally To 1 John 3.16 It may be truly answered that Christ the Son of God hath laid down his life for us while he died in us to keep off the deserved wrath of God from us and to preserve us from the death threatned in the Law as also to set us an example how we may in following him overcome sin and recover life again we seeking his grace and help thereunto In your eighth and last Section being like checquer-work you have black as well as white errour as well as truth where your first affirmation That Christ doth certainly and effectually apply and communicate his redemption to all those for whom he hath purchased it will prove false in what sense soever it be taken For first If we here understand Christ's outward redemption as you undoubtedly do that being made for
as we have said before yet we read nowhere of any power proceeding from thence in the mortifying of sin though that his suffering should be both a patern and a motive to follow him in his like death as hath been said Yea the Apostle ascribes weakness and not power to Christ in his death as that whereby he could properly suffer 2 Cor. 13 4. For though he was crucified through weakness yet he liveth by the power of God It was power indeed whereby he was raised up Rom. 1.4 And it is through the same power that those who are dead with him must be raised up again Phil. 3.10 That I may know him and the power of his resurrection c. So then there is express mention in the word of the vertue or power of his resurrection to be imployed in this work of our regeneration but none of the power or efficacy of his death yea that benefit which we have by the death of Christ followes the work of sanctification in order of nature and doth not go before it as hath been proved sufficiently before Thirdly Whereas you say or imply That the whole dominion of sin is destroyed in those that are in any measure called and sanctified it is a thing rather to be wished if it were the will of God then to be granted for truth for we find the contrary in our own experience while we are babes in Christ yea the Apostle describing the estate of such in his own person because he had been formerly in that â—state complaineth grievously of the remaining and dominion of corruption Rom. 7.23 24. But I see another law in my members rebeiling against the Law of my minde and bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death indeed if you had said that the former love which the least of Saints had to the body of sin and their willing subjection thereunto is in some measure destroyed you had spoken truly but is not a dominion against their wils a dominion still Yea it is the most grievious tyranny of all other and the hardest to be born So then there is left in all the regenerate a dominion and tyranny of sin till by grace they obtain power and victory against it though this dominion is now invitum imperium and not so dangerous as it was in the time of their voluntary subjection thereunto Fourthly That which you speak in the close of that Section is true or false as men bestir themselves in resisting sin and seeking Gods grace there against or otherwise neglect those duties to wit That the several lusts of this body of sin are more and more weakned and mortified and they more and more quickned and strengthned in all saving graces to the practise of true holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Your second Section presents but one error upon the matter but it is a material one to wit That our sanctification in this life is always imperfect and that there abide some remnants of corruption in every part that hence ariseth a continual and irreconcileable war the flesh lusting against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh Gal. 5.17 But brethren if our sanctification must not be perfected here when or where must it be made up Is not this life the time of our regeneration Tit. 2.11 12 13. For the grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and that glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Must some corruption still remain in every part Why so hath God such pleasure in it Shall Christ lose the end of his comming of which the Apostle speaks in the next verse Tit. 2.24 Who gave himself for us that he might redeem from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works See Ephes 5.25 27. of which we spake before And though while the flesh and the spirit continue there remains an irreconcileable â—ar betwixt them must that war last alwayes had not Saint Paul sought a good fight and finished his course 2 Tim. 4.7 Had he not subued his body and brought it into subjection 1 Cor. 9.27 shall we never attain to be of a taller Stature and growth then those new born babes in the Galatians That you apply their conflicts and weak estate spoken of Gal. 5.17 to all But we must pardon you for in your third Section you seem to contradict all this again saying In which war although the remaining corruption for a time may much prevaile yet through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ the regenerate part doth overcome and so the Saints grow in grace perfecting holiness in the fear of God but concerning this we must refer you to what we spake before upon Chap. 6. Sect. 6. Surely as God caused his word to be written that we might there through become absolute 2 Tim. 3.14 16 17. And hath given gifts from heaven unto his Apostles Prophets Evangelists and Teachers to bring us unto such a stature of perfection in Christ Ephes 4 10 11 12 13 14. So he praying for the perfecting of the Saints Heb. 13.20 21. 2 Cor. 13.9 1 Pet. 5.10 did pray for things feasible and attainable nor can the prayer of Christ for the same thing be irritous Joh. 17.23 I in them and they in me that they may be made perfect in one CHAP. XIV Of saving Faith THE Grace of Faith whereby the Elect are inabled to believe to the saving of their souls a Heb 10.30 is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts b 2 Cor 4.13 Ephes 17.18 19. Ephes 2.8 and is ordinarily wrought by the Ministry of the word c Rom 10.14.17 by which also and the administration of the Sacraments and prayer it is increased and strengthened d 1 Pet 2.2 Act 20.32 Rom 4.11 Luk. 17.5 Ro 1.16 17. II. By this Faith a Christian believeth to be true whatsoever is revealed in the word for the authority of God himself speaking therein e Joh. 4.42 1 Thes 2.13 1 Joh 5.20 Act. 24.14 and acteth differently upon that which each particular passage thereof containeth yeilding obedience to the commands f Rom 16.26 trembling at the threatenings g Isa 66.2 and imbracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to come h Heb. 11.13 1 Tim 4.8 but the principal acts of saving Faith are accepting receiving and resting upon Christ alone for justification sanctification and eternal life by vertue of the Covenant of grace i Joh 1.12 Act 16.33 Gal 2.29 Act 15.11 III. This faith is different in degrees weak or strong k Heb 5 13.14 Rom 4.15 20. Matth 6.30 Matth 8.10 may be often and many
Covenant of grace a Ro 4.11 Ge 17.7.10 immediately instituted of God b Mat â—8 19 1 Cor 11. to represent Christ and his benefits to confirme our interest in him c 1 Cor 10 16. 1 Co 11.23 25 26. Gal 3 17. as also to put a visible difference between those that belong unto the Church and the rest of the world d Ro 15.8 Exo 12.48 Gen 34 14 and solemnly to engage them to the service of God in Christ according to his word e Ro 6.3.4 1 Cor 10.16.21 II. There is in every Sacrament a spiritual relation or sacramental vnion between the sign and the thing signified whence it comes to pass that the names and effects of the one are attributed to the other f Gen 27.10 Matth. 26.27 28. Titns 3.5 III. The grace which is exhibited in or by Sacraments rightly used is not conferred by any power in them neither doth the efficacy of a Sacrament depend upon the piety or intention of him that doth administer it g Rom 2.28 29. 1 Pet. 3.21 but upon the work of the Spirit h Mat. 3.11 1 Cor 12.13 and the word of institution which contains together with a precept an authorizing the use thereof a promise of benefit to worthy receives i Mat 26.27 28. Mat 28.19 20. IV. There be onely two Sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in the Gospel that is to say Baptism and the Supper of the Lord neither of which may be dispensed of any but by a minister of the word lawfully ordained k Mat. 28.19 1 Cor. 11.20 23. 1 Cor 4.1 Heb 5.4 V. The Sacraments of the Old Testament in regard of the Spiritual things thereby signified and exhibited were for substance the same with those of the new l 1 Cor 10.1 2 3 4. CHAP. XXVII Of the Sacraments in General examined IN this your general Doctrine of the Sacraments you have in a general manner kept the road of truth though here and there you deviate following your misleading guides but first we allow you the retention and use of the word Sacrament though not found in the Scriptures because the thing thereby signifyed is frequent there and the term hath not onely been long retained in the Church but was at the first borrowed from a military oath obligeing the Souldier to obedience and faithfulness towards their general to express our like oligations to God and his Christ Then as to your several Sections we take no acceptions at all to your second but must crave leave to certifie you somewhat in most of the other As first in the first Section where you setting forth the ends of the Sacraments do put that in the last place which was the first and principal end of their institution that is solemnly to engage men to the service of God in Christ for it is evident that Circumcision was ordained for that end mainly Gen. 17.10 This is the Covenant which you shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee that every man child among you shall be circumcised Deut. 10.16 Circumcise therefore the fore-skin of your heart and be no more stiff-necked Jer. 4.4 Circumcise your selves to the Lord and take away the fore skin of your bearts ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem the like we finde written concerning the Passover Exod. 12.17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread for in this self-same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt therefore shall ye observe this day in your generatious for ever 1 Cor. 5.8 Therefore let us keep the feast not with the old leaven neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth And as the Sacraments of the Old so those of the New Testament are instituted to instruct us in duty also Hence Baptism is called the Baptism of Repentance Mark 1.4 And Christ in the institution of the Lords supper saith do ye this in remembrance of me 1 Cor. 11.24 and verse 26. As oft as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup shew ye the Lords death till his coming viz. That spiritual coming which he promised John 14.19.23 Howbeit we do not deny but that spiritual benefits are to be expected in the performance of these duties so the repentance taught by Baptism hath remission of sins annexed to it Mark 1.4 and the spiritual body and blood of Christ of which we shall have occasion to speak in the 29. chapter are in the Sacraments of the Lords Supper assured to those that are mindful of his death and suffer with him in resisting temptations by which they are enabled to hold out and overcome when they are tempted but these benefits are signified and sealed unto us but conditionally and in the second place onely Your third use of that distinction between the people of God and the world we also allow but you have omitted one main end which the Lord had in instituting the Sacraments which was thus even by degrees to build up his Tabernacles of righteousness that was fallen down to wit the first part of it in Circumcision the second in the Passover as also in the Lords Supper and the third in his breathing upon his Disciples and saying unto them Receive ye the Holy Ghost John 20 22. For which last end both the feast of weeks in the Old Testament and Baptism in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost were instituted in the new especially that third part of Baptism Secondly Whereas you say in your third Section That the efficacy of a Sacrament doth not depend at all upon the piety and good intention of him that doth administer it you therein speak very unadvisedly For wheras the efficacy of a Sacrament is either obligement unto duty or the assurance of grace and help are not both obstructed by him that administers it if he be ignorant and not able to declare the Mystery of the Sacrament or if he administers the same in a profane and absurd manner or to other ends then it is ordained for or being a wicked person hath his prayers for efficacy rejected And on the contrary do not the spiritual abilities of the Minister his piety and fervent payers conduce much both to the edifying of the people in that service and the drawing down a blessing upon himself and them therein Thirdly Though we must grant you in the fourth Section that there are but two proper and compleat Sacraments in the New Testament yet there are many as it were semi Sacraments to be found there which are holy signes instituted by God in the time of the Gospel or before of which some represent our duties some the grace of God and some both such is the washing and wiping of the Disciples feet John 13.4 15. Secondly The anointing with oyl such as were sick and to be healed by the Disciples and Elders of the Church Mark 6.13 And they cast
betwixt the second and the third because the Apostle speakes of the Doctrine of Baptismes Hebrews 6.2 as also for that some were said to be Baptized for the dead 1 Corinthians 15.29 the former of which places implies that the acts of Baptism might be a plurality though all at one time successively performed The other That some were Baptized to become dead with Christ which we take to be the genuine meaning of that Text and that the Baptizer there paused if he went any further at that time The other is Whether those that were ignorant of what was done to them in their Infancy by death of Parents or Sureties may not lawfully be Baptized again at the time of their Repentance and Conversion to God and that for their further edification or comfort though otherwise we neither see what necessity there can be of Persons once Baptized and knowing they were so to be rebaptized or what warrant the Anabaptists have from God or men to reiterate this Sacrament or administer it at all CHAP. XXIX Of the Lords Supper OVR Lord Jesus in the night wherein he was betrayed instituted the Sacrament of his body and blood called the Lords Supper to be observed in his Church unto the end of the world for the perpetual remembrance of the Sacrifice of himself in his death the sealing all benefits thereof unto true Beleever their spiritual nourishment and growth in him their further ingagement in and to all duties which they owe unto him and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him and with each others as members of his mystical body a 1 Cor 11.23 24 25 26. 1 Cor 10.16 17 21. 1 Cor 12.13 II. In this Sacrament Christ is not offered up to his Father nor any real Sacrifice made at all for remission of sins of the quick and dead b Heb 9.22 25 26.28 but only a commemoration of that once offering up himself by himself upon the Cross once for all and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God for the same c 1 Cor 11.24 2â— 26 Matth 26.26 27. So that the Popish Sacrifice of the Mass as they call it is most abominably injurious to Christs one onely Sacrifice the alone Propitiation for the sins of the Elect d Heb 7.23 24 27. Heb 10.11 12 14 18. III. The Lord Jesus hath in this Ordinance appointed his Ministers to declare his word of institution to the people to pray and bless the Elements of bread and wine and thereby to set them apart from a common to an holy use and to take and break the bread to take the cup and they communicating also themselves to give both to the Communicants e Mat 26.26 27 28. Mark 14.22 33.24 Luke 22.19 20. with 1 Cor 11.23 24 25 26. but to none who are not present in the Congregation f Act 20.27 1 Cor 11.20 IV. Private Masses or receiving this Sacrament by a Priest or any other alone g 1 Cor 10 6. as likewise the denial of the Cup to the people h Mark 14.23 1 Cor 11.25 26 27 28 29. worshiping the Elements the lifting them up or carrying them about for adoration and the reserving them for any pretended religious use are all contrary to the nature of this Sacrament and to the institution of Christ i Mat 15. â— V. The outward Elements in this Sacrament duly set apart to the uses ordained by Christ have such relation to him crucified as that truely yet Sacramentally onely they are sometimes called by the name of the things they represent to wit the body and blood of Christ k Mat 26.26 27 28. albeit in substance and nature they still remain truly and onely bread and wine as they were before l 1 Cor 11 2â— 27 28. Mat 26.29 VI. That Doctrin which maintains a change of the substance of bread and wine into the substance of Christs body and blood commonly called transubstantiation by consecration of a Priest or by any other way is repugnant not to the Scripture alone but even to common sense and reason overthroweth the nature of the Sacrament and hath been and is the cause of manifold superstitions yea of gross Idolatries m Acts 3.21 with â— Cor 11.25.26 Luke 24.26 39. VII Worthy receivers outwardly pertaking of the visible Elements in that Sacrament n 1 Cor 11.28 do then also inwardly by faith really and indeed yet not carnally and corporally but spiritually feed upon Christ crucified and all the benefits of his death the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally in with or under the bread and wine yet as really but spiritually present to the faith of beleevers in that ordinance as the Elements themselves are to the outward senses o 1 Cor 10.16 VIII Although ignorant and wicked men receive outward Elements in this Sacrament yet they receive not the thing signified thereby but by their unworthy coming thereunto are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord to their own damnation wherfore all ignorant and ungodly persons as they are unfit to injoy communion with him so are they unworthy of the Lords table and cannot without great sin against Christ while they remain such pertake of the holy mysteries p Cor 11.27 28 29. 2 Cor 6.14 15 16. or be admitted thereunto q 1 Cor 5.6 7 13. 2 Thes 3.6 14 15. Matth 7.6 CHAP. XXIX Of the Lords Supper examined BRETHREN to give you your due you have here truly set forth the Author of this Sacrament the time of its institution with some of the ends for which it was ordained in the first Section and some part of the Ministers duty in the right administration of it in the third Section you have learnedly detected and confuted many of the gross abuses of the Papists in or about this Sacrament in your second fourth fifth and sixth Sections endeavoured to comfort the receiver of it in the seventh and set Railes about the Communion Table in the eighth Section to keep back ignorant profane and unworthy Communicants but if we here convince your selves with your Authors and guides of gross ignorance and error in the main Mystery of this Sacrament we hope you will the sooner yeeld that it was possible for you to erre in other things even in the most of these we have mainly challenged you for yea peradventure you will be hereupon induced to beleeve these things That there is a departure from the faith come into the Church 1 Tim. 4.1.2 2 Thes 2.24 That the man of sin errour and delusion is crept in 2 Thes 2.3 4 That much saving truth hath been lost for many hundred years That your Authors were not sent of God to preach the true Gospel which they never understood rightly in its chief mysteries concerning Christ That it was needful that the Gospel should be preached a new to the whole world before the end of the