AN ANTIDOTE AGAINST THAT Poysonous and Fundamental ERROR OF THE QUAKERS Denying the same Numerical true and real Manhood of Jesus Christ in Heaven a place remote from the Earth In two SERMONS Preached at Hartford By W. H. CHRISTOPHILUS ISA. 4.2 In that day shall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and Glorious and the fruit of the Earth shall be Excellent and Comely for them that are escaped of Israel ISA. 53.2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender Plant and as a Root out of a dry Ground He hath no Form nor Comeliness and when we shall see him there is no Beauty that we should desire him London Printed for Jonathan Robinson at the Golden Lyon in S t. Pauls Church-Yard 1676. The Epistle Dedicatory To his much Honoured FRIEND Sir John Hartop Baronet SIR THAT which gave the Occasion of my thoughts pitching upon this subject matter viz. Christ's Manhood in Heaven was that Dispute betwixt Mr. Hicks and Mr. Pen at London concerning the same I being there present am satisfied by the Quakers fallacious management of that Discourse that they deny the same Numerical true and real Manhood of Christ in Heaven as a place remote from us Since that I have had Discourse with a Neighbour Quaker William Bates who frequently said He did not believe that the Humane Nature that which was taken by Christ of the Virgin had now any being I have three Witnesses of this whom I can produce if need be Sir I may boldly say That neither you I nor thousands more of Christians in this Nation ever thought that we should live to see that day wherein so many thousands pretending to Christianity in this Nation should be so Brazen-foreheaded as to disown Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah yet so it is O Tempora O Mores The Ends of the World are come upon us My Spirit being stirred within me at the hearing of this grand Fundament al Errour I thought it my duty to the Lord Jesus Christ to Antidote the poor Country as much as in me lieth against these damnable Delusions it made him speak that was dumb before when he saw his Fathers Life in danger So what Babe what Novice will want a Mouth a Tongue to speak a Hand a Pen to write when the Man Christ is struck at by ungodly Seducers Therefore I though the least and most unfit of my Brethren have Printed my Notes Preached you know at Hartford and humbly present them to you Sir as to one whom I know to be a sincere lover of the One Mediator betwixt God and Man the Man Christ Jesus and of his Evangelical Truths Pray Sir vouchsafe to read them and candidly bear with what may not be so congruously worded in so sublime a Mystery The Lord by his Spirit establish settle strengthen you in this and every Truth and preserve you and your Elect Lady both as Vessels of Honour to his heavenly Kingdom there to behold the Man Jesus Christ in his Glory which is best of all Your Servant for Jesus sake William Haworth AN ANTIDOTE Against that Poysonous Fundamental Error OF THE QUAKERS c. 1 PETER 3.22 Who is gone into Heaven and is on the Right hand of God THE Apostle Peter is here speaking of the Grounds of Comfort to the guilty Consciences One is in Vers 21. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ The answer of a good Conscience through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ He rose again for our Justification He being acquitted by the Father then His Members are acquitted now A second Proposition in order to the Answer of a good Conscience is The Ascension of Jesus Christ and his sitting at the Right-hand of God all things being made subject to him To see by Faith our Head exalted into Glory and there Advocating for us and Ruling for us is a very comfortable thing In the 18 Verse he is speaking of Christ's being put to death in the Flesh but quickned by the Spirit i.e. the Divine Power Then descends to speak of his Resurrection as the true solid Ground of the Answer of a Good Conscience and from this Resurrection descends to speak of his Ascension So then That same Jesus that was put to death in the Flesh and Raised by the Power of God from the Dead That same is gone into Heaven It 's plain then that he was put to Death in his fleshly Body and in This it was that he Rose again Why then in This is he gone into Heaven and in This is he at the Right-hand of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it speaks a Motion from one Place to another a Change of the Place Now Whither went he Into Heaven Heaven is not every where as some say and so this Change is only a Change of State But Heaven is a Place where God doth manifest most of his Glory It 's called the Heaven of Heavens and the third Heaven whereunto Paul was wrapt up 2 Chron. 6.21 Hear thou from thy dwelling-Place even from Heaven It 's called here and 1 Kings 8.30 Gods Dwelling-Place John 14.2 It 's called the Fathers House In my Fathers House are many Mansions I go to prepare a Place for you And is on the Right-hand of God An Allusion to the Custom of Kings who were wont to take their Favourites and place them on their Right-hand as Solomon placed his Mother at his Right-hand And as Zebedee would have had her Sons at Christ's Right-hand in his Kingdom It is a Place of Honour Glory Power and Authority Learn this Truth from the Words That the Same Jesus Christ that was put to Death in the Flesh and did Rise with that Same Flesh again That Same Jesus in that Same Flesh and Man-hood is now in Heaven which is a Place not a State only there he is at Gods Right-hand in Power and Glory So that as to that Humane Nature he is not upon Earth I will prove this That Jesus Christ is now a true real Man in Heaven and so Is not here on Earth as he is Man That ever Jesus Christ was a true real Man some have denied and have held That it was only an Appearance or Spectrum in the shape of a Man And some are of this mind now But we will take this for granted That Christ was once here on Earth a real true Man but that he is so Now the Quakers deny A Man consists of these two Essential Parts viz. Soul and Body Both these Christ had Heb. 10.5 A Body hast thou prepared me That which was taken by the Virgin which consists of Flesh and Bones Luke 24.39 A Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones as ye see me have 2. A Soul he had Matth. 26.38 My Soul is sorrowful even unto Death That both these Essential Parts Soul and Body are now in Heaven I am now about to prove a Place remote from us so that he cannot be said as to his Corporal presence to be here on Earth Though we believe that
this Soul and Body is in Union with the Godhead in Heaven and so he is Mediator in both Natures take this by the way That the Quakers may not deceive you by their Juggles Christ was a Person before he took Man's Nature They may grant to you that Christ is a Person and yet deny his Manhood and grant a Manhood and yet deny the Fesh in which he was to be in Heaven 1. That his Soul is in Heaven see Luke 23.46 Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit What is become of that Soul that Christ had when he came to Die Surely it did not vanish and perish but he commends it into his Fathers hands as into a safe depository to be laid up kept and preserved Luke 23.43 To day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Was not that Heaven Now he spake this as to his Soul it 's plain for as to his Deity he was always there as to his Body that remained in the Sepulchre two dayes 2. His Body that 's in Heaven that Flesh and those Bones that were handled by his Disciples at the Resurrection And he himself saith A Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones as ye see me have Behold my Hands Luke 24.39 and my Feet handle me and see And they handled him 1 John 1.1 Whom our hands have handled of the Word of Life Now this Flesh and Bones those Hands and Feet that were handled are now in Heaven And Luke 24.50 51. He led them forth as far as Bethany and he lift up his hands and blessed them And it come to pass while he blessed them he was parted from them and carried up into Heaven This Body was the proper Object of their sight The Soul they could not see this was parted from them this was carried up into Heaven Act. 1.9 While they beheld he was taken up If he had secretly ascended more doubts might have risen what was become of him but he did openly-and visibly Ascend having many Witnesses of the truth and reality of it that it might be out of doubt Now if it be asked whither he did ascend the Angels give an accoutn Vers 11. This same Jesus which is taken up into heaven and observe how they speak This same Jesus as you have seen him go They saw him with their Carnal Eyes they were Eye-witnesses of this thing Other Scriptures opened to prove this Acts 7.56 Behold I see the Heavens opened Stephen's sight was strengthened in a wonderful miraculous way so that he pierced to the very heavenly Glory with his Eye This was more than what was natural no doubt for the other that stood by saw nothing but he saw as much of the Heavenly Glory as he could bear I see the Son of Man denoting Humane Nature when here on Earth that he had it then at that time after his Ascension 1 Tim. 3.16 God manifested in the Flesh And the last Phrase of the Verse received up into Glory that flesh wherein God manifested himself was received up into Glory Acts 3.21 Whom the Heaven must receive until the restitution of all things Peter had been preaching the Resurrection of Christ now here he tells them what is become of him since why He is in Heaven thither should their minds be lifted up by Faith and this Heaven having received him should contain him until a certain time then he will appear Therefore Beza saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is here put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Antecedent we may understand the Consequent it is so to receive him as to contain him Therefore all those places where you read of Jesus Christ by Name appearing are not to be understood as if Christ in Body came down from Heaven but either they saw him the Heavens being as it is said of Stephen opened or it was in Extasie Matth. 26.11 For you have the poor alwayes with you but me you have not with you alwayes Therefore he speaks frequently to his Disciples of his Departure that he would go away from them Yet a little while and I am with you John 14.2 3. I go and if I go to prepare a place And now Whither went he He tells us John 17.11 And now I am no more in the World but these are in the World I come to thee Holy Father Now this must needs be as to his Manhood for the Father and He were one as to his Godhead in Essence and so he was with the Father from Eternity John 1.1 In the beginning the Word was with God Prov. 8.22 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his wayer before his works of old Vers 30. Then I was by him i.e. before there was any thing created or framed You see by thâ—se Scriptures he removed from the Earth and went to Heaven and there he is Yet farther What else must we understand by that of the Apostle Paul 2 Cor. 5. Absent from the Body present with the Lord. While we are at home we are absent or Pilgrims from the Lord. Now Christ as God is immense as to his presence he is every where and as to his Saints he is with them alwayes and in them by his Spirit then must it needs be spoke as to Christ's Bodily presence So in another place the Apostle saith I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ He must needs speak this as to his Soul for Pauls Boyd was to sleep in the Grave till the Resurrection But was not Christ present with Paul Yea certainly as to his Spirit so he saith 2 Tim. 4.17 The Lord stood by me What then was this being with Chirst but to be as to his Soul upon departure from the Body in some certain place where the Soul and Body of Christ were they could not be every where for then this desire of his was a vain desire and he withall wishes his Soul to be every where and so to be Infinite and to be God which is absurd In Ephes 1.20 he is mentioning Christ and saith Whom he raised from the dead and set him at his own right-hand Now what ever was raised was set at the right-hand The flesh of Christ was raised He here tells us what it is for Christ to sit at Gods right-hand viz. to have power over all things to have all things put in subjection to him which is taken from Psal 8.4 where observe what is said What is Man that thou art mindfull of him or the Son of Man that thou visitest him This state of Exaltation in Heaven is applyed to him as Man he is a Man in Heaven 1 Tim. 2.5 Out Mediator betwixt God and man the Man Christ Jesus That Man that gave himself a Ransom for that followeth immediately that Man is the Mediator betwixt God and man therefore none of any sort but may have hopes of being saved by him upon Faith on him Heb. 4.14 15. Seeing then that we have a great High Priest that is passed into the Heavens We have not an
High Priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our Infirmities but was in all points tempted as we are He that was in all points tempted as we are and so can be touched with the feeling of our Infirmities that same is our High Priest now passed into the Heavens and that must needs be as to his Manhood for his Godhead was not capable of such temptations Phil. 3. From whence that is from Heaven we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile Body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious Body We see plainly from this Scripture that Christ hath a Body and that it is now in Heaven from thence it shall come when the time is according to the Faith and Expectation of the Saints Here followeth the Properties of this Manhood of Christ from what hath been spoken and what may be spoke 1. IT is a real and true Body as any man on earth hath It is not as some have thought an Aerial Body or so a Spiritual that it remains not still a humane Body it is that very Flesh and Bons that Thomas felt and the Disciples felt and handled 2. It hath the same Form and Figure that it had when here upon Earth else how could the Disciples know him after the Resurrection which is a glorious state of the Body 3. It is now since the Ascension the Object of Sense It is visible hath been seen with the bodily Eye and may be seen Stephen its evident saw the Body of Christ and Paul saw him with his bodily Eye 1 Chr. 15.18 Last of all I saw him and at length Every eye shall see him coming in the Clouds of Heaven Rev. 1.7 4. It is a smite body if it were infinite it would be God and not Man so then there would be another God in time that was not before because another infinite being and that must needs be God Moreover if Infinity can be attributed to it why not Omnisciency Incorporiety Simplicity and so all of Gods Attributes for where any one of Gods Incommunicable Properties is ascribed there all the rest may be 5. It is then circumscribed it must be still in some one certain Place or other not limited or confined to any one Place or corner as it were of Heaven but still in one place or other in the highest Heavens If Bodies are not some where circumscribed they cease to be Bodies and so are no where and so not at all 6. It is an immortal an incorruptible impatable Body Such thoughts we ought to have of it not that it can suffer any thing now but that it did suffer and so Christ knows how to pitty us and doth pitty us neither Death nor Corruption can come upon this Body it saw Death before but no Corruption 7. It is a very glorious Body Phil. 3. Like unto his glorious Body How gloriously it is represented and painted out to us by Daniel and John in the Revelations more bright than a thousand Suns 8. The Saints may do and ought to worship the Humane Nature of Christ in union with the Deity we do not worship it by it self apart nor for it self but as in union with the Deity this is the last term of our Worship with one and the same Worship we worship him that is God and Man but the cause and foundation of that Worship is the Deity He received worship from several when he was here on the Earth in the Flesh John worshiped him in the Visions he had as appears in the Book of the Revelations and there we read likewise that the Angels and Elders round about the Throne fell down and worshipped the Lamb that was Christ 9. This Flesh of Christ this Humane Nature is such as giveth Life to our Souls in quickening of us to Righteousness to our Bodies in the Resurrection State to Souls and Bodies Eternal Life at last in Heaven Except you eat my Flesh and drink my Blood saith Christ John 6.53 you have no Life in you Likewise the Scripture saith Our Life is hid with Christ in God Now how is the Flesh of Christ a Life procuring Flesh 1. As the material Cause of Life Sin the Cause of temporal spiritual and eternal Death was expiated in the Flesh of Christ Rom. 8.3 And for sin condemned sin in the Flesh By the offering of the Flesh of Christ sin was taken away so that Righteousness and Eternal Life we may say was and is in the flesh of Christ i. e. in a way of merit it is quickning Flesh 2. It is quickning Flesh as it is secondarily an efficient Cause of Life Christ as Man doth concur to the quickning of his Members us he is a Man he giveth forth of his Treasures and spiritual Riches and this Life is a great part of these Traasures and Riches But now there is a different Action in this efficiency of the Flesh of Christ and a different way of working then when we are said to be quickned by the Deity Christ as Man now he is in Heaven quickneth efficiently First by his Intercession the virtue of his Sacrifice pleads for this and obtains this Life for us Secondly Because he hath a Will as he is Man that we should be quickned Thirdly As he obtaines the Spirit by which we are Regenerated and Faith by which we are united to that Fesh of his Fourthly When we are thus 〈…〉 to us his Flesh and what is in that Flesh 〈…〉 and Eternal Life Thus we are quickned by the Flesh of Christ it is the Organ of the Deity but so as it is an understanding living Organ of the Eternal Word in 〈…〉 ther◠and it hath or proper actions of own 〈…〉 Actions of the Deity Yet it is the Actions of the Deity that perfects all good for us and in us The Actions of the Humanity compleat nothing without this There must be Blood and there was Blood there is the Humanity but then this Blood is the Blood of God Act. 20.28 that gives the virtue and energy to it thus the Flesh in John 6.63 profiteth nothing i.e. alone but in Conjunction with the Deity we have all Life from it Objections against this Truth Answered 1. Object The Apostle faith Ephes 4.10 That be ascended far about all Heavens Therefore Christ is not in Heaven in his Manhood Answ Therefore Christ as to his Manhood is not in any of these Visible Heavens for he passed through these and went into that invisible most supream Heaven the Heaven of Heavens as it is called far above the other Heavens Psal 68. It is said He ascended on high which interprets this place or far above all Heavens i. e. all heavenly Powers all Angelical Nature and Perfection he is above them all 2. Object It 's said in Ephes 4.10 That he might fill all things How then is he contained in Heaven if so he then is every where and as some Jay in every man Answer This filling all