perfection of the Scriptures that though Nature may informe against evill yet for perfection in goodnesse the knowledge of the Scriptures is necessary Nature being the more imperfect Rule this of the Scriptures that infallible 22. T. You said in your answer to our fourteenth question that God is a Spirit What proofe have you for that L. That of Christ himselfe n Jo. 4. 24. Explic. There are other Spirits as the Angels they are said to be spirits o Ps 104. 4 Heb. 1. 7. and there are spirits of Devils p Eph. 2. 2. Re. 16. 14. and the like but they all with all things else but God are Creatures that of some other have their being q Pro. 16. 4. God is the Creator that hath his being of himselfe r Ex. 3. 14. They all were made in time and finite substances God is infinite s Job 11. 7 8 9. and Eternalâ— t Deu. 33. 27. Psal 90 2. They are changeable as the Angels at first u Jude 6. the Devil ever since w 2 Cor. 11. 14. But God is unchangeable x Mal. 3. 6 Jam. 1. 17 They are some good y Heb. 12. 23. some evill z Lu 7. 21 some lying a 2 Chro. 18. 20 21. seducing b 1 Tim. 4. 1. spirits God is alwayes and altogether good c Ps 52. 1. true righteous d Ps 19. 9. And the like other Attributes hath God as properly essentiall to him as that he is holy e Ex. 15. 11. just f 2 Chro. 11. 6. mercifull g Ex. 34. 6 and the like other excellencies of good that no other hath but by donation from him h Ja. 1. 17. 23. T. You find in your answer to our fifteenth question that God made all things How prove you that L. Proofes there are sufficient for that in the whole i Gen 1 first Chapter of Genesis 24. T. How prove you that he made all good L. Why the same proofe may serve for that took. Gen. 1. 31 25. T. Can you thence as you answer to our eighteenth question prove that he made us all at first good when as the Prophet David saith we are all evill l Psal 14. 1. 3. L. Yes that I can 26. T. Tell me how L. Why that last cited place m Ge. 1. 31 saith God saw all that he had made and that all was good 27. T. But what is that all to us now L. We were then good in Adam that was then made as afterwards I answered to your one and twentieth question in him we became evill n Rom. 5 18. 28. T. But is there no evill in us but that L. Yes that is as the fountain-head of evill called by some Originall sin and as still whatever ill thoughts ill words and ill actions are as the streames that flow from that fountaine and called actuall sins And thence is it as we answered to your nineteenth question that I said that in â—hat our first Parent Adams fall we are all evill and for that subject to death o Rom. 6. 23. 29. T. How prove you that we are so evill L. God that tels nothing but truth tels us so p Ge. 6. 5. 30. T. How prove you that for that evill we are subject to death L. So saith St Paul r Ro. 6. 23. Explic. Where by Death is meant not onely as the consequent of sinne the dissolution of soul and body here but as also the consummation of it the damnation of both hereafter Which however some in mercy by grace and Repentance may avoid that fatall destruction yet might be the just stipend of all the wicked off-spring of Adam though living thousands of yeares after him God no otherwise dealing with them then as we use to doe with Vipers kill them not only for the breed sake coming of a pestiferous generation though otherwise having as yet done no evill yet for the ill they when occasion serves will surely doe That issuing from that unsavory fountaine cannot but be insipid waters so as though damned we have no just cause to complaine of God receiving thereby but the stipend of our sin 31. T. You said in your answer to our twentieth question that the last day the generall Resurection of all mankind they by grace renewed shall be blessed in heaven they that continue in sin shall be accursed in hell What proofes have you for that L. First that they by grace renewed shal be blessed that of Christ s Mat. 25. 34. and that they that continue in sin shall be accursed that also of him t Mat. 25. 41. Explic. Where by Heaven is meant the joyfull vision and enjoyment of God and the company of the blessed Saints Angels professors of the Gospell of Christ And by Fire is meant not only Hell torments and the unwelcome company of the Devill and his brood Infidels and ill Livers that regarded not the Gospell of Christ but as it were trod underfoot the son of God but also as torments yet more fatall and insufferable the for ever losse of Heaven and the blessed vision of God and his chosen No hell to an ingenuous minde being more horrid then the losse of Heaven 32. T. Well then you say there shall be a Resurrection what meane you by the Resurrection L. After our departure hence and a dissolution of both soule and body the soule to the place appointed of God for it and the body to the dust that the body shall againe rise at the last day and be united every body to his owne soule to enjoy the good or the evill appointed for them 33. T. How then say some as the Saduces that u Luk. 20. 27. 1 Cor. 15. 12. there shall be no Resurrection L. They are much mistaken it is an Article in my Creed to beleeve the Resurrection of the dead St Paul in that place w 1 Cor. 15. 13. c. presently hath infallible Arguments for it Explic. Resurrection is from a Latin word that signifies to stand up or arise again used diversly in the Scriptures as sometimes for the immortall life x Ph. 3. 11 deliverance from danger y 2 Cor. 1. 10. A new birth in Christ z Col. 3. 1. which is a resurrection from sin to holinesse and called a Rev. 20. 6. the first Resurrection on which the second death that is damnation hath no power and the like Bâ—t hereby is meant that deliverance up of the dead b Rev. 20. 13 which is a Resurrection 〈◊〉 the dead bodies of all that dyed to be judged every man according to his works at that great and generall day the day of judgement a Resurrection of the flesh according to that faithfull knowledge of Job c Job 19. 26. 27. that though dying or by death made Wormes meat yet againe in his Flesh with the very same eyes he then had he should againe meaning
wrath appeased g Mat 12 40 Jonas cast into the Sea to appease its raging so Christ into the grave to appease Gods fury And then 5. He descended into Hell that is being dead and buried when as to our redemption he had sealed its consummation as if to shew his lowest estate and that come he was to the bottome of these steps or degrees he was in the Grave under the power of death and darknesse untill the third day although in the garden h Mat. 26 38 39 and on the Crosse i Mat 27 46 having suffered the most hellish paines he yet by this thus continuance in the grave would consummate all his sufferings and for a time be Captive that after he might appeare the more glorious Conqueror over Death and Hell for ever Applic. That first he suffered Christ the Son of God that he should be driven to such an exigency for mans sin may not onely shew the certainty of his salvation but also the hainousnesse of mans sinne And therefore never thinke it much what we suffer for sin or thinke God austeâ—e that he will not spare us that would not spare his owne Sonne for us No but that he thus suffered for us the just for the uâ—just as saith the Apostle k 1 Pet 3 18. le ts accuse our selves as the cause of our sufferings and beware of sinne that may yet cause us to suffer Then that under Pontius Pilate he suffered may shew us the certainty of our Messias the Shiloh Jacob speakes of l Gen. 49. 10. meaning Christ which was not to come untill the Scepter was departed from Judah which was now in Pilates time Jury being become tributary to Rome and he a President under Caesar Then secondly that he suffers thus crucified the most dreadfull dolorous and dismall sort of sufferings may teach us how hard a matter it was to reconcile us to God and what an hatefull and horrid thing sin is Then thirdly that he dyes the Sonne of God for the sins of man may teach us to leave our man sin and seeke unto that our Saviour God to be as those two Disciples were m Jo. 1. 37 never satisfied till we had found Christ be as the woman of Samaria was having found him never at rest till we have proclaimed him to others n Jo. 4. 28. 29. till we have made him ours and crucified our old man of sin in these sufferings of this new Man of God o Rom. 6. 6. Gal. 2. 20. Then fourthly that he was buried may teach us having crucified our sinnes with his sufferings where to bury them in his death p Rom. 6. 4. And to that end by faith and repentance to beate downe to kill in us whatever reigning contagion of sin q vers 12. Christ dying to that end that we should not live to our selves in our sin r 2 Cor. 5. 15. but unto him in holinesse of life in upright and honest conversation s Luk. 1. 75. And then fifthly that he descended into Hell may teach us that he hath left unassayed no mean of our salvation but having lost heaven by our sinne and merited hell he by his merits will bring us even from hell to heaven And therefore should we leave unassayed no means may make us forsake sin but by holinesse and righteousnesse in him make us still fit for heaven Disciples t is true there are many about this part of this Article many wil not have Christ descend to this lower step of hell the place of the damned but that he went only to the grave the place of the dead But knowing Christ to become the Conqueror of hell wherever it is and to have got the mastery over death and Devils we may rather modestly beleeve the truth of this part of the Article then curiously enquire into the manner of it beleeve Christs descent though not knowing how he went thither and that whether or no while his body was in the grave his soul went into the place of the damned as some thinke or however otherwise whither in soule or body or both or neither went thither makes no matter as to our knowledg of the manner it being a matter plain enough that he became victorious over hell that both death Devils were made subject to him t 1 Cor. 15. 55. and not onely so but by that his Conquest over both made us all Conquerors u veâ—s 57. Witnesse his most glorious Exaltation and steps by which he ascendâ—d in the next three Articles in which are four degrees of it first in the next which is the fifth Article secondly in the sixt and first more in the seventh Of which exaltation now next and thereof first the first step thereof which is in the V. Fift Article The third day he rose againe from the dead Where is to be noted what now next he did 1. rise again 2. whâ—n the third day and 3. whence from the dead That first he rose again the Scriptures teach and that too according to the Scriptures When the third day w 1 Cor. 15 4. And thirdly also whence from the dead x vers 12. He first thus rose againe as by those steps of his Humiliation abased to purchase our salvation so by these of his exaltation raised to apply that salvation to us y Rom. 4. 24. And as by that last step in his Humiliation having to the full satisfied for our sin so in this first step of his exaltation begins he to shew his glory for till thus raised are we not fully happy nor he fully glorified z Jo. 7. 39 the full of our happinesse consisting most in that his glory who thus rises again as evidence that he hath both satisfied for our sinnes and vanquished death and that we also shall rise in him a Ro. 6. 4. from both sin b Rom. 8. 11. and death c 1 Cor. 15. 17. 20. Then secondly the third day he rose again nor sooner nor later no sooner because they might see he was truly dead no later because they might see his power over death And then thirdly from the dead he thus rises to make good that his saying d Jo. 2. 19. that he would destroy the Temple meaning his body by death and three dayes raise it up againe meaning this his third dayes resurrection from the dead Applic. That first he rose againe may teach us that faithfully applying to our selves his merits nor death nor Hell shall detain us but that in him we may be happy perils and persecutions shall not for ever oppress us but though for a while by them bearing the markes of Christ e 2 Cor. 4. 10. yet this rise of Christ shall raise us from them f vers 14. The grave shall not for ever detaine us g 1 Cor. 15. 22. 1 Thes 4. 10. but in this his Exaltation shall we â—â—se also thence Then
how by holinesse n Luk. 1 75 dispose those all to that pioâ—s dependance o 2 Sam 3 18 and thus much be spoken of the second Article come we to the third III. Third Article Which was conceived by the holy Ghost borne of the Virgin Mary which with the next that followes sets forth the Humiliation of Christ and the three next to that his Exaltation Of which Humiliation two steps or degrees we have in this Article and five in the Article following as in this first that he was conceived by the holy Ghost 2. that he was boâ—â—e of the Virgin Mary and theu in the next 3 that he â—â—ffâ—â—ed under Pontius Pilate 4. that he was Crucified 5. that he was Dâ—ad 6. that he was Buried and 7. that he dâ—scended into Hell To go on with this Article that he was humbled yea humbled himselfe the Scriptures p Ph 2 8 shew and by this first step or degree conceived by the holy Ghost the Scriptures make an Angel q Mat. 1 20 Luk 1 35 the witnesse thereby to teach it no power of man but the power of God that could make God man and that by descending yet by the second step borne of the Virgin Mary as the Scriptures also prove r Is 7 14. Luk 1 31 Gal. 4 4. Though of the holy Ghost conceived wâ—ich was a glorious conception yet far beneath was it the dignity of the Lord fâ—lory s Ps 24 10 to be conceived but that oâ—t of wisedome he would humble himselfe to the Conception and that out of love to be thus borne that by that Conception he might be free from sin pure to purge the impurity of our conception t Ps 51 5 and by this birth like unto us in all man sin only excepted u Heb 4 15 And borne of a Virgin also to evade the pollution of natures impurity and not only so but thereby to shew also the power of God in that too beside the coâ—rse of nature to produce so glorious a birth And then borne of the Virgin Mary a woman though poore yet of the Linage of David betrothed to a Man of that Linage w Mat 1 20 Luk 2 4 Applic. He humbled himselfe as if thereby to teach us to be humble x Mat 11 29 And first in that glorious manner as if thereby to teach the glory of Humility y Luk 14 11 Then by many an hard taâ—ke thus huâ—ble he was for us that we might undergoe any hardship for him to be content in what ever state so as to serve him z Ps 4 12 And humbling thus himselfe fâ—r us that we like hiâ— a Phâ— 2 5 should be humble to each other b Jo 13 14 Whose thus Conception shews him God and that his birth man thus God and man in one Person without confusion of both natures without mixture of either but both perfect God and perfect man One person that had the power of God c Ro 1 4 and the parts of man d 1 Pet 2 24 Mat 26 38 The power of God to preserve man for God and the parts of mans soule and body for mans soule and body to present man unto God Without either of which power or parts or either of them he could not have beene the Redeemer That he was borne of a Virgin that was poore shews the riches of his grace and power so to enrich our poverty e 2 Cor. 8 9 Then of a Virgin betrothed to honour marriage as in token of that honour at a marriage shewing his first miracle f Jo 2 11 And then a Virgin a woman of the Linage of David and betrothed to a Man of that Linage as if thereby to shew that greatnesse hath not all the preheminence with God but that the poore also may have right to an inheritance with him In both this conception and birth may we read lessons of the great love of God that would have our salvation wrough in this manner in this exhibition of Christ doing all that might be done for his chosen as he did for his Vineyard g Is 5 4 leaving undone nothing that might be done for them Nor Christ leaving any step untrod any degree not undergone whereby to effect mans salvation as in this article not only by these two steps of life but as in the next steps he out by five degrees of death for him Of which next and therof in this IV. Fourth Article Suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried he descended into Hell 3. That he suffered under Pontius Pilate as we said the other two were steps of life so may we say these two be steps of death And this is his first step to it those two others of life being little lesse then presently an exhibition to death from his Cradle to his Crosse under-going still as it were deadly sufferings That he trod every these weary wofâ—ll steps the Scriptures also shew as how 1. he suffeâ—â—d not onely desertion of God h Mal 27. 46 but also i Jo 15 20 many other tyrannous persecutions of men but this worst of all under Pontius Pilate k 1 Tim 6 13 as that 2. He was Crucified l Mat 27 35 3. dead m Jo 19 33 4. buried n Vers 42 and 5. He o Act 2 27 descended into Hell p. 1. Suffered many as we said tyrannous persecutions of men as his flight from Herod p Mat 2 14 the Pharisees reviling q Mat 9 34 and way-laying r Jo 7 32 him yea his own Country mens contemning of him s Mat 13 54 55 but this worst of all under Pontius Pilate the true Messias suffering under a false Judg the King of Heaven under an earthly petty President And that noâ— onely betrayed by a Disciple t Mat 21 47 48 apprehended as a Theife u vers 55 accused arraigned condemned yea crucified as a most accursed malefactor crucified because to suffer the most accursed death w Deut 21 23. and that to redeem us from the curse x Gal 3 13 crucified because the most shamefull y Heb 12 2 most painefull z Act 5 death and that to redeem from shame and pain a Is 53 5 Thus ere he dyes for us enduring most bitter torturings as the piercing b Ps 22 16 hands and his feet distention and nayling them to the Crosse and the like and that to turne away our tormentings and crosse out the guilt of our sins c Col 2 14 Also 3. dead to satisfie Gods justice for mans sins d Rev 1 5 and confirme to Beleevers the promises of God in the Gospell e Heb 9 16 Then 4. buried to ratifie that confirmation that as when Jonas was cast into the Sea then and not till then did it cease raging f Jon 1 15 so Christ being buried then and not till then is Gods