incongruity I am the Living Bread which came down from Heaven If any Man eat this Bread he shall Live for ever And the Bread which I will give is this my Flesh which your Eyes behold which I will give for the Life of the World or say we And the Bread which I will give is my Life which I will give for the Life of the World for that that is the meaning of giving his Flesh for the Life of the World shall be shewed anon And that he gave his Bodily Life that which he took of the B. Virgin for the Life of the World I hope you will not deny But the words being thus put there is no incongruity but it is the very same in sense with the Text and therefore the visible Flesh of Christ is here meant So that the whole is this Christ who now was Man having said that he is the Bread of Life which came down from Heaven shews in one eminent particular wherein he is so viz in Dying for us he being likewise the Bread of Life in other respects namely as to his Doctrine and Spirit and raising unto eternal Life at the last day Which Death is our eternal Life as Bread is our Temporal 2 From these last words I will give my Flesh for the Life of the World I prove that the Flesh and Blood here spoken of are not a spiritual invisible substance which you Imagine Christ always dwelt in and brought from Heaven with him but that visible which he took of the Virgin For to give his Flesh for the Life of the World signifies to offer up himself a Sacrifice for Sin by Death upon the Cross thereby obtaining Life for the World Pardon and Redemption As is manifest from the like expressions which frequently occur Mat. 20. 28. The Son of Man came to give his Life a Ransom for many Eph. 5. 2. Christ hath given himself for us an Offering and a Sacrifice to God Heb. 9. 28. He was once offered to bear the Sins of many Chap. 3. 14. As the Children are partakers of Flesh and Blood he himself likewise took part of the same that through Death he might destroy him that had the power of Death the Devil And it being altogether thus spoken of his visible Flesh it is sure enough that this place speaketh of the same For shew another Text if you can that speaketh thus of a spiritual Flesh of his But then the importance of the Phrase being such as you have heard you must affirm that the spiritual Flesh was offered and Died and so obtained Redemption for us Which is altogether a stranger to the Scripture Whether you will affirm this I cannot tell But this we all see that you Interpret the Life which is by Christ's Flesh viz. The spiritual which you phansie of his quickening of our Souls by his Life and Spirit which dwelleth in us Which is quite another thing than to give it for the Life of the World that importing Dying as a sacrifice and atoning for Sin 3 The Flesh and Blood here are two distinct things vers 53. Whereas the spiritual substance which you imagine can have but one part And moreover the Flesh forasmuch as the giving of it as hath been proved signifies Christ's Death must needs be that which was Broken and the Blood that which was shed And accordingly the Bread and Wine which our Lord Ordeined in remembrance of his same Death are symbols of this same Flesh and Blood and of no other 1 Cor. 11. Mat. 26. This is my Body which is Broken for you This is my Blood which is shed for you But spiritual Flesh cannot be broken nor spiritual Blood shed and indeed there are not these two distinct parts in a spiritual substance nor are the Bread and Wine in the Lord's Supper symbols of such and therefore we must conclude that such are not here meant Im. Revel p. 55. Scripture is frequent in its testimonies concerning the appearance of Jesus Christ in his Saints Can any thing which is without Man speak so immediatly to the Soul as Christ who made it and is in it and comes in for that end to reveal himself and his Father therein and so to fulfil that Prayer of his Joh. 17. 24. Father I will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory which thou hast given me But this Text speaks not of the Saints being with Christ and beholding his Glory whilst they are upon Earth by his operation in their Hearts but of their real presence with him in Heaven after this Life and then and as so present beholding his Glory For as he departed out of this World to be in the place where he is and to receive the Glory there which he hath vers 1. The hour is come Glorifie thy Son Vers. 5. Glorifie thou me with thine own self Ver. 11. I am no more in the World I come to thee Chap. 7. 39. Jesus was not yet Glorified Chap. 20. 17. I am not Yet ascended to my Father Eph. 1. 20. God raised him from the Dead and set him at his own right hand in the Heavenly places 1 Tim. 3. 16. Received up into Glory vide Joh. 6. 62. So must we likewise depart hence that we may be in the same place with him and behold as there present his Glory For thus it is said 2 Cor. 5. 6. Whilst we are at home in the Body we are absent from the Lord Phil. 1. 23. I have a desire to depart and be with Christ 1 Joh. 4. 2. When he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is And plain enough is it that our Saviour speaks not of our Beholding his Glory whilst we are absent from him but when we are in the same place with him I will that they be with me where I am that they may behold my Glory And that really and personally there by a proper local removal hence as himself went thither For thus says he vers 11. I am no more in the World I come to thee Whereas then he prays that they that are his may be with him it is manifest he means that they might come to the Father as he did be removed from Earth into Heaven for the same says he of those that lay down their Lives for him Which must therefore needs mean their being with him in the other World so as to be glorified and receive eternal Life Chap. 12. 25. 26. He that hateth his Life in this World shall keep it unto Life eternal If any man serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my Servant be So says he to the Jews Chap. 7. 33. 34. Yet a little while I am with you and then I go unto him that sent me Ye shall seek me and shall not find me and where I am thither ye cannot come i. e. Ye cannot come unto God in Heaven
things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses Act. 2. 38. Repent and be Baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of Sins They laboured in the Word and Doctrine and exhorted the Believers that the word of Christ should dwell in them richly By all this you may understand what is the word of Reconciliation committed to the Apostles the word of Christ the word which he spake through which his Disciples were made clean and may learn to distinguish it from himself Farnsw Priest's Ignorance p. 4. 5. The Teachers of the world say that the Spirit is the Letter and they are inseparable when the Spirit saith The Letter killeth and is Death And thou who wouldest raise the Spirit out of the dead Letter art a Conjurer They say that Salvation is in the Scripture and that the Power goeth along with the Letter which is Death Burroughs Trumpet p. 20. You say Christ commands it when the Letter doth but declare it and say in such a Verse of such a Chapter such a command is not having received the command by the same Spirit You are in Witchcraft who observe commands without from the Letter thereby drawing from the teachings within by the Spirit They that obeyed Christ were led by the Spirit and not by the Letter for they were not Ministers of the Letter but of the Spirit Return to Priests about Beverly p. 10. You put the Books Matthew Mark Luke John for the Gospel which are the carnal Letter G. K. Help p. 27. The finest truest words out of a bad mans mouth can never reach the seed of God either to the raising it up or refreshing it but kills and burdens it as said the Apostle of the false Apostles who had the Letter and were Ministers of it out of the Spirit and Power The Letter Kills I begin to believe that some of you understand by the Letter and the Scriptures the very Characters and the Books forasmuch as it is usual with them to call them Ink and Paper But others of you are more skilful calling them also words spoken By which yet I hope they do not mean the sounds only which are made by the mouth which if they do they mend not the matter at all the sounds being to the Ear no other than what the characters are to the Eye but I would believe they mean as they ought to do the sense and doctrine for Scripture is all one whether it be expressed by the Pen or spoken by the Mouth or only conceived in the mind that is to say the doctrine is Now we are to consider whether the Doctrine of the Scriptures be dead and liveless carnal and killing Here you differ again some saying it is so in it self alone without the Spirit or as it is Preached from the Scriptures without immediate revelation to the Preacher though that Preacher be neither wicked nor a seducer others saying it is so as Ministred by such vile persons We are again to consider of what Scriptures or Doctrine the Apostle speaks when he saith We are not Ministers of the Letter but of the Spirit And 1 can you in good conscience say the doctrine of the Gospel is a dead and carnal word Or which is all one that those Scriptures are which express that Doctrine and that after the most lively manner even according to the mind of God himself who so delivered them by his own Spirit Thus we read there and thus it is spoken to us from thence by our Preachers Sinners you must forsake your evil ways and become new creatures not only outwardly reform but be inwardly holy and changed in your natures must cleanse your selves from all filthiness not only of the flesh but of the Spirit also you must walk in the fear of God and observe diligently all his Commandments love them and delight in them or else you cannot be saved but must burn as God hath pronounced in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone and suffer his wrath and indignation for ever His love is exceeding great to us who is not willing that any should perish but that all should have everlasting life and to that end hath given his only begotten Son to die an ignominious and painful death and to bear our sins on his own body on the Tree and to make atonement for us and hath set him upon the Throne with himself to rule over all things for our good and hath sent forth his mighty and gracious Spirit to enlighten convert strengthen and comfort us Courage poor Soul and look up Glory is provided for thee who hast offended greater than the most magnificent Prince on earth enjoys Harken to the holv Guide in thy Soul cease thy Rebellion and thou shalt inherit Heaven dwell with God in that supernal Palace beholding his Face in Peace and have fulness of joy all perfection and life for evermore Blessed art thou O man who hast subdued thy Lusts overcome the World and hast put on Jesus Christ for unto thee belongeth this blessedness Kingdom and Glory Though we Die we shall be made alive again and stand before the Judge which knoweth what we have done and what hath been in our hearts and who will accept no mans person but will render to all according to their deserts so that our portion in the end will be either that bliss or that misery and this is not our word but the Mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Now call you this a carnal Letter a dead insipid spiritless thing Hath it no more power in it to move the Soul than characters of Ink drawn upon a Paper It pierces the Sinner like a Sword and comforts the humble Soul more than Wine The very contrivance of the Scriptures spits shame in the face of your bold assertion they being adorned with all perspicuity that we may understand the truth and with the strongest arguments to perswade us to our duty as the love of God the Death of his Son the assistance of his Spirit the filthiness and incommodities of Vice the purity and beauty and benefits of Vertue the Resurrection and the Judgment the Glory of Heaven and the Torments of Hell And so long as men have understanding fear hope and love of themselves this word can not be as a mere block and stone to them And you may hence discern that there is a force in the very things themselves in that the same person works more upon the auditors when he Preaches clearly pertinently and the weightiest matters than when he speaks of more extrinsick Points and Doctrines of the least moment and makes Childish descants and involves all he says in obscurity I demand if the Scriptures be such a dead letter and killing thing death it self why the Apostle wrot or why do you Did he contradict his Tongue with his own hand at the same moment Did he believe that he sent the Corinthians a word as dead as his Ink and a letter that
according to you the manifestation of the Spirit doth signifie as to some men Heathens namely and the darkest and wickedest the least measure of light and the smallest spiritual operation and motion in the Heart you understanding that it is given to every man And this so ill agreeing with the Apostles discourse it was necessary that you should take away the emphasis as you have done saying a manifestation of the Spirit is given to every Man But what reason and authority you have for so doing I know not the Greek having its Article which commonly enough is emphatical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but especially there being the greatest emphasis in the thing it self the manifestation of the Spirit the Apostle expressing it by many eminent Gifts such as Tongues Miracles c. and not saying one ordinary thing of it such namely as is the light in every man Heathens as well as Christians G. K. Help p. 2. Eating and drinking Damnation spoken of 1 Cor. 11. is where this discerning of the Lord's Body is not rightly made the Dead and Crucified Body from the Living Body the living Soul as it is first from the quickning Spirit which follows after Surely men may say any thing when they assume the liberty of proving nothing The Text is this He that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh Damnation to himself not discerning the Lord's Body Not discerning it in what I demand In eating and drinking you must say if you will speak according to the Apostle I demand further in eating and drinking what This Bread and Wine you must answer which the Lord ordeined in remembrance of his Death if you will again speak as the Apostle doth Friend Dost thou eat and drink this I neither do nor will must thou reply according to thy opinion and practice I tell thee then that thou discernest not the Lord's Body according to the mind of the Apostle in this place And it is no wonder that thou hast invented a strange interpretation hereof so long as thou wilt have nothing to do with the Institution Do this in remembrance of me But since the Apostle speaks of the Lord's Supper shew that he means here that another body is to be discerned than that which is to be remembred as Crucified whereof the Bread and Wine are Symbols Shew a syllable here that intimates a spiritual body I will shew thee and I wish thou would'st learn thy duty what it is according to the Apostles mind to discern the Lords Body viz. to come to the Supper of the Lord not as to a common Feast but with heavenly affection and all due preparation of Soul minding his Death the death of so great an one as the Son of God the Lord of Glory and not of an ordinary man and that ignominious and painful the death of the Cross his Love herein and the Love of his Father and our inestimable benefit eternal Redemption so as to be sutably wrought upon by all Thus much you might have learned from the Apostle if you had observed his words who tells us that as for eating and drinking that is after the common manner we have houses to do that in but this bread is Christ's Body broken for us and this Cup is the New Testament in his Blood and we are to examin our selves and to receive these in remembrance of him shewing forth his Death herein And I pray you what is here unworthy of a Christian and unfit for you to do what that is meau and elementary and not divine enough for the best But as for your discerning of the Lord's Body his dead Body from his living Body the living Soul from the quickning Spirit as you intend it not of his Supper so hath it nothing to do with the Text. J. N. Love to the Lost p. 54. c. This was Instituted by Christ as they sate at Meat and did eat and so often as they did eat and drink thereof they were to do it in remembrance of him shewing his Death till he came And this was that the Apostles received of the Lord and was practised in the purity of the Church which breaking Bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart And this was to be done at all seasons when they eat and drank in their eating and drinking they were to do it to the Lord and herein to have communion with his Body and Blood Yea when they were to have communion with the Gentiles they were to partake of the Table of the Lord 1 Cor. 10. Many excess having overtaken them for want of eating always in his fear and in remembrance of his coming have put his coming afar off into another world and are become reprobate in the Faith as to his appearance and to avoid this it was that the Lord Jesus commanded his Disciples in eating and drinking to shew forth his death till he came It must needs be that they return into the pleasures of the flesh that discern not his Body in their eatings who is the Body of all creatures And this is known from the Lord in the Eternal to be the true end of the Supper of the Lord instituted and appointed that in remembrance of his death they might be kept from all excess It is easie to say This is from the Lord but nothing is more dreadful than to lay Errour upon the Holy Ghost notwithstanding the people out of reverence to that holy one believe it and reverence the Assertor Shew a syllable that intimates that our Lord instituted his Supper for a remembrance of his Death in our ordinary daily eating and drinking or that the reason he took Bread and Wine when he did eat the Passeover with his Disciples and said Take eat this is my Body Drink ye all of it for this is my Blood This do in remembrance of me was to shew us that whenever we take our common meals we should feed our selves in his fear as the remembrance of his Death requires Nothing is more clear than that he meaneth a peculiar eating and drinking For says he This is my Body This is my Blood Is all Bread and Wine his Body and Blood or do they so signify Nay though there be on our Tables neither of these creatures but only Butter and Cheese and Eggs Beer and Water and Milk Again the Apostle doth not say as oft as ye eat and drink but as oft as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup you shew the Lord's death 1 Cor. 11. manifestly distinguishing this Bread and Wine from Cabbage and Ale and whatsoever else is our common food And again 1 Cor. 10. The Cup of Blessing which we bless is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ Is every Cup this And chap. 11. Let a man examine himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fit and so let him eat of this Bread and drink of this Cup. I pray you must we examine and fit our selves whenever we
eat and unless we do so forbear all food Christ then hath ordeined that all the wicked who are always unfit must be famished or else you must say they sin when ever they eat and to save their lives may indeed eat though they do sin But further could you not see that this was done in the Church when many of the Christians came together into one place for this very end and not in their own houses not by every one apart in every eating Could you not see it is called the Lord's Supper with express distinction from their own It is written plain enough vers 20. 21. 22. When ye come together into one place this is not to eat the Lord's Supper for in eating every one taketh before other his own Supper What have ye not houses to eat and drink in So far are you from the Truth when you say the Christians did partake of the Lord's Table when they eat with the very Heathens and whensoever else Ibid. p. 58. Christ charged his Disciples to wait for his coming at Jerusalem the promise of the Father of which he had told them before his Death which they were to shew so often as they brake bread till he came 1 Cor. 11. 26. and after he was come to the Apostles they continued it for their sakes who were weak in the Faith to whom he was not appeared R. Barclay Catechism p. 98. This was to continue till Christ came Which coming is inward 1 The Commandment of our Saviour Do this in remembrance of me according to you belonged only to the Apostles and those that were Disciples before his Death and was obligatory but till the descent of the Holy Ghost that is but fifty days after his Resurrection and that after this time it was arbitrary and they might observe it or forbear But this is false for St. Paul tells the Corinthians that he had received this of the Lord and accordingly delivered the same unto them 2 Cor. 11. 23. So that that which was commanded the Apostles before Christ's death was given in charge again to St. Paul and that after Christ's com ing to the Apostles in Jerusalem at Pentecost for after this time was he called to the Ministry and moreover was delivered by him as a command to be observed by the Church Nay though Christ was come by the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost yet still says the Apostle As oft as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye shew or shew ye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord's Death till he come 1 Cor. 11. 26 So that he means another coming and until that be he teaches us that this is to be done 2 Not only in that first descent of the Holy Ghost but also in all Divine operations in the heart by the same spirit was Christ come already when the Apostle wrot for unless he was so come working graciously upon the heart the Corinthians were not to receive the Supper of the Lord v. 27. 28. 29. Wherefore that inward coming cannot be meant by the Apostle for as much as that which he speaks of was not as yet as is manifest by those words Till he come 3 If the Apostles continued it as you further say for the sakes of the weak why do not you likewise continue it for the sakes of the same What are there no weak ones among you Is the Church of the Quakers better than the primitive Or are you wiser than the Apostles judging that unfit which they judged fit But dear Souls in good earnest is the Lord's Supper below you too mean and beggarly for your strength and spirituality What Christian how great and perfect soever he be if as perfect as St. Paul doth it not become to commemorate Christ and shew forth his Death as this Solemnity requires Which is to declare by this outward Rite to all the world his Faith in this Crucified Person whom the Jews by reason of his vile death despised and rejected 1 Cor. 1. 18. 23. and to profess himself his Servant and to admire his love and the Love of his Father and to acknowledge that our eternal Redemption is by his Blood-shed and for all to offer most ardent thanks and the profoundest Praises and Adorations of his heart This reason is perpetual and equally concerns all And further was there ever any Church which discontinued the Supper of our Lord Or was there never heretofore the glorious appearance till which time your selves say it was to be observed until now among you Quakers I adde you discern not the wisdom of our Lord in this matter in that he hath injoyned us to come and yet forbids unless we prepare our selves So that he provokes and even compels us to Devotion and Piety and doth what may be not only to excite and animate our coldness but to continue us in our goodness and to bring the more profane to a godly mind and life viz. by the frequent repetitions of this grand and serious solemnity 4 Christ's coming therefore until which time his Supper is to continue is that in the end of the world which is so eminently spoken of every-where in the Gospel and all Christians wait for Of which you read again in this Epistle c. 15. 23. Christ the First-fruits is risen afterwards they that are Christ's shall rise at his coming Then cometh the end G. K. Help p. 22. This is Antichrist who denies Christ the Son came in the revelation of himself in the heart for that coming of Christ in his Bodily appearance at Jerusalem Antichrist will not does not deny being he knows it will never harm his Kingdom so to confess him come provided Christ's Kingdom be not set up in the heart Tomlinson word of Reproof p. 5. The spirit of Antichrist doth not confess Christ come i. e. when he comes or appears in flesh or in his servants Parker's Discovery p. 20. Every Spirit that confesses Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God but the Pope and his Train and the vilest persons have confessed Christ come in his flesh at Jerusalem yet are not of God They who deny Christ come in their mortal flesh to destroy sin are Antichrists I am sorry to hear such words come out of the mouths of men pretending to Christianity I trust it is out of ignorance and inconsideration you speak not malice For will not Antichrist deny Christ come in his Body when he took that Flesh that through Death he might destroy him that had the power of Death the Devil and when through the offering of his Body we are all sanctified when by that Blood he entred into the holy place having obteined Eternal Redemption for us and when it is that which cleanseth us from all our sins when in this body he rose again without which Resurrection we had yet been in our sins and in the same ascended without which ascension the Holy Ghost had not come When without this Body the world
and Moses not Christ they thrust from them And whether you mean the Fathers or Christ as the one you must mean received the Oracles the Text tells you likewise it was Moses For thus it runs This is that Moses which said unto the Children of Israel a Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your Brethren like unto me him shal ye hear This is he that was in the Church in the Wilderness with the Angel that spake to him in Mount Sina and with our Fathers who received 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the lively Oracles to give unto us To whom our Fathers would not obey but thrust him from them and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt saying unto Aaron make us Gods to go before us for as for this Moses we wot not what is become of him Gibson's Everlasting Rule p. 45. Christ said Think ye that I came to send peace upon Earth I tell you nay but a Sword Mat. 10. 34. Now you carnal-weaponed men this Sword was not like your Carnal Sword which Kills the Creatures in their Sins but was a Spiritual Sword which did enter into the Hearts of the Wicked and cut down the Sin But say I the Sword which the Text produced speaks of is the Carnal which Kills the Creatures and not the Spiritual which cuts down Sin that which Kills the Body the Bodies of Christ's Disciples and not that which enters the Hearts of the Wicked that which the Wicked use against the Righteous and not that which Christ useth against the Wicked Or which is all one it is Persecution Hatred Reproach Variance and as the Sword strictly taken doth signifie it is Death it self the Killing of the Body For It follows For I am come to set a man at Variance against his Father and the Daughter against her Mother and a mans foes shall be they of his own house And such foes they are that Kill the Body as we find a little after this in these Words He that loseth his Life for my sake shall find it And as appears by those a little before our Text vers 28. Fear not them that Kill the Body And vers 21. Brother shall deliver up Brother to Death The whole discourse is of Perfecutions which should arise by reason of the word of Christ which is Disciples were to Preach and profess openly of evil which they should suffer upon the account of their Religion Wherefore when our Saviour says he sends this Sword he only means that it will come upon his account And whereas he expected tranquillity and great earthly prosperity from him he being the King that was to Rule whose Kingdom also they thought should be like other Princes with external pomp and dominion Chap 18. 1. Act. 1. 6. he faithfully tells them afore hand the contrary that they shall meet with many troubles to the end they might be armed against them And for the Exposition of his sending a Sword I give his own words vers 12. Ye shall be hated of all men for my sake Joh. 16. 33. In the World ye shall have Tribulation Mat. 13. 21. Tribulation or Persecution ariseth because of the Word Reb. Trevers Testimony p. 21. Had I not come into the World ye had had no Sin But now your Sin remains because ye believe not on him whom God hath sent for I am come a light into the World This his coming thou wouldest have only at that time at Jerusalem as if he had not come before nor since I would enquire of thee was there no Sin till Christ was manifest at Jerusalem The cause of all Sin was and is the not coming to him which saves from Sin who was and is and is to come and so he that was the Light says I am come a Light into the World Yes this his coming this spoken of in the Text was only at Jerusalem that in his Body among the Jews As will appear from the words Joh. 15. 22. 24. if I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had Sin but now have they no Cloak for their Sin If I had not done among them the works which uone other man did they had not had Sin For when did Christ speak unto those Jews then Living and do those works among them but since his Birth of the Virgin Mary Means he not by that which he spake unto them that which he spake with his Carnal Mouth and they heard with their Carnal Ears his Preaching in their Cities Synagogues and Temple Means he not by his Works those that he did in Corazin Bethsaida Capernaum which they saw with their Carnal Eyes as the healing of Diseases the expulsion of Devils c and for the contempt of which he pronounced woes against them so sure is it that his coming here spoken of is only that at Jerusalem in his Flesh. And how is it possible to understand any other coming than this by those other words which you cite God hath sent me I am come a Light into the World As well may you understand these words also of God's sending him and his coming into the world before his incarnation God sent his Son in the likeness of Sinful Flesh. In the fulness of time God sent forth his Son made of a Woman I am come forth from the Father and am come into the World To this end was I Born and for this end came I into the World For thus lie the words speaking plainly of a sending and coming lately into the World and such a sending and coming as that he had a Mouth to speak with to Mens Ears Joh. 12. 44. He that believeth on me believeth not on me but on him that sent me I am come a Light into the World that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness And if any man hear my words and believe not I judge him not for I came not to judge the World but to save the World And when was this The word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day For I have not spoken of my self but the Father which sent me he gave me a commandment what I should say 2 This coming of Christ at Jerusalem being only spoken of in respect of this alone must he therefore be understood when he saith in the same place If I had not come they had had no Sin And to your enquiry was there no Sin before I answer there was But if you put the question as you ought to do had not these Jews had Sin if Christ had not come in his Body and so spoken unto them and done his works among them the Text would have answered you they had not Which is not to be taken absolutly as you take it saying if Christ had not come a Light into the World before in the hearts of men then indeed there had been no Sin at all Which is another false interpretation of yours but comparatively They those Jews
Twelves A Confession of Faith put forth by the Elders and Brethren of many Congregations of Christians Baptized upon Profession of their Faith in London and the Country Lately Published Price 1 s. Warr with the Devil Or The Young-Man's Conflict with the Powers of Darkness discovering the Corruption and Vanity of Youth the horrible Nature of Sin In a Dialogue To which is added An Appendix containing a Dialogue between an old Apostate and a young Professor The Fifth Impression price 1 s. The Second Part of the Warr with the Devil The Grand Impostor Discovered or The Quaker's Doctrine weighed in the Ballance and found wanting a Poem by way of Dialogue wherein their chief and most concerning Principles are laid down And by the Authority of God's Holy Word thereby Refuted price 10 d. Summons to the Grave or A Timely preparation for Death Demonstrated in a Sermon Preached at the Funeral of John Norcott with two Elegies thereunto praefixt price 8 d. All five written by Benj. Keach Minister of the Gospel The History of the Young Converted Gallant or Directions for the use of that Divine Poem Warr with the Devil Here shewing the Readers thereof how to read the same Poem right in these four Respects c. First In reference to the Substance or History thereof 2dly In reference to the Intent or Mystery thereof 3dly In reference to the Consequent Doctrine thereof 4thly In reference to Practical Application thereof Compiled in a Poem by John Mason Gent. of Fordham in Cambridg shire price 1 s. Blessed Rest for the Burthened Sinner or The only Center of the Soul wherein is discovered 1. Who he is that Invites and calls Sinners to this Rest. 2. The Encouragement to come unto him for Rest. 3. Many Obstructions and Impediments which keep back sinners with their Unreasonableness answered 4. The Rest that every one shall have that comes unto Christ Delivered in several Sermons from Matthew 11. 28. By John Hopwood Preacher of the Gospel price 2s * Note that this is all the Answer to the Question * Yet I find some odd passages in your Writings K. Help p. 2. The letter and outward teachings so much cried up with all the Fruits and effects of the one the Crucified Body of Christ though a very Blessed and Comfortable enjoyment in its place and kind yet being but that which made nothing perfect is now no less necessary to be parted with than at that time it was else the Comfórter as the blessed effect of the other the Living Body of Christ can not come F. Truth and Deceit p. 55. Then came Christ according to the Flesh to be Crucified the Lamb slain that Flesh of his which is a mystery when the first Adam's and Eve's Flesh was defiled P. 57. Yet his Flesh never corrupted which Flesh is the offering for as he was not God he did nit Die and this Flesh is a mystery and in this Flesh is the Belief which takes away the Sin that never corrupted that is the offering for Sin and the Blood of this Flesh cleanseth from Sin This offering who is found in the Shape of a Man And where this belief is entred into his Flesh it knows Adam's Flesh that corrupted Through his Flesh he doth reconcile and by the offering up his Body his Flesh that which hath been Slain from the Foundation of the World and yet never corrupted he breaks down the Partition-wall betwixt Jews and Gentles p. 59. So this pure Flesh this offering is set over all which never corrupted which must be your Meat if you Live though there is more in all these things which is hard to be uttered and cannot be uttered yet * Tertullian understands the Text of the visible Flesh De Carne Chr. Chap. 13. In Christo invenimus animam carnem simplieibus nudis vocabulis editas id est animam animam carnem carnem Quid anxia est anima mea usque ad mortem Et Panis quem ego dedero pro salute mundi caro mea est Si una caro una anima illa tristis usque ad mortem illa Panis pro mundi salute salvus est numerus duarum substantiarum in suo genere distantium excludens carnae animae unicam speciem * See c. 3. 17. Act. 15. 9. 1 Cor. 11. 29. * De Spec. Leg. p. 594. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If necessity require an Oath it is more fit to swear by the health and old age of Father and Mother if they be living and if they be dead by their blessed memory because God is not to be rashly named Some are wont to say So help me omiting the rest which might be compleated not by adding the most High but Earth Sun Heaven or the World But others are so hasty that passing by the creatures they are bold to swear by the Creator himself