any one writing against what I charge thee with that is filled with revilings that doth give railing language and put things off with lies c. I shall only receive a sober Antagonist or else expect your renouncing your Errors repenting believing and obeying the Gospel Joseph Wright A TESTIMONY For the Son of Man and against the Son of Perdition CHAP. I. Wherein it is laid to the charge of those that Preach up the Light within all men That they do deny Jesus Christ which is proved by their making no mention of his death for the sins of the world by their not gathering Men and Women into fellowship with him by Faith by their setting up Works for Justification and by their neglect of Self-denial against which is testified the Faith of Gods Elect concerning the Person of Christ his Death and Resurrection and Reconciliation thereby with Faith therein for Righteousness Sanctification and Self-denial Sect. 1 1. THE first thing that I lay to thy chargeâ— whosoever thou art that Preachest up the Light within all men requiring all People to mind the Light which is within them is this That thou doest deny that Christ which dyed at Jerusalem out of every person of man but his own in so doing denyest Jesus Christ come in the flesh and thy spirit is the spirit of Antichrist notwithstanding all thy pretended zeal c. which I prove against thee as followeth Sect. 2 First Because in all thy Preaching Teaching and Declaring thou never makes mention of Christs dying for the sins of the World nor that he tasted death for every man thou art altogether silent in this Doctrine of Christs dying for man in the body of his flesh and out of all other men to Redeem man unto God and to save him from his sins which ought to be taught and preached first of all to sinners and unbelievers to beget Faith in them and Repentance unto life 1 Cor. 15. 3. and 4. But thou dost altogether press every Man and Woman to look to the Light within them telling them that that will shew them all sin and iniquity and will lead them out of it and eternally save them if they be guided by it Sect. 3 Secondly Because as is thy word of mouth even so is thy writings for amongst them all and in them all theâ—e is not one line which teacheth that Christ did die for the sins of the world and freely laid down his life as a ransome for sinners or offered himself a Sacrifice to God upon that Cross on which he was crucified at Jerusalem in his own body and out of every man else thereby to reconcile both Jew and Gentile unto God by his own blood shed in his own body Ephes 2. 13 16. Col. 1. 20 21. which is such a truth of such concernment that whoso preaches it not doth not preach the Gospel of Christ nor lay the foundation which is the true and pretious Corner-stone yea the foundation of all Generations that shall be saved For no other foundation can any man lay than that which is laid even Jesus Christ and him crucified the just dying for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but quickned by the Spirit 1 Pet. 3. 18. who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the Tree that we being dead to sin should live unto Righteousness by whose stripes onely we can be healed 1 Pet. 2. 24. Sect. 4 Thirdly Because thou dost not gather men and women into communion with Christ by Faith teaching them to believe in Jesus Christ him crucified out of them and in his own body for their sins and iniquities by which Faith every true Believer being justified hath Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom as the Apostle teacheth Rom. 5. 1 2. We have access by Faith into this Grace wherein we stand and rejoice in Hope of the glory of God see Rom. 4. 16. Rom. 11. 6. 2 Cor. 1. 24. But on the contrary thou gatherest by Works never questioning whether thy Proselytes believe in Christ that dyed at Jerusalem by whose Death and Resurrection Believers do receive Reconciliation and Justification I say by Works thou gatherest and not by Faith warning all people to look to the Light within them and they which own this thy Doctrine and walk and work according to it thou ownest and none but such nor takest to be such as are either taught or gathered by thee the which thou receivest although as touching the Faith in Christ Jesus they are as ignoranr as Heathens and are absolute Infidels which I have proved many a time by Discourse with thy followers Therefore in that thou gatherest by Works and not by Faith making them Heirs which are onely Workers and not Believers thou makest Faith void and the Promise to them which do believe of none effect Rom. 4. 14. by which it is evident that thou gatherest not in the Name of Christ nor with Christ and therefore art no true and right Gatherer but a scatterer abroad thou art not with Christ but against him and art led by the spirit of Antichrist Sect. 5 But in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ which died at Jerusalem I affirm against thee that there is no Salvation in any other but in Jesus Christ and him crucified for the sins of the world and that by the merit of his Death and by the power of his Resurrection done and acted out of every other man and in his own Person is Justification and Salvation to be obtained through Faith Rom. 5. 10. For there was a necessity that Christ should suffer and rise again the third day for the Justification of all them that believe in him Luke 24. from ver 22. to 48. And they which do not know this know nothing at all as even Caiaphas the high Priest doth declare as it is written John 11. 49. c. And one of them named Caiaphas being high Priest that same year said unto them Ye know nothing at all nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should dye for tho People and that the whole Nation perish not and this he spake not of himself buâ— being high Priest that year he Prophesieâ— that Iesus stould dye for that Nation anâ— not for that Nation onely but also that hâ— should gather together in one the Children of God that were scattered abroad Behold how ignorant they are that know not thaâ— Jesus Christ ought to suffer death for the People which else had all perished and had all remained scattered had not he gathered together in one the Children of God that were scattered abroad as verse 50 51 52. The loyal high Priest did Prophesie much better than these pretended Preachers up of the Light within c. Sect. 6 But as no sin could be done away without shedding of blood and death really and visibly Heb. 9. 15 22. and 10. 10. So that it is no
to be come in the flesh to deny the Ordinances which he hath appointed to set forth what he hath done in the body of his flesh and it is as much as to deny that ever he shall come again to deny that Appointment which he hath ordained to be used until his second coming or to abuse it with the Papists turning that into a Sacrifice Propitiatory which Christ ordained only to signifie the Propitiatory Sacrifice of his own Body to make that by an humane invention of Transubstantiation to be the very Body and Blood of Christ there present upon their Altar in the hand of their Priest which Christ appointed so signifie his Body as to shew his bodily absence the Bread being present his Body being at the right hand of God in the Glory of the Father This is as much as to deny his coming bodily for if his Body be present how can his Body be at the right hand of God If his Body be come since his Ascention how can his Body be still to come But the truth is so great an harmony is between the Preachers up of the Light within all men and the Doctors of the Romish Synagogue that their Doctrine tends to one thing viz. The denyal of Jesus Christ come in the flesh of Justification by the imputation of Faith in his Blood for Righteousness of Remission of Sins by his Grace of the right use and end of his holy Ordinances yea to the denyal of the vertue of the Death of Christ the essicacy of his Resurrection and the glory of his Coming I shall therefore for conclusion of this Chapter set forth according to the Scriptures of Truth the Doctrine of the Resurrection of the bodies of all men by the power of the Resurrection of Christ the glory of his Coming and the End of the World Sect. 8 For thus saith the Word of the Truth of the Gospel concerning those that shall be saved as it is written 2 Tim. 1. 8 9. 10. God saith the Apostle hath saved us and called us with an holy Calling not according to our Works but according to his own Purpose and Grace given us in Christ Iesus before the world began but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Iesus Christ who hath abolished Death and brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel By his Death he hath destroyed him that had the power of Death Heb. 2. 14. By his Resurrection and Ascension in his own Body He hath led captivity captive He conquered the Grave and overcame it by Death not for himself who knew no sin but for the world of sinners unto whom Death is due as the wages of Sin the just reward of Iniquity Rom. 6. 23. which Death passed upon all men excepting Christ who sinned not because that all have sinned Rom. 5. 12. and are in bondage under Sin and Death the great enemies of the peace and comfort of Mankind for whose deliverance from Sin and Death Christ hath dyed and hath invited the world of sinners to repent and believe the Gospel for the Remission of their Sins and their deliverance from Death from which he will in his due time deliver all those that believe in his Name For he must reign till he hath put all his enemies under his feet 1 Cor. 15. 25. that the saying that is written may come to passe Death is swallowed up into Victory according to the Word of the Lord by the Prophet Hosea ch 13. 14. I will ransom them from the power of the Grave I will redeem them from Death O Death I will be thy plagues O Grave I will be thy destruction Repentance shall be hid from mine eyes And to this end Jesus Christ did give himself a Ransom for all and tasted Death for every man 1 Tim. 2. 6. Heb. 2. 9. that he might bring all men out of the Grave which though it be not yet effected yet he hath payed the Price that so at his appearing he may raise all men from that first death and deliver from wrath to come all that wait for him believing on his Name 1 Thess 1. 10. 1 Ioh. 3. 23. according as himself hath testified Ioh. 5. 28 29. Marvel not at this saith he for the hour is coming in which all that are in the Grave shall hear the voice of the Son of God and shall come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation So that it is evident that that of man which goeth to the grave shall be raised again as he hath said I will ransom them from the power of the grave c. But if the bodies of them which are cast into the grave shall not be raised from thence how then is there a ransoming of them from the power of the Grave or a redeeming them from Death How is Captivity led captive or who how will the Grave then come to destruction and not rather be the destroyer And how will the Word of the Almighty Creator be fulfilled and his glorious Power manifested who made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that therein is and keepeth Truth for ever Psal 146. 5 6. Sect 9 But it is further evident That the bodies of Believers although they dye and turn to dust yet shall they be raised again and live eternally as is testified in the Scripture 1 Cor. 15. 42 43 44. by the Apostle concerning the Resurrection of the Dead It is sown saith he in Corruption It is raised in Incorruption It is sown in Dishonour It is raised in Glory It is sown in Weakness It is raised in Power It is sown a Natural Body It is raised a Spiritual Body By all which how evidently is the Resurrection of that which dyes proved It which is sown and it which is raised is one and the same only the condition wherein it is raised is more excellent than that wherein it is sown They that turn Scripture into Allegories cannot turn this into any nor make an Interpretation contrary to this without making themselves very absurd for if they shall say It is the Seed of God which is thus sown then it seems the Seed of God shall be sown in one condition and shall be raised in another yea they must hold that the Seed of God is sown a Natural Body and raised a Spiritual Body changing its Properties which cannot be No no it is the Corruptible man the natural Bodies of Believers which shall be raised changed and fashioned like the glorious Body of Christ and as is testified in the Scripture concerning that Seed which is sown into the Earth as Wheat or other Grain That which is sown is not sown that Body which shall be for when it is sown it is sown but bare Grain not clothed with any thing but God giveth it a Body as it pleaseth him clothed excellently yet to every Seed his own Body And as the Body
it shall be recompenced unto him again for of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be Glory for ever Amen See Isay 30. 13 14. He that hath an ear let him hear and fear and do no more presumptuously For this their Doctrine supposeth that that which they call Christ is saved by their Preaching and Teaching from a fallen condition which when in their conceit they have raised they salute in their writings which they have Intituled A Salutation to the Seed of God which they suppose is in every man and this they say is Christ in a fallen slain or imprisoned condition till raised up by their endeavours so that Christ is not distinguished by them as a distinct person from all other men nor his death to be declared to be accomplished in his own person but in every man according to their delution every man hath Christ in him sometimes slain and sometimes raised his death is not once but often accomplished and he is slain for himself and raised for himself if raised at all Oh how contrary is this Doctrine to the Doctrine of the Scriptures which teach that Christ hath ONCE suffered for sins the just for the unjust being put to death in the flesh but quickend in the spirit 1 Pet. 3. 18. But now ONCE saith the Apostle in the end of the World hath he appeared to put away sin by the Sacrifice of himself he was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin to Salvation Heb. 9. 26 28. Neither let them think to excuse the matter by alledging that the Name Christ is sometimes given the Church which is men and women united to him by Faith according to the Gospel for when it is so given it is to be taken mystically believers being understood to be the Body of Christ and Christ to be the head of that Body this mystical sence destroyes not the proper sence for Christ as a distinct person from all other persons is described by the Apostle Paul Rom. 1. 3 4. to be made of the Seed of David according to the flesh and declared to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holinesse by the Resurrection from the dead in which flesh he suffered upon the Crosse being put to death and the third day rose again by the Power of the Spirit of Holinesse he was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification Rom. 4. 25. Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the Tree that we being dead to sins should live to Righteousnesse by whose stripes ye were healed as the Apostle teacheth 1 Pet. 2. 24. Sect. 3 But if man considered as man yea as fallen sinful and wretched man as a Creature without Christ without God c. be not to be Preached unto and if Salvation by Faith in Christ be not tendred to the Creature distinct from the Creator then is there no tender of Salvation nor any thing to be saved for there is not one Scripture which speaketh of any thing else which Salvation is to be tendred unto but man for whom Christ dyed as it is written Heb. 2. 16. For verily he taketh not hold of Angels but of the Seed of Abraham he taketh hold according to the Greek that is he did not take into unity of person the Nature of Angels but he took into personal unity the Seed of Abraham that is the nature of man was taken into personality with his Divine nature that through death he might destroy him that had the Power of death that is the Devil and deliver them that through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage Heb. 2. 14 15. It was the Creature man that was in bondage by sin and in fear of death that hid himself and was afraid Gen. 3. 10. and had been as water spilt upon the ground if God had not devised means that his banished be not exciled from him 2 Sam. 14. 14. It was that sinning Creature man that should have been banished for ever had not God devised means to redeem the man Adam and his posterity For God so loved the World that he gave his onely begotten Son Jesus Christ that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life John 3. 16. Gods love was indeed to the lost but no part of the eternal and uncreated substance was lost but man was lost the Creature had been cut off for ever for that first sin of Adam by whom sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned Rom. 5. 12. But God so loved that Creature Man as to give his only begotten Son for his redemption for God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved John 3. 16 17. which life and salvation is to be held forth to the Creature which hath sinned to the race of mankind for they have all sinned and come short of the Glory of God and these that have sinned are upon their repentance and believing the Gospel Justified freely by the Grace of God through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ for God justifieth the ungodly Rom. 3. 23 24. Rom. 4. 5. We have seen and do testifie saith the Apostle John That the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the World Not to be a Saviour of his eternal substance but to be a Saviour to the world 1 John 4. 14. I am the Living Bread saith Christ which came down from Heaven if any man eat of this Bread he shall live for ever and the Bread which I will give is my flesh which I will give for the Life of the World wch world had for ever perished for the iniquities thereof had not Christ Jesus given himself freely to death that he might bring them to God which were without God and without Christ being strangers from the Covenant of Promise having no hope and without God in the world Ephes 2. 12. So that as the same Apostle teacheth they which were sometimes alienated and enemies in their Minds or Spirits by wicked works Yet now hath he reconciled in the Body of his flesh through death to present them holy and unblameable and unreproveable in the sight of God if they continue in the Faith grounded and setled and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel preached unto all and whereof Paul was a Minister Col. 1. 22 23. For as he also saith There is one God and one Mediator between God and Man the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransome for all to be testified in due time 1 Tim. 2. 5 6. The like is testified by the Angel of God as it is written by Luke in his Gospel And Lo the Angel of the Lord saith he came upon them and the Glory of
not that the flesh and bones humane Soul and Spirit of that man which was born of Mary the Virgin in Personal unity with the Divine Nature the Son of God according to the Spirit of Holiness is the Christ but thou making no mention of the humane Nature that which thou callest the Christ is the Seed Spirit or Light in that man which was born of Mary which Seed according to its measure is also in all men and is Christ as well as it according to thy Doctrine Now though it ought not to be denyed that the Spirit of Holiness in that Person which was born of Mary is the Son of God by eternal Generation yet it ought to be acknowledged that the humane Nature also of that Person which was born of Mary is the Son of God by temporal Generation and yet there are not two Christs but one for as much as the Spirit of Holiness and the humane Nature is one in Personallity and the Apostle Paul teacheth to this effect 1. Tim. 2. 5. For there is saith he one God and one Mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus who is indeed both God and man in one Person and so is no other Person in the whole world beside him see Gal. 3. 20. Mat. 16. 13 16 17. So that if the Spirit of Holiness only in that man which was born of Mary is the Son of God and the Christ which dyed then it follows that the Son of God according to the Spirit of Holiness dyed which is contrary to the Scripture 1 Pet. 3. 18. which teacheth that Christ was put to Death in the Flesh but quickened by the Spirit which at his death he yielded up Mat. 27. 50. with the Spirit of his humane Nature which he commended into the hands of his Father Luke 23. 46. And if this be the Opinion of all that Preach up the Light within c. viz. That the Spirit of Holiness in that man which was born of Mary is only the Christ and not the flesh and bones humane soul and spirit then they must hold either that Christ dyed not or that the God-head dyed which is Blasphemy against the eternal Being of the Father Son and Spirit which though three in Person and Office yet are one Divine and Eternal Essence and independant Being see 1 John 5. 8. Sect. 3 But thus saith the Spirit of Truth 1 John 2. 22 23. Who is a lyer but he that denieth that Iesus is the Christ he is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son for no man knoweth the Father save the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him Mat. 11. 27. Therefore according to the Apostles Doctrine Acts 2. 36. Let all the House of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Iesus which they crucified at Jerusalem by the Sentence of Pontius Pilate the Governour both Lord and Christ And as the blessed Apostle John teacheth 1 John 4. 1 2 3. Let us not believe every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the world hereby know ye the Spirit of God every Spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God and every Spirit that confesseth not that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God and this is that Spirit of Antichrist whereof ye have heard that it should come and even now already it is in the World Now as it is manifest that to confess Jesus Christ come in the flesh is rightly to confess his Person and Office and rightly to confess his Doctrine So it is apparent that many profess so to do and yet come far short thereof There is a vast difference between the Servants of Christ and the Subjects of Antichrist When the Jews sent Priests and Levites to John to ask him who art thou he confessed and denied not but confessed I am not the Christ John 1. 19 20. But on the contrary Christ himself testifieth concerning the Deceivers of the last times Mat. 24. 5. saying Many shall come in my name saying I am Christ and shall deceive many What do they less that being demanded Who is the Christ direct not the Inquirer to the true Christ as John did with Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins of the World John 1. 29. but contrariwise unto themselves under pretence of a Light within all men to hear their Doctrine of Falshood and receive their spirit of Delusion what do they less than say I am Christ which say I speak to the Light in thy Conscience which shall eternally witness Me Me what mean they by this word Me which they say is eternally to be witnessed Is there any thing that is eternally to be witnessed or acknowledged but the Eternal God and his Everlasting Son Jesus Christ who is according to his Eternal Spirit without beginning and without end As for themselves are they any other than mortal sinful Creatures that not only transgress Gods righteous Law but also despise the glorious Gospel of his dear Son Jesus Christ whose Promises they imbrace not whose Commandments they keep not whose Threatnings they fear not and whose blessed Person they acknowledge not Do they confess the Person of Christ Do they confess him to be come in the Flesh that only say he is come into their Flesh a base Nothingless John saith in his Gospel Chap. 1. 30. This is he of whom I said after me cometh a man which is preferred before me But how do these Blasphemers prefer Christ before themselves that distinguish not his Person from their own and apply that which belongs to his Person unto theirs that reject his Doctrine of Salvation and set up their own Delusion of Destruction that contemning the threefold Office of Christ King Priest and Prophet in direct opposition to it exalt and set up an inherent Righteousness of the Law which they endeavour to maintain that all men may attain unto by following the Light within them which is no other than the Works of the Law as hath been shewed from Rom. 2. 15. And the Apostle teacheth Gal. 2. 21. That if Righteousness come by the Law then Christ is dead in vain So that according to the Apostles Doctrine Christs Priestly Office whereby he was a Sacrifice for the Sins of the World is made void by those that set up a Righteousness of the Law And if we consider of what nature a Law-Righteousness is which according to the Apostles Discription Gal. 3. 12. is not of Faith but the man that doth them shall live in them Christ in all his Offices yea and in his humane nature also which is his Coming in the Flesh is made void and of none effect for if Righteousness be attainable by the Law or by following the Light within which is the work thereof then as the Death of Christ is in vain so is also his Coming in the Flesh his taking hold of the Seed
and Power for he must raign till he have put all his Enemies under his feet the last Enemy that shall be destroyed is Death as it is written Rev. 20. 12 13. And I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the Dead were judged out of those things which were written in the Books according to their Works And the Sea gave up the Dead which were in it and Death and Hell or the Grave delivered up the Dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their works So that we see clearly that both the First and Second Resurerction is the raising of whole Man from death or from the grave contrary to the conceipt of such as suppose the renewing of the spirit of the Mind which is but a part of man to be the first Resurrection of man the Dying to Sin and Rising again to Righteousnesse being so far from being the Resurrection of whole Man from the Dead that it is but the Earnest of the Inheritance of the Righteous as for the Wicked they have no part in it though they shall have in the Resurrection for they as Christ hath taught shall come forth of the grave unto the Resurrection of Damnation John 5. 28 29. Neither is it in the dying to sin and rising again to Righteousnesse as it is in the Death of man and his Rising again for Man dyeth and riseth again but when sin dyeth sin ought never to rise again God forbid that any Believer should plead for a resurrection of sin Sect. 13 But as the denial of the Resurrection of the dead or the affirming that it is past already is a Doctrine false in it self so are the Consequences thereof most dreadfull and destructive to all true piety yea of such a fretting and gangreen-like nature that in those that are infected therewith it devours member after member till the whole body of the Faith be overthrown and the Professors thereof divested of the Knowledg of God and reduced to Gentilisme again and not only so for even among the Gentiles were some Principles of Morality but this is not content to stay here but encreaseth to more ungodlinesse till it arrive at that prophane desire Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die a Conception so corrupt that as Scollars do affirm that are acquainted with the Sentences of the Heathen Poets the Verse of Menander might serve to rebuke it which the Apostle Paul sticks not to mention for that purpose saying Be not deceived Evil Communication corrupts Good Manners 1 Cor. 15. 32 33. And were those that vent those loose Principles followers of them in practice as the Ranters their Predecessors were we should soon see these as unclean in their lives as they and such as cannot now so easily discern the deceitfulness of their Doctrine because of the covering which they put upon it were it uncovered and reduced to Practice it would be abhor'd by some that are now seduced by it But if we examine all Doctrines that are brought unto us apart from the Lives of those that bring them as we ought to do For since Satan is transformed into an Angel of light it is no great thing if his Ministers be transformed as the Ministers of Righteousness 2 Cor. 11. 14 15. we shall find that that Doctrine which denies the Resurrection of the bodies of Believers and of all that are dead in Adam from the grave doth make void the hope of Israel the Doctrine of Faith contained in the Scriptures of Truth and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ himself Sect. 14 For thus saith the Truth concerning the Hope of the Israel of God If in this Life only we have Hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable 1 Cor. 15. 19. For such are and have been the Tribulations of the Children of God in this Life that if they had not hope of Happiness in a life that is to come after the death and at the Resurrection of the Body they were the most miserable of all men for the Punishment of the first Offence lyeth upon the Godly as well as upon the Sinner Labour and Sorrow both of Man and Woman Sicknesse and Death is the portion of Good and Bad In the sweat of their faces the righteous as well as the wicked do eat their bread untill they return unto the dust from whence if they shall not be raised they are in a worse condition than the wicked for oftentimes the most sincere Believers do tast the deepest of misery in this life whereas the ungodly are in prosperity There are no bands in their death bâ—â—â—heir strength is firm they are not in trouble like other men neither are they plagued like other men therefore Pride compasseth them about as a chain and violence covereth them as a garment their eyes stand out with fatness they have more then heart can wish Psal 73. 3. 4 5 6 7. This is the prosperous estate of the wicked in this life wherein the Godly man is plunged all the day long and chastened every morning Psal 73. 14. Poor Lazarus in this life received evil things when the Rich man received his good things but in the other Life indeed we see a vast difference between them Lazarus is comforted but the Rich man is tormented Luke 16. 25. Which torment is to be understood to be upon the body of the Rich man from his desire that Lazarus might be sent to dip his finger in water to cool his tongue a part of his body and therefore we are to understand the fulnesse of happinesse in the one and misery in the other to be after the Resurrection of the body from the dead by the denyall whereof the comfortable hope and strong consolation which every true Believer hath in this life and even in death when they commend their Spirits with Stephen Acts 7. 59. into the hands of Jesus Christ is made void and of no effect For wherefore have Believers the earnest of the Spirit by the Holy Ghost speaking peace to their spirits but that they might also enjoy the full Inheritance Why are they sanctified in their spirits 1 Pet. 1. 2. Heb. 12. 23. But to assure them that the very God of Peace will also sanctifie them wholly and their whole Spirit and Soul and Body shall be preserved blameless unto the coming of Iesus Christ 1 Thes 5. 23. And why is it said that the Faithfull when they dye do fall asleep in Jesus that they dye in the Lord that they rest from their labours and their works do follow them Revel 14. 13. But that it might be understood that they shall rise again from the dead in their bodies as Jesus dyed and rose again in his body and is therein become the first fruits of them that sleep 1 Thes 4. 14 16. And as the spirits of all wicked men that die in unbelief
the Lord shone round about them viz. the Shepherds and they were sore afraid And the Angel said unto them Fear not for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people not to a supposed Seed or uncreated or eternal substance in man but unto man even unto all people for unto you saith he is born this day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord and this shall be a sign unto you ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swadling cloaths lying in a Manger not lying within you but lying in a Manger which was not within them and suddainly there was with the Angel a Multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God and saying Glory to God in the Highest on earth Peace good will towards men Luke 2. 9 10 11 12 13 14. This is indeed the Gospel of glad-tidings a Saviour for sinners for poor sinful man yea and so saith all the Prophets as many as have spoken have likewise declared these things viz. That God did send his Son to die for man to bear our sins and that God raised up his Son Jesus and sent him to blesse the Creature man in turning every one of us from our Iniquities it could not be to turn himself from his Iniquities for he had none He did no sin neither was guile found in his Mouth yet it pleased the Lord to put him to Grief for us and to lay upon him the Iniquities of us all See Acts 3. 26. Isa 53. 6. yea he was wounded for our Transgressions He was bruised for our Iniquities the Chastisement of our Peace was upon him and with his Stripes are we healed So that it is evident That that Doctrine which is not directed to Man but to a supposed Seed or uncreated Substance in man is not the Doctrine of the Gospel which tendereth Salvation to the Creature but a blasphemous Riddle which tends to the nourishing of Evil Thoughts viz. That the Eternal Witness or Substance stands in need of a Teacher and of a Resurrection out of a fallen or imprisoned Condition or to make Man exalt himself into the Place of God by imagining that something within him as a part of his Person is as Eternal as the Spirit of Holiness in Christ or else it tends to make the Creature man consisting of Spirit Soul and Body utterly to despair of Salvation Sect. 4 But now to Answer thy false Inferences which thou endeavourest to draw from these Holy Scriptures to maintain thy Opinion and Practise of Preaching not to man considered as Man but to a supposed Seed or eternal Substance in Man I say and testifie in the Lord That these Scriptures 1 Pet. 3. 19. Matth. 25. 36. teach nothing in the least to justifie such a Practice but that which is here held forth by the Spirit of God in the first Scripture is this viz. That by that Spirit which raised the Flesh of Jesus Christ from the Dead he had Preached by the Ministry of Noah to the Spirits of men which are now in prison not that he preached to the Spirits when they were in Prison nor that these Spirits are of the eternal and uncreated substance but the spirits in prison are the spirits of those men and women which Christ according to the Spirit of Holinesse did by his servant Noah who was assisted therewith preach unto before they were in Prison that is to say In the dayes of Noah when they were disobedient to the long suffering of God while the Ark was a preparing So that you cannot say the Seed of God was that which was preached to except you will say the Seed of God was disobedient or that they were in Prison when they were Preached unto for then they could neither have been obedient nor disobedient for in Prison they are as a reward of their disobedience which they acted when they were at Liberty and are kept in Prison for the said disobedience unto the great Judgement Day So that the Spirits were not in Prison when they were Preached to but disobedient they were at that time when once the long Suffering of God waited in the dayes of Noah while the Ark was a Preparing in which few that is eight Souls were saved by Water at that time when once the long-suffering of God waited while the Ark was a Preparing Then did Christ by the same Spirit by which his own Body of Flesh in which he was put to death was raised again from the dead Preach to them that were then Disobedient whose spirits are now in Prison and so shall remain till the great Day of Judgement when they in Spirit Soul and Body shall be punished with everlasting fire as a reward of their disobedience in refusing the Spirit of Holinesse by which God did strive with the old World an hundred and twenty Years Gen. 3. 6. So great was the Patience and long-suffering of God So unwilling was he that any of them should perish but rather that all of them should have repented Rom. 2. 4. 2 Pet. 3. 9. which when they utterly refused to do he brought the flood of Waters upon that ungodly World those that would not be turned by the strivings of Gods Spirit but refused that Grace which was so earnestly and affectionately tendred unto them as unworthy of any further offers of Grace were destroyed by the flood of Waters which overthrew their Carkasses and as the just Wages of their impenitency and unbelief their spirits are now reserved in Prison unto the judgment of the great Day of God Almighty when they with all other wicked men that live and die in impenitency and unbelief in spirit soul and body shall bear the punishment of their disobedience And then also the Angels which kept not their first Estate but left their own Habitation for which cause they are now reserved as in Prison in everlasting Chains under darkness Jude vers 6. shall be cast into the Lake of Fire burning with Brimstone where they and those accursed men and women that have been seduced by him shall be tormented for ever where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched Thus it is evident that the spirits in Prison spoken of in the Scripture abovesaid are not to be understood of the Spirit of Holinesse in Christ but indeed of the Unclean and Rebellious spirits of Men and Women who refuse the Grace of God when it is tendred unto them in the day of his forebearance and long-suffering Sect. 5 But thy inference from Mat. 25. 36. to justifie thy Opinion and Practice of Preaching not to man but to a supposed seed in every man which thou callest Christ imprisoned in man is also exceeding false and that which tends to the turning of the minds of men from the Person of Christ by whose Death and Resurrection accomplished in his own Body he hath wrought the Redemption of the Bodies of all others that believe in him to an imaginary spirit â—r